Top 5 Cincinnati Reds killers since 1970: The hitters edition

3. Albert Pujols owned the Reds during his time in St. Louis.

For the better part of a decade as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, Albert Pujols was the best player in the National League, and it wasn’t close. Pujols led the league in homers, doubles, RBIs, hits, runs, and batting average during his time in the senior circuit.

Playing in the shadow of the Arch, The Machine made nine All-Star teams, won six Silver Slugger awards, three MVPs, two Gold Gloves, Rookie of the Year, and a batting title. He’s arguably the greatest right-handed hitter in baseball history.

As fate would have it, the Reds rolled out one of the worst pitching staffs in the NL during much of Pujols’ time in St. Louis, and he took full advantage. Pujols has launched 47 round-trippers against Reds pitching while slashing .344/.424/.629 with a 147 RBI in 180 contests.

One pitcher who failed spectacularly against Pujols was former Reds reliever, David Weathers. Squaring off against each other 23 times, Pujols would slash .550/.609/1.300 with four homers, including a walk-off and a grand slam. Only once did Weathers issue an intentional pass, and it just happened to be sandwiched between Pujols homers.

Since joining the Los Angeles Angels before the 2012 season, the Reds and Pujols’ paths have, thankfully, rarely crossed. However, in eight games against the Reds with the Angels, The Machine took Dan Straily deep in 2016 for old time’s sake. Oh, the memories.