Why is pujols playing third base

In plate appearances for May, Pujols hit. With those April numbers dragging him down, his numbers for the season still don't look impressive overall. But whatever was wrong with Pujols' swing and timing appears to have been smoothed out now.

So why risk knocking him off balance again? Why give Pujols something else to contend with mentally as he appears to be regaining his focus at the plate?

Why play him at third base during interleague play, as the Los Angeles Angels plan to do this upcoming weekend when the team visits the Colorado Rockies?

According to the Los Angeles Times ' Mike DiGiovanna , the idea is to keep Kendry Morales' bat in the lineup by playing him at first base, rather than sit him down when the Angels have to play without a designated hitter at Coors Field.

That means Pujols will have to move across the diamond to third base, a position he's barely played since However, I'm not suggesting that Pujols is some delicate flower whose petals will wilt when he's asked to do something he normally doesn't do. Pujols volunteered to play third base last season with the St. Louis Cardinals to prevent Allen Craig from playing second base and to allow Jon Jay to get into the lineup. The man is a team player, and probably didn't flinch when Angels manager Mike Scioscia asked Pujols if he would play third.

Actually, Hummel's a year off. According to Baseball-Reference. Subsequently, Pujols didn't play a single frame at third base until earlier this season, when late-inning changes on May 1 got him back to third for the last four outs of the game. Starting at third base, though? After almost nine years?

While he does enjoy turning outfielders into second basemen, that can work only so often and it didn't work with Allen Craig.

Nor should it have been expected to work. If Pujols can handle third base defensively, this move probably does make the Cardinals better until David Freese returns from the Disabled List.

And with Freese probably out until sometime in July, this could get mighty interesting. More AL West News ». View all AL West Sites. More NL East News ». View all NL East Sites. More NL Central News ». View all NL Central Sites. Louis Cardinals. More NL West News ». View all NL West Sites. More FanSided News ». More News Around the Network ».