Line of the Day: Albert Pujols: August 11th, 2011

Albert Pujols went 4-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 victory over the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. The homer was his 28th of the season and tied him with fellow Cardinal Lance Berkman for the NL lead. (video recap)

Line: 4 AB | 2 R | 4 H | 2 RBI; HR

(box score)

My fantasy perspective: Pujols is having the worst offensive season of his entire 11 year career. He's on pace for only 38 home runs, 99 RBI and 107 runs scored with a .284 batting average. ONLY! His current numbers (.284/78/28/72/6) are enough to rank him as the third-best first baseman in fantasy baseball behind only Adrian Gonzalez (1st) and Prince Fielder (2nd) but ahead of Joey Votto (4th).

A deeper look into his numbers show his BB% of 8.5% is well below his career rate of 13.2% and his current BABIP of .256 is also well below his career .311 mark. He's also hitting less line drives, more ground balls and fewer fly balls this season than compared to his career norms.

Be careful when referring to Pujols as having a "down year" without putting it into the context of what a "down year" means for him. Most players will never have a "career year" as good as Albert's worst season.

Question: Which team "breaks the bank" to sign Pujols this offseason?

---

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Be sure to check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards and subscribe to its feed, too.