How the Cardinals' new hitting coach helped revitalize Albert Pujols

St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown knows a thing or two about teaching old dogs new tricks. Legendary slugger Albert Pujols appeared to be on his last legs with the Los Angeles Angels in 2021, hitting a paltry .198 before his release on May 13. But upon signing with the cross-town Los Angeles Dodgers and getting acquainted with Brown, who served as the Dodgers' hitting strategist, Pujols rediscovered some of his old form, hitting .254 with 12 home runs in 189 at-bats. That was a precursor to Pujols' sprint to 700 home runs the following year, when he re-signed with the Cardinals and turned back the clock to cap off a one-of-a-kind career.

Brown appeared on the St. Louis-based sports radio station 101 ESPN on Nov. 1 and dropped some nuggets about how he and other hitting coaches with the Dodgers helped Pujols rediscover some of his production at the plate.

Instead of letting Pujols do what he had always done and hope for better results, Brown and the Dodgers decided to take a different approach and treat Pujols as if he were "just some average Joe off the street." According to Brown, Pujols was open to the idea and received perspectives and ideas that had never been brought up in his long career.

The Dodgers worked to modify Pujols' game plan to better suit the player he was at that point in his career instead of what he was during his peak. When it came to his strategies at the plate, Pujols had long been of the idea that he just needed to hit the ball the other way, but Brown and the staff opened Pujols' eyes to taking different approaches with certain pitchers and pitch types.

Brown said that the Dodgers also hammered home the point that Pujols needed more bat speed, not strength. When Pujols asked Brown if he should play winter ball and gain muscle, Brown simply told Pujols that he needed to lose 20 pounds to be more limber in the box. Pujols took the advice to heart and shed the excess weight.

This simple but innovative approach to having Pujols adjust his game around what he had become rather than play as if he were still in his 20s appeared to work wonders for El Hombre, and Brown said that Pujols was one of the people who persuaded Cardinals manager Oli Marmol to give Brown an opportunity to interview for the team's hitting coach position.

Brown believes in implementing a system that allows players to have individual approaches but still participate in an overarching philosophy, where hitters are "pulling on the same side of the rope." As a coach who was able to provide novel ideas to one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball, Brown should have no problem communicating his messages to members of the Cardinals in 2025.