2012 MLB: Pujols, Lincecum, Kemp and Others Cooled off but Will Recover

Mark Twain once wrote, "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Starting Giants Pitcher Tim Lincecum might agree as he is off to his coldest start in his young career.

The two-time Cy Young winner has been struggling with command and has allowed an uncharacteristic 41 runs in 60.1 innings pitched so far in 2012. But Timmy and Giants fans alike are hoping the fog will burn off and Lincecum will return to true form as the summer progresses.

As the month of June eases its way into the season, a number of other star players are feeling the chills as well. A cold start doesn't mean a cold finish. In the long season, players heat up and others break down.

Here's a list of some key players who will snap their funk and help their teams compete for a chance to play in October.

Add any comments or players you felt were left out in the conversation section below.

Albert Pujols

Its hard to tell who made the biggest media splash upon entering free agency: LeBron, Peyton or Pujols.

Albert Pujols left his maiden team, the St. Louis Cardinals, for the sun-soaked Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the next decade and nearly a quarter of a billion dollars compensation, But even bigger headlines than his new contract, were Pujols' early-season woes at the plate.

The three-time MVP opened his 2012 campaign with a brutal .194 average and a homerless stretch of 33 games and 139 at-bats. Watching Pujols falter is like seeing Barry Melrose without a mullet: it is unnatural and slightly disconcerting.

The struggles have permeated throughout the clubhouse. In the month of May, the Angels' sagged in hitting (ranked 22nd), batting average (14th) and on-base percentage (27th). The front office even fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, who sports a 12-year tenure in Anaheim and a World Series ring.

Former head coach, Tony La Russa, lent an explanation to the slow start in a recent interview with  St. Louis Today, The two regularly keep in touch, and La Russa noticed the slugger seemed distracted, a rare occurrence when he played for the Cardinals.

The pressure of impressing new fans, teammates and owners is partly to blame. But more importantly Pujols is struggling with being separated from his family, who stayed back in St. Louis until the end of the school year.  “I don’t think he wants sympathy; I just have an understanding of what he’s going through.”

But don't hit the panic button just yet. They call Pujols "The Machine" for a reason: he is consistently good. Already, Pujols has raised his average .41 points and has jumped out to 8 home runs. It won't be long until he is back to his usual numbers.

Stats:

AVG	HR	RBI	SO	BB
.235	8	29	18	28



Tim Lincecum

The Freak is having a freakishly poor start to the 2012 season. A losing record, an increase in walks, a bloated ERA, command problems, and missing velocity on his fastball, are all symptoms to the former Cy Young winner's struggles.

At the start of the season, Lincecum had a habit of giving up runs early, allowing 9 ER in the first inning alone this year. By the time May came around, he had replaced one problem with a new one, the land-mine inning where despite pitching well for a majority of his start, one bad inning sabotages the entire game.

Giants fans feel like they are in the midst of a game of Minesweep rather than watching baseball, sitting on edge fearing the pending explosion of runs. Lincecum is not his usual self, to say the least.

On the bright side, baseball has a long season with plenty of room for improvement. Lincecum has been doing better each start, most recently throwing seven innings allowing 2 runs, only one earned at home against the Diamondbacks.

Manager Bruce Bochy told CSN Bay Area insider Andrew Baggarly in reference to tightening his leash during his outings, “Unless his pitch count is up or he’s really struggling out there, I’m not going change anything. He’s so close. Every time he hits the mound, I think he’s going to have a good game.”

Stats:

W-L	ERA	BAA	SO	BB
2-6	5.82	.261	64	34

Roy Halladay

While his stats don't scream struggle, Roy Halladay's funk has become very apparent to Philadelphia fans following his disaster start against Miami where he was yanked in just the second inning, his second shortest start ever.

And if that wasn't concerning enough, he was placed on the DL, expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a lat muscle strain behind his right shoulder.  

Halladay, like Lincecum, has lost velocity on his fastball and is very inconsistent with his locations. Too often Halladay is leaving pitches up in the hit-me-zone rather than down below the knees where he so consistently get hitters to ground out.

The upswing: Philly is by no means out of the race in the competitive NL East. If they give Doc the time he needs to get healthy, he will be a significant contributor in their late-season push for October.

Plus, while Halladay is down, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. might consider trying to sign Cole Hamels as suggested by ESPN MLB Insider Jayson Stark.

Stats:

W-L	ERA	BAA	SO	BB
4-5	3.98	.252	56	14

Matt Kemp

Two weeks ago, Matt Kemp wasn't just hot; he was scalding. The MVP runner up was leading the league in HR on a team with the best record in MLB.

Fast forward to this week and Kemp is back on the DL with a nagging hamstring strain and the Dodgers lost 6 of 7, including four straight games. Things look bleak without their superstar, and San Francisco is pressing to take over the NL West.

It is unfortunate for the Dodgers, but at least the season is still young. It is important for Kemp to take his rehab seriously and be patient for it to heal. if he continues to spend 15-day stints on the DL, the Dodgers will drop off of the map.

He told the Huffington Post "I was happy to be back. It felt great, and I thought I was 100 percent. But now I'm going to be sitting out a while...I definitely have to take it slow and make sure it's healed." 

If he can get back to full health, LA's winning charge will likely pick back up before the All-Star Break. A sign that Kemp will still be hot when he returns, in his Double-A rehab assignment Kemp went 5-for-7 with two home runs and five RBI.

Stats:

AVG	HR	RBI	SO	BB
.296	12	28	30	21

Jose Bautista

Last year, Bautista was raking the ball in April, hitting .360 with nine home runs and 15 RBI.  This year, he saw a dramatic decline in his statline, batting . a weak .190 with 3 home runs, and 10 RBI. The difference in his performance is painstakingly apparent, and the Blue Jays were struggling as a result.

But a slow start is just that, a slow start. Although his average is subpar (.226), Bautista has crushed 14 HR and 37 RBI. Couple that with Edwin Encarnacion's breakout season, and the Jays are still competitive in the toughest division in baseball.

Bautista will keep swinging a heavy bat, with both RBI and slammers near the top of the ranks. His average will come around as the season progresses.

Stats:

AVG	HR	RBI	SO	BB
.226	14	37	39	30

The Brew Crew

Minus Prince Fielder, the Brewers are struggling to put hitting together. Instead of filling the void Prince's bat would leave in their four spot, two Brewer leaders have made it more apparent.

All-Star Rickie Weeks is hitting a pathetic .170 with 67 strikeouts, twice as many punchouts than he has hits. Stagnant isn't the way to describe it, he has been detrimental to the lineup.

Following up Weeks' struggles is Silver Slugger winner Aramis Ramirez who is batting a pitiful .158 with only one HR and six RBI.

Manager Rob Roenicke told Fox Sports Wisconsin "I still don't think he feels like he's really at the point where he's confident in what he's doing. We're seeing more good at-bats from him, but he's not locked in to where he feels, 'yeah, I got it.'"

Roenicke is not concerned because slow starts have been a steady habit of Ramirez, who at this point last year was hitting just as poorly before he had an offensive explosion.

Team leader and reigning MVP Ryan Braun is hitting well but a hip injury has kept him in and out of the line up. Don't be surprised if July is the month for the Brew Crew, as Weeks and Ramirez heat up, Ryan Braun stays healthy and the on-fire Jonathan Lucroy keeps spanking extra base hits.