Friday, June 15th, 2007 by Matt Felser
Top 10 MLB Underachievers a.k.a My Fantasy Team
Performance in the big leagues is unpredictable, just like having your FiOS installed by illegal immigrants. Players become all-stars one year and disappear the next. There is, however, no way to avoid high expectations. Excluding those who have been hurt all year (namely Pedro Martinez, Francisco Liriano, and Nick Johnson), these are the 10 biggest disappointments so far, in no particular order.
Anibal Sanchez - Coming off of a rookie year with the Florida Marlins where he pitched a no-hitter and was very solid overall, Sanchez has spent the past month and a half in the minors. Upon further inspection, its easy to see why he started the season 0-2. His opponent’s batting average has gone from .217 to an incredibly high .341. Meanwhile, his opponent’s slugging percentage ballooned to .500, meaning that approximately every other batter got on base. This popular sleeper pick never woke up. In fact, neither has most of the Marlin’s rotation, with Dontrelle Willis and Scott Olsen both failing to reach their potential.
Ervin Santana - Another stellar pitcher last year, his record has dropped from 16-8 to 5-6. Plus, his ERA has risen a full point to 5.26. At his current pace, he is going to let up twice as many homeruns as he did last year. After showing promise the past two years, this third-year veteran’s skills appear to have recessed. His seeming inability to get outs away from Angel Stadium of Anaheim has severely affected his stats. For instance, in 7 road starts the young thrower has pitched 36 innings. In 6 home starts, he has thrown 41 innings. Further proof? On the road, hitters have a .333 batting average against him, resulting in a 8.50 ERA. At home, Santana is borderline dominant, with hitters averaging .222, giving Santana a 2.42 ERA.
Ryan Howard – He is excused a bit because he was hurt for a while, but he certainly left many fantasy teams hanging (mine included). He’s on pace to finish around 20 homers shy of last years output. His troubles extend to his hitting in general, with his average dropping an incredible 74 points, to a measly .239. Phillies fans are being driven crazy by Howard’s sudden power outage, as his slugging percentage has dropped off 138 points from last year. Hopefully, these are only residual from the injury and he’ll be fine coming down the stretch to complement Aaron Rowand’s outstanding season. At least one Pennsylvania team has a shot at the playoffs…
Robinson Cano – Here we have yet another player in a third year slump. His batting average has dropped 73 points from .342 to .269, which is still modest but his RBI totals have plummeted as well.. However, his strikeout totals are rapidly nearing their numbers from last year through half as many games. Cano’s sudden drop in production could be part of the reason why the New York Yankees see the Boston Red Sox running away with the division and are already 8 games out.
Brian McCann – Honestly, whats up with third year players? Do they get a little too comfortable or something? McCann’s average dropped 60 points this year, from a very impressive .333 to a Xavier Nady-esque .273. His power has dropped tremendously, as shown by his 3 homers compared to 24 last year. While he is certainly outperforming other catchers, such as Ronny Paulino and Jason Kendall, fans were expecting more from him this year.
Barry Zito – As a big name acquisition for the San Francisco Giants, Zito was supposed to make a huge difference for his team. In reality, he has been a non-factor, going 6-6 in 13 starts and carrying an ERA just over 4. Not once in his career has Zito been under .500, and he recently had 23-5 and 17-8 seasons. However, it would appear that he was not worth the $10 million salary that the Giants are shelling out to him.
Mariano Rivera – Though still a solid closer, a game’s outcome is no longer guaranteed when Rivera steps to the mound. He only has 8 saves this year, way of off his pace from prior years. Additionally, he has already blown two saves, after only three last year and four each of the two prior years. Meanwhile, he has watched his ERA rise to 3.96, the highest since his first season in the league and more than double each of the last 4 years. We might need to start lowering our expectations for Rivera as he approaches his 38th birthday.
Edwin Encarnacion – His stats aren’t that bad, just a little behind last year’s paces. In fact, his fielding percent has improved from his dismal .910. However, he was a little too lazy to run out a pop fly that was eventually dropped, drawing the ire of Cincinnati Reds manager Jerry Narron. After running his mouth a bit, Encarnacion got demoted to AAA for 12 days until Josh Hamilton was hurt. It definitely doesn’t help teams, real or fantasy, if a player needlessly disappears for the better part of two weeks. Speaking of weeks…
Rickie Weeks – Again, getting hurt and missing time doesn’t help, but neither does a batting average that fell 36 points. Plus, Weeks couldn’t field a beachball. He is being completely overshadowed by teammates Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy. At least he’s not the most disappointing player in the NL Central.
Zach Duke – This list wouldn’t be complete without a Pirates player. I could have named a handful (Jack Wilson, Adam LaRoche, Paulino, et. al.). The team’s opening day starter is on the verge of being sent to the minors. Two years ago, he had the same number of starts as he has had last year. That season, he let up 43 less hits, 34 less runs, and most importantly, had 5 more wins. Since then, he has continued to disappoint much in the way that Oliver Perez did a few years ago (and continued to disappoint until he escaped Pittsburgh). Going 3-6 in 14 starts doesn’t cut it, even for the Pirates.
Wow. I picked the players kind of randomly as I wrote this, but I came across some very interesting similarities. The majority of players on the list are between their second or fourth year in the league. I guess we should expect less from these guys and not mistake flash-in-the-pan talent for greatness. Zito and Rivera are just a couple of pitchers with dying arms, playing towards the end of their prime. Neither the young nor the old are immune to underachieving.
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