The Biggest Busts of the 2022 MLB Season
Playoff baseball is living up to the hype so far. Players such as Julio Rodriguez, Yordan Álvarez, Ronald Acuña Jr., Trea Turner and Bryce Harper are among the stars leaving an impression.
We've watched former Cy Young Award winners such as Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray struggle on the mound (just two pitches for Ray on Tuesday before Alvarez launched a slider into Minute Maid Park's upper deck).
Here, we'll highlight some more underwhelming performances from the regular season, laying out the case for the season's biggest busts by evaluating production relative to expectation and reputation.
Nelson Cruz, Washington Nationals
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Nelson Cruz was supposed to be one of those older sluggers who benefitted from the universal DH since it appeared like he might be able to hit forever.
That seems like forever ago now.
Cruz signed a one-year, $15 million contract last offseason with the Washington Nationals, where he could only play into his 40s because of the new universal DH rule. It effectively expanded the market for his services.
Except Cruz did not hit well at all. He posted a career-low in slugging percentage and his worst batting average and OPS since 2006.
Not counting the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Cruz posted his lowest RBI total since 2008.
Cruz is not yet ready to retire, and maybe eye surgery for lingering inflammation does him some good. But based on this season, he is no longer that trade-deadline bat you pick up when you're looking to make a run.
Joey Bart, San Francisco Giants
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No one was expecting the rookie catcher to be Buster Posey. It was always going to be big shoes to fill, replacing a retiring Hall of Famer.
It's just that early on, Joey Bart did not even come close to meeting reasonable expectations. At one point, he had the highest strikeout rate in baseball and finished with the third-highest strikeout rate of any hitter with at least 250 at-bats.
The Giants sent him down to Triple-A in June, and he showed improvement over the next couple of months.
In August, Bart slashed .328/.371/.517 and cut down his strikeouts to 21 percent, easily his most productive month of the season. It trailed off again in the final month of the season, more in line with what he was doing before: a lot of strikeouts and not a ton of hard contact.
San Francisco has greater needs this offseason—re-signing Carlos Rodon (player option) and addressing the outfield chief among them. But the Giants will have to reconsider whether Bart is the answer at catcher.
Trevor Rogers, Miami Marlins
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This was not the sophomore year anyone anticipated for Trevor Rogers after he finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2021.
His numbers were worse across the board. Rogers' ERA jumped from 2.64 in 2021 to 5.47 this past season. His xFIP went from 3.54 last year to 4.11 this season.
Part of the issue with Rogers in 2022 was health. He spent a month on the injured list with back spasms and then was shut down in mid-September with a lat strain.
He started pitching better after the first IL stint, but his ERA was over 5.00 every month in which he pitched more than three games.
The Marlins have a surplus of starting pitching, and it was always likely someone would get moved this offseason, but suddenly Rogers has lost quite a bit of value on the trade market.
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Jarred Kelenic, Seattle Mariners
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Jarred Kelenic was one of MLB's top prospects in 2021, but he still has not lived up to the hype. Last year, he slashed .181/.265/.350 with 14 home runs and a strikeout percentage of 28.1.
This year, he was even worse, regressing to a .141/.221/.313 slash line with seven home runs and increasing the strikeouts to 33.7 percent.
The Mariners optioned him to Triple-A twice this year as he struggled to hit big league pitching. Now, Seattle is relying on him to play a major role in its first postseason run since 2001. His opportunity at redemption came when Julio Rodriguez hit the injured list, and Rodriguez's return has since moved Kelenic to left field.
But Kelenic was once supposed to be of a similar talent level as Rodriguez. Whereas now, the Mariners would settle for any kind of big league-caliber contribution from him.
Spencer Torkelson, Detroit Tigers
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Spencer Torkelson has already been dubbed one of the biggest losers of the regular season. It's only fitting he be considered one of the biggest busts.
Think back to the beginning of the season, when Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Torkelson were all considered among the favorites to win American League Rookie of the Year. Jeremy Peña also made noise early, and when the Baltimore Orioles called up Adley Rutschman, there was another top prospect who could be in the running.
Then Torkelson just never quite showed up like the rest of those guys did at various points of the season.
In fact, he looked overwhelmed at times.
Torkelson ranked in the bottom 15 among qualified rookies in wRC+ and recorded more strikeouts (99) than hits (73).
This was an overall disappointing season for the Tigers, and Torkelson was not their only problem. What's concerning is that he didn't look much like part of the solution, either.
Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto Blue Jays
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Just in 2021, Yusei Kikuchi was named an All-Star. It may be hard to believe considering how he performed for Toronto this year, but we're not far removed from him being a productive pitcher.
Ever since last year's All-Star nod, Kikuchi has not been the same. He was good enough in a contract year to land a three-year, $36 million deal with the Blue Jays. But they had to almost immediately have buyer's remorse.
Kikuchi went three consecutive months with an ERA higher than 6.00 from June through August. He was even demoted from the Jays rotation to the bullpen in August, a clear sign of the team losing patience with a key free-agent acquisition as they fought for a wild-card spot.
With Toronto losing last year's AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray in free agency, the replacement was Kevin Gausman, who was outstanding this year.
But it was largely because of Kikuchi's underperformance that the back end of the rotation left so much to be desired.
Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers/San Diego Padres
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At least for a while, Josh Hader didn't work much as a trade chip or an acquisition.
His departure from Milwaukee had a more pronounced impact on the clubhouse than president of baseball operations David Stearns anticipated.
The players Milwaukee got in return—pitchers Taylor Rogers and Dinelson Lamet, pitching prospect Robert Gasser and outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz—did nothing to raise the Brewers' ceiling this year as they failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2017.
Hader was also so bad when he initially arrived to the Padres that they temporarily pulled him from closer duties. His ERA in 19 regular-season games with San Diego was 7.31.
Hader secured the final out of the Wild Card Round to help San Diego advance, and perhaps he's back to his old self. He hasn't given up an earned run since Sept. 5.
But he still needs a big postseason moment or two to get off this list.
Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles/Houston Astros
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Astros fans were led to believe Trey Mancini was good.
He has not been good for Houston.
The idea at the deadline was the Astros had holes in a few key areas: left field, because of the shoulder injury to Michael Brantley, who platooned in left and as DH with Yordan Alvarez; first base, because Yuli Gurriel at the time was hitting like a shell of his AL batting champion self; and catcher, because Martin Maldonado and Jason Castro are awesome defensively but can't hit the side of a fire station.
Insert Mancini, who's played left field and first base, to address two needs with one player.
Well, apparently the Astros don't trust him to play much defense. Twenty of his 51 games with them were as the DH, 17 in left field, 10 at first base and one in right field. He also pinch hit twice.
In Game 1 of the ALDS on Tuesday, the Astros put Alvarez (primary DH) in left field and Mancini as DH.
Here's the issue with that: he's not hitting. Mancini is slashing .176/.258/.364 with Houston. Those aren't the kind of offensive numbers you want to see from a designated hitter.
Craig Kimbrel, Los Angeles Dodgers
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Craig Kimbrel is likely a Hall of Fame closer, yet the last two teams to employ him did not feel like he was the best option for that role.
It started last year when he was traded crosstown from the Chicago Cubs to the White Sox, who already had their own All-Star closer in Liam Hendriks. White Sox management struggled to establish a defined role for Kimbrel, and the experiment bombed.
In April, the White Sox traded him to the Dodgers for A.J. Pollock. The Dodgers were trying to replace Kenley Jansen, who left in free agency for Atlanta.
By the end of September, Kimbrel had lost his closer duties and the Dodgers were getting it done by committee. He posted the highest ERA (3.75) of his career with at least 60 appearances.
All of this culminated in Kimbrel being left off the Dodgers' NLDS roster.
Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees
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With all of the hype around Aaron Judge pursuing the Yankees' and American League home run record, Giancarlo Stanton's second-half struggles seemed to be pushed to the back burner.
What is supposed to make the Yankees lineup so scary is having both Judge and Stanton in it. They are two of the most feared power hitters in baseball.
But Stanton's post-All-Star numbers would strike fear into no one. He slashed .151/.246/.336 over 119 at-bats. For the season, Stanton hit .211/.297/.462 with a 113 OPS+, down from his 141 career average.
It didn't stop the Yankees from winning the AL East and locking in the No. 2 seed, but they certainly need him to be better in the postseason if they are to appear in their first World Series since winning it in 2009.
Robbie Ray, Seattle Mariners
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The Mariners may have thought they were signing an AL Cy Young-caliber pitcher when they brought in Robbie Ray, considering he'd just won the award.
He did not pitch like one in 2022.
Ray posted a 3.71 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 32 starts. That's a decent-sized drop-off from the 2.84 ERA and 1.04 WHIP he had in his Cy Young season with the Toronto Blue Jays.
To make matters worse, Ray was terrible against the division foe Houston Astros, also the Mariners' biggest challenge in the AL. In the regular season, Ray allowed 23 hits, including six home runs, and 13 earned runs in 10.2 innings against Houston.
This made the decision to pitch him against Yordan Alvarez in Game 1 of the ALDS on Tuesday even more curious.
To call it buyer's remorse would be dramatic, but there's no question Ray has underperformed during his biggest tests for Seattle.
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