Ranking the 10 Biggest Disasters of 2023 MLB Season's 1st Month
On Friday morning, we ran down the biggest surprises from the first month of the 2023 MLB season, and now it's time for the other side of the coin.
From a team standpoint, the Chicago White Sox are floundering once again, while early struggles from the San Francisco Giants' cast of offseason pickups has left them on the outskirts of contention once again.
Individually, second baseman Kolten Wong is one of the biggest early disappointments, and both Jake McCarthy and Cole Irvin struggled to the point of already being demoted to the minors after solid 2022 campaigns.
Ahead, we've highlighted the 10 biggest disasters of the season's first month, and while there is still time for these individuals and teams to turn things around, the troubling early trends can't be ignored.
Edward Cabrera, Miami Marlins
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Armed with a mid-90s fastball that touches triple-digits, a swing-and-miss changeup and a pair of breaking pitches, Miami Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera has some of the best pure stuff in baseball.
He made 14 starts last season, posting a 3.01 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 75 strikeouts in 71.2 innings, and he was one of my breakout picks heