MLB Power Rankings: David Ortiz and the 15 Slowest Starters in Baseball
If you’ve ever tried working out on a regular basis, you know that if you stop for over five months, you don’t start the same way you finished.
This is exactly like baseball. If you haven’t seen a pitcher’s best slider or 12-6 curve in over five months, you won’t adjust to it very quickly.
Sure, spring training is supposed to help out both the pitchers and hitters, but the pitchers usually save their best stuff for simulated games and the regular season.
A combination of this and the fact that the weather can be cold and make it very hard for fly balls to become home runs leads to some hitters having very bad starts to the season.
Likewise with pitchers, if you haven’t been pitching your breaking balls and getting command of your fastballs down for a long time, you are not in peak performance.
Many exercise science doctors agree that it takes at least 30 days to get into the best shape possible, and only three to become out of shape. This still holds true for professional athletes, and this can lead to terrible starts to the season.
These 15 guys are the slowest starters to the beginning of the season, and they also have the biggest drop-offs from their regular season stats in April.
15. Kevin Kouzmanoff, Oakland Athletics
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Kevin Kouzmanoff is a slow starter in terms of power.
From 2008 to 2010, April is actually his third best month in term of batting average, but just because he makes contact does not mean that he is necessarily good in the season’s beginning. A good indicator of this is his slugging percentage. In April Kouzmanoff is slugging .339, the lowest of any month in which he has 20+ at bats.
Kouzmanoff has only four home runs and 29 RBIs in April, both being the worst of any month from April to September.
One of the best indicators of his struggles is the fact that he has more than twice his April home runs (nine) and four more RBIs (33) in September. This by itself is not impressive, but he has done that in over 100 at bats less than in April.
Kouzmanoff is a good example of a guy who is not thought of as a slow starter, but he actually is.
14. Delmon Young, Minnesota Twins
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Delmon Young has been a clutch player in the postseason, but he has struggled from 2008 to 2010 in April and May.
Young has tremendous struggles in April, which is his second-lowest month in terms of batting average (.242), and also his lowest month in terms of runs (26), RBIs (26), and tied for his lowest in home runs (3).
In May, Young has the counterpart to his home runs in April (3), and he also has his second worst month in terms of RBIs (30), and a down month in batting average (.274). While Young starts to get into the swing of things in May, he still has a bad month.
Young's early number are a far cry from his month of October, in which he hits .406, slugs .844, and has four home runs and 13 RBIs in only 40 at bats and 15 hits. This is startling since he hits more dingers in October than in either April or May, in an average of 188 fewer at bats.
Young is clutch when it matters, but he needs to figure out his game in the early months if he wants to become great.
13. Adam LaRoche, Washington Nationals
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Over the past three full seasons, LaRoche has been a slow starter for sure.
April and May are LaRoche’s worst months for batting average, hits, home runs and slugging percentage. The first two months are two of his three worst in on base percentage and RBIs, while May is the month in which he has the most at bats.
LaRoche’s lack of production in early months does not accurately depict a good hitter who can hit for both power and average.
LaRoche is a consistent .260-.280 hitter, and has maxed out at .285. He is also a consistent 20+ home run hitter, and has hit 25 homers in each of the last three seasons, while maxing out at 32 in 2006.
LaRoche has had some struggles in the early part of the season, but the lowly Nationals need him to contribute to have a decent season.
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12. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
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Pedroia came out hot in April in 2010, but I do not see him doing it again. Throughout his career, Pedroia has been a slow starter, and one good season is no reason to change our opinions about him.
April is a down month for Pedroia, and in his five seasons he produces these numbers: .279 BA, .345 OBP, .426 SLG, .771 OPS.
Pedroia is a slow starter for sure, but he usually bounces back to have good seasons, and no one really notices his struggles except for Red Sox fans, and a few well-informed individuals.
The Red Sox need Pedroia to come out hot if they want to hold off their divisional rival New York Yankees.
11. CC Sabathia, New York Yankees
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Sometimes it can be hard to tell that a pitcher is struggling in the beginning because we are just getting used to them pitching in real games again but C.C. makes it pretty obvious that he’s not as fierce as usual in April.
Over the past three full seasons, CC’s struggles in April have been worse than usual. C.C. has posted a 5.00 ERA (the worst of any month by far), and a 5-7 record despite having one of the best offenses in the game behind him.
Opponents seem to make good contact against CC because they are hitting .259 against him in April, the second worst of any month.
CC usually dominates after April, but if he wants to become a Cy Young pitcher he needs to figure things out a month or two earlier.
10. Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies
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Cole Hamels is one of the most underrated pitchers in the game, but that could be because of his struggles early on.
During the 2008-2010 span, Hamels has produced a mere 4.43 ERA, a 5-7 record, and a very poor WHIP.
Hamels always starts out slowly, but he heats up with the weather. Hamels’ ERA gets better and better every month except for the change between July and August, and he gets hot at the right time to push the Phillies into the playoffs, boasting a 2.76 ERA in September.
The former World Series MVP usually hits some turbulence early on, but if he figures it out this year, the Phillies will be unstoppable with their rotation.
9. Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
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Prince Fielder is in his last season with the Brew Crew, and he needs to post some good numbers if he wants to make some good money at the end of the season.
Fielder is a slow starter, unfortunately, and his numbers in April are startlingly poor. Fielder hits a mere .243 in April, slugs .418, and has an on-base percentage of .377. These are all monthly lows.
Fielder's run production is even worse than his percentages. Fielder has only hit nine home runs in April over the last three seasons. To put that in perspective, what Fielder has done in three months of April, Alex Rodriguez has done more than that in one. Nine home runs are half of the next lowest month for Fielder, and his RBIs have suffered accordingly.
Fielder has only recorded 46 RBIs and 34 runs in the past three Aprils, both of which are monthly lows.
If Fielder wants to make big bucks, he needs to figure out what’s been going wrong in April and fix it.
8. Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals
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Matt Holliday is one of the best right-handed hitters in the game, but you wouldn’t know it if you just looked at his stats from April.
Over the past three Aprils, Holliday has hit only .279, and it is the only month that he does not hit over .300. Holliday has also only racked up nine home runs, 36 RBI, and 38 runs scored.
April is the only month in which he has not recorded at least 10-40-40 in these categories.
Holliday has had an appendectomy and is expected to miss the week. If Holliday can’t get back into the swing of things right when he comes back, his April blues could follow him into May.
7. Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
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Lester is a big-time struggler out of the gate, and he is going to need to turn things around if the Boston Red Sox want to take the AL East, which is wide open.
Lester’s career numbers in April are startling, considering he is arguably the best pitcher on an incredible Boston starting pitching staff.
Lester has compiled these numbers in April: 3-6, 4.76 ERA and 1.505 WHIP. Lester needs a big improvement from 2010 when he posted a 1-2 record with a 4.71 ERA and 1.430 WHIP.
Any improvement will bring Red Sox fans joy, and it could give Lester a legitimate shot at the AL Cy Young now that they have lost two of their best pitchers in Zack Greinke and Cliff Lee.
6. Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers
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The April storms of rain (and in some cases snow) seem to give Adrian Beltre a power-outage. Beltre’s average is not too bad in April, but his power numbers are utterly depressing.
Beltre’s average in April in decent at .277, even if it is his second lowest average of any month over the last three seasons.
During the 2008-2010 span, Beltre has hit only five home runs in April, and scored 30 runs and knocked in 29 runs, both of which are monthly lows per at-bat.
Beltre can be a great player, but if he can’t get it going early for the Rangers, they might not be able to take the division crown, and they won’t even have the chance to defend their AL pennant.
5. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
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Justin Verlander is definitely an ace. He is by and large one of the best pitchers in the game today, but you wouldn’t know it if you looked at his stats in April.
In his career in April, Verlander has posted a 7-11 record, an ERA of 5.53, and a WHIP of 1.361.
Over the past three seasons, he has been even worse, with a 3-8 record and a 6.30 ERA. April is one of only two months that he has not completed at least two games, and he has not had a complete game in 15 starts.
Verlander is mediocre at best in the beginning of the season, and that is not going to fly if he wants to win an AL Cy Young.
4. Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
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Troy Tulowitzki is the best hitter on the Rockies, and the team always seems to get off to a slow start. That’s probably because of how poorly Tulo start the season. Troy is one of the worst starters in the MLB, and his April numbers are ridiculously lower than the other months.
For his career in April, Tulowitzki averages these numbers: .224 BA, .305 OBP, .357 SLG, .662 OPS. These numbers are not what you want from your best hitter in any category. The scariest thing about these numbers is how far they are away from his usual numbers.
For the next closest of any months in these categories, Tulowitzki has these numbers: .281 BA, .356 OBP, .434 SLG, .799 OPS. Tulo has a difference of over .050 in every category, and over .100 in OPS.
If Tulowitzki can’t get it going earlier, the Rockies could fall too far behind the rest of the NL West to take the division.
3. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
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Ryan Howard has one of the most powerful swings in baseball, and he is characterized as a power hitter.
Whether it is the cold of Philadelphia in April, or the fact that he is not quite used to seeing the ball, Howard struggles early.
In his career in April, Howard has hit only 21 HR and knocked in 69 RBI. The next lowest total for homers in any month is 37 in June. Howard's .250 BA, .445 SLG and .794 OPS are by far worse in April than any other month.
Howard has shown some signs of improvement recently because he has started training earlier, but he is still underperforming in April, and he needs to pick it up a little bit more if he wants to return to his MVP form.
2. Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
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To say Teixeira is a slow starter is an understatement. He is one of the best all-around hitters when he is on, yet in April, he is one of the worst players in the game in April.
Teixeira is a 30-home run hitter, and he hits around .300, but in April he averages three home runs and hits around .200.
Last season was one of Teixeira’s worst, hitting .136, with three home runs, nine RBI, .300 OBP, .259 SLG, .559 OPS.
Teixeira needs to get things started about a month earlier, and if he actually can start hitting in April, he could hit over .300, and easily reach 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.
1. David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
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We all know that Big Papi is, well, pathetic in April. He is arguably the worst player in the beginning of the season, and his numbers make Red Sox fans want to cry.
Anyone who knows baseball knows about his struggles in the beginning of the season, and he has not been getting better over recent years unlike other players on this list (despite doing well the first three games of the 2011 season).
Ortiz has never recorded a hit in March in 10 at bats, and Ortiz set an all-time low in April of 2010, with this being his line: .143 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .238 OBP, .286 SLG and .524 OPS. If Ortiz was playing for the Phillies I would have wanted him hitting after the pitchers.
Somehow Ortiz gets hot in May, and in 2011 he more than doubled his OPS, raising it to 1.211. It is unreal, this improvement, and if he can start this well, he could come back to MVP form.
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