Selecting MLB's 2015 All-Underperformer Team
Whether they're based on past performance or projections based on ability, every player in baseball enters a new season with expectations hovering over their heads. When a player exceeds them, he's an overachiever. When he meets them, he's merely doing what he's supposed to.
When a player falls short of those expectations, he's an underperformer, someone we know is capable of much more but just can't get going for some reason. Maybe it's mental, maybe it's physical, maybe it's a combination of both. Or maybe a player is just really, really unlucky.
Whatever the reason, earning a spot on our all-underperformer team isn't something to be proud of. The good news for those included is that there's still plenty of baseball left, so they each have a chance to play their way off the squad.
The only requirement for inclusion is that a player must have at least 150 plate appearances, which removes those who have missed (or continue to miss) a significant amount of time due to injury from the equation.
Which players have stood out from their peers for all the wrong reasons? Let's take a look.
Catcher: Kurt Suzuki, Minnesota Twins
1 of 11
2015 Stats
| .224 | .291 | .585 | 8 (2) | 15 | 15 | 62 |
Nobody expected Kurt Suzuki to replicate his All-Star form from last year, but few figured the 31-year-old would be one of the least productive players in baseball.
Of the 229 players with at least 150 plate appearances, only 10 have fewer extra-base hits than Suzuki's eight. His .587 OPS is the 20th-lowest in that group, while only 15 players have posted a lower wRC+ than Suzuki's 62.
If there's a sliver lining, it's that Suzuki has been better behind the plate than he was during his All-Star campaign, according to Baseball Prospectus, and that the Twins are in first place despite getting almost no offensive production out of him.
First Base: Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals
2 of 11
2015 Stats
| .209 | .265 | .611 | 18 (5) | 34 | 22 | 66 |
Don't tell Ryan Zimmerman that the plantar fasciitis in his left foot, which recently landed him on the disabled list, has anything to do with his ability to perform. Because he's not having any of it, as he told the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes earlier this month:
"I mean, it bugs you, but just like everyone else in here that has something that bugs them, they play as well. It’s part of the season. Nobody ever feels good when they play. Everybody always has something they deal with. So if there was a point where it was hindering me, then I shouldn’t play.
"
While it's true that he's been in a slump—only four hits in his last 50 plate appearances (three singles and a double)—the fact that he's not been able to get out of it (remember, the injury isn't to blame) is concerning.
So too is his .611 OPS—nearly 200 points below his career mark (.818)—the 15th-worst among qualified batters and only a thousandth of a point below the next player on our squad of underperformers.
Second Base: Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners
3 of 11
2015 Stats
| .237 | .279 | .605 | 18 (2) | 25 | 25 | 71 |
Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon took to the MLB Network airwaves recently to declare that he and his coaching staff had fixed their $200 million second baseman, Robinson Cano: "Cano's problems have been 'mechanical; it's been more timing than anything, we think we got him back to where he needs to be.'"
Since that declaration on June 9, Cano has hit .179 (5-for-28) with four doubles. While his average isn't where it should be, it certainly seems like the power is returning for a man with only one round-tripper in his last 228 plate appearances.
That said, much of the blame for Seattle's season-long struggles rests with Cano, who has more than eight years and $192 million left on the mega-deal he signed as a free agent before the 2014 season. He's being paid to deliver an MVP-caliber performance, to play like a player that's capable of carrying his team.
We've yet to see that player so far in 2015.
Third Base: Lonnie Chisenhall, Cleveland Indians
4 of 11
2015 Stats
| .209 | .241 | .585 | 15 (4) | 19 | 19 | 61 |
Nobody would blame you if your first thought when looking at Lonnie Chisenhall was "Matt LaPorta 2.0," for Cleveland's former starting third baseman may have finally run out of chances in Drew Carey's favorite city.
Rather than build upon a career year in 2014, when he hit .280 with 13 home runs, 59 RBI and a .770 OPS, Chisenhall played his way into a demotion to Triple-A, replaced at the hot corner by prospect Giovanny Urshela,
You can't blame the Indians here, as Chisenhall ranked 25th among third basemen in RBI, 28th in slugging percentage, next-to-last in OPS and wRC+ and last in on-base percentage at the time of the change.
