Albert Pujols

Ready for one of those overused "What if I told you..." lead-ins?

Very well. Here it is: What if I told you before the start of the 2012 season that Albert Pujols would not be the best hitter in the Los Angeles Angels' lineup by the time we got to mid-June?

After a miserable April in which he batted .217/.265/.304 with no home runs and four RBI, Albert Pujols rebounded in May, looking more like the hitter we've been accustomed to seeing in his previous 11 major league seasons.

The city of Los Angeles can go back to spinning. After spending a couple weeks on the disabled list with a bad hamstring, Los Angeles Dodgers star centerfielder Matt Kemp will be making his return on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Dodgers did pretty well in Kemp's absence, but he'll be a sight for sore eyes anyway. At the time he went on the DL, Kemp was hitting .359 with 12 home runs. He was batting over .400 as late as May 8.

Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper are the future of the Washington Nationals. 

Strasburg will be the ace of a formidable starting rotation for years to come, and Bryce Harper will anchor the outfield and the lineup with his five-tool talent. The future is in good hands. 

Here are seven reasons why the Washington Nationals need to quickly sign both players to long-term contracts to ensure the successful future of the franchise.

On Sunday, Albert Pujols hit a home run, and there was much rejoicing.

There was much rejoicing, of course, because it was Prince Albert's first home run in a Los Angeles Angels uniform. It's been that kind of season for the former St. Louis Cardinals superstar, and it hasn't been fun to watch.

Albert Pujols was having one of the greatest starts to an MLB career of all time. In Pujols' 11 full seasons, all with the St. Louis Cardinals, he hit at least .299, 30 homers, scored 99 runs and drove in 99 more in all of them. 

However, it's clear Pujols' skill-set is rapidly declining, and faster than we could have ever imagined. 

Albert Pujols has gone 65 at bats to begin the season and has yet to hit a home run. Can Pujols fill out the home run column in the series about to begin against the Tampa Bay Rays?

Unfortunately for Pujols, he will be facing some of the most dominant pitching in the American League. Here is a breakdown of the starting pitchers that he will face in the series.

Over at Baseball Prospectus today, the estimable Sam Miller has a (free) piece on Albert Pujols’ slow start and whether it’s due to an expanding personal strike zone. He concludes that it just might be:

Fantasy baseball—quite possibly the most complex and exhausting fantasy sport there is.

Fantasy baseball managers are often burying their heads in rankings, projections and even articles such as this one. But why? Fantasy baseball isn't much more than a game of statistics and a player's history. It doesn't take an "expert" to tell you that Albert Pujols is consistent or that Buster Posey has upside: The numbers say it all.

I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan. All of my friends know this. I have been since the day my favorite player, Mark McGwire got traded to them in 1997. The next year Big Mac broke Roger Maris’ age old HR record.