If the Tribe is going to make a run at a playoff spot, they need last year's version of Chisenhall back with the big club, swinging the bat like he's capable of.
Shortstop: Ian Desmond, Washington Nationals
5 of 11
2015 Stats
| .226 | .270 | .625 | 22 (5) | 17 | 28 | 71 |
It wasn't that long ago that we were talking about Ian Desmond as one of baseball's elite shortstops, worthy of inclusion in the debate over which player reigned supreme at the position. Heck, Washington went out and acquired its shortstop of the future over the winter (Trea Turner) in anticipation of losing Desmond as a high-priced free agent after the season.
He's never really gotten over the case of the yips that plagued his defense to begin the year, as his minus-16.3 UZR/150 is next-to-last among shortstops, 10th-worst among non-catchers and pitchers. It's carried over to the plate, where Desmond trails the likes of Erick Aybar and Andrelton Simmons in wRC+.
Things couldn't be going much worse for a player who led the position in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and trailed only Hanley Ramirez and Troy Tulowitzki in wRC+ from 2012 to 2014, per FanGraphs.
Washington needs a productive Desmond if it hopes to win its third division crown in the past five years. And with the way he's played thus far, the free-agent offers he figures to receive will be far lower than anyone anticipated.
Left Field: Melky Cabrera, Chicago White Sox
6 of 11
2015 Stats
| .240 | .278 | .555 | 6 (1) | 21 | 24 | 52 |
Coming off a two-year stint in Toronto that saw him hit .293 with a .340 on-base percentage and .761 OPS, Chicago signed Melky Cabrera to a three-year, $42 million deal with the expectation that he'd continue to produce at a high level.
Just over two months into the season, it's looked like a mistake. Cabrera's 52 wRC+ ranks last among 111 qualified outfielders and only looks slightly better when we expand the view to include all position players, where he's tied with Arizona's Chris Owings for next-to-last.
“He’s swung it better the past couple days,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura told CSN Chicago's JJ Stankevitz after Cabrera drew his first walk in more than 100 plate appearances last Wednesday, “and being able to hit it hard or take a walk is definitely a step in the right direction.”
While he's finally starting to show signs of life, hitting .417 (5-for-12) over his last three games and .381 (8-for-21) over the last week, Cabrera's going to have to produce like that for an extended period of time for him to not be one of baseball's worst underperformers.
Center Field: Billy Hamilton, Cincinnati Reds
7 of 11
2015 Stats
| .224 | .267 | .576 | 9 (3) | 17 | 30 | 57 |
It's easy to forget that up until last year's All-Star break, Billy Hamilton was hitting .285 with a .310 on-base percentage, a .743 OPS and looked like the favorite to be named the National League Rookie of the Year. That's the kind of player Cincinnati expected to see atop its lineup in 2015.
Instead, the Reds have the guy who showed up after the All-Star break, the one who hit .200 with a .511 OPS and looked nothing like baseball's next big thing.
Hamilton's .264 on-base percentage, .599 OPS and 62 wRC+ are the lowest of any leadoff hitter and part of the reason that he's been dropped to the bottom third of the order, despite a league-leading 31 stolen bases.
When he gets on base consistently, as he did Sunday night against the Cubs, when he went 2-for-3 with a walk and a career-high five stolen bases, you can understand just how dynamic of a game-changer he has the potential to be.
But until that consistency arrives, we'll view Hamilton as a chronic underperformer, wondering what could be if he ever put it all together.
Right Field: Matt Kemp, San Diego Padres
8 of 11
2015 Stats
| .249 | .289 | .629 | 17 (2) | 33 | 33 | 78 |
Anyone who didn't think a move to Petco Park wasn't going to have a negative impact on Matt Kemp's power was kidding themselves, but not even the most cynical among us could have foreseen Kemp going the entire month of May without a home run.
In fact, Kemp made 180 plate appearances between his first home run of the season (off Chicago's Kyle Hendricks on April 18) and his second (off Cincinnati's Michael Lorenzen on June 6).
“My main goal is not to hit home runs; of course, I'm considered a home run hitter, so when you don't hit home runs, people worry,” Kemp told Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Honestly, I’m not worried. I'm just trying to play every single game and get as many at-bats as I can, because I know I can do some things out there and be successful out there.”
Of course, we know Kemp is capable of turning it on without notice, as he did a year ago with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After hitting .269 with eight home runs and a .760 OPS in the season's first half, Kemp went deep 17 times in the second half, hitting .309 with a .971 OPS.
San Diego was banking on Kemp being able to put two of those halves together this year. The Padres would settle for three-and-a-half months of that Kemp in the heart of their lineup.
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
9 of 11
2015 Stats
| .229 | .313 | .727 | 21 (9) | 28 | 21 | 94 |
Whenever David Ortiz would fall into a funk over the past few seasons, cries of "it's over" and "he's done" were unleashed, only to be silenced when Boston's designated hitter started doing Big Papi things once again.
Because of that, we find Ortiz occupying our designated hitter spot. For while his nine home runs, 28 RBI and 94 wRC+ aren't terrible, they're not Big Papi-ish. Hey, when you're a dominant force for more than a decade, people begin to expect you to produce at that level every season.
And as ESPN's Buster Olney recently pointed out, the opposition now has a game plan on how to keep Ortiz from heating up:
"Ortiz's performance against left-handed pitching has become a major problem. He has a .123 on-base percentage against them (now down to .122), the worst of any major leaguer with at least 50 plate appearances against lefties this season.
"
While he's always been less productive against southpaws, he's never struggled against them like he is this season, which at least leaves some glimmer of hope that he'll be able to turn it around.
If Boston has any chance of climbing out of the basement in the AL East, they're going to need some vintage Papi leading the way.
Starting Pitcher: Julio Teheran, Atlanta Braves
10 of 11
2015 Stats
| 4-2 | 4.78 | 5.08 | 1.41 | 75.1 | 77 | 29/61 |
It only takes a quick look at Julio Teheran's numbers to know that the 24-year-old is underperforming, but Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez believes there's something else going on. He just doesn't know what that is.
"The way he has gone about executing his pitches is not the same Julio Teheran," Gonzalez told MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "Health-wise, he's fine. But it's not the same Julio Teheran from a year ago, when you gave him a lead and it was over."
Teheran's velocity remains about the same as it's been over the past two seasons when he solidified his place as one of the best young arms in the game, which makes you wonder whether he's overthinking things when he steps onto the mound.
Relief Pitcher: Fernando Rodney, Seattle Mariners
11 of 11
2015 Stats
| 2-3 | 6.75 | 5.20 | 1.74 | 25.1 | 31 | 13/22 |
Fernando Rodney has allowed at least one earned run in 10 of his last 15 relief appearances and has been temporarily replaced as Seattle's closer by Carson Smith. But manager Lloyd McClendon insists the switch is only temporary.
“When the pitching coach comes back to me and says, ‘We think we’ve got this mechanical stuff straightened out,’ he’ll pitch eighth and sometimes ninth innings,” McClendon told the Seattle Times' Matt Pentz.
That's great, except for the fact that Rodney, who has already blown three of his 17 save chances (after blowing three in 51 attempts a year ago) doesn't believe he has a mechanical issue.
“It’s not about mechanics,” Rodney told Pentz. “It’s about consistent pitching. Mechanical, it’s OK—it’s there. I watched the video, and everything is there. It’s about the command of the pitch. That’s what I worked on.”
Whatever the issue, Seattle needs Rodney to rediscover his All-Star form from a year ago if the team has any chance of making a run at a playoff berth that has eluded the Mariners since 2001.
Unless otherwise linked or noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs and are current through games of June 14. All contract information courtesy of Cot's Contracts.
Hit me up on Twitter to talk all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR.
.jpg?w=600 "Biggest Winners and Losers After 30 Games ⚾")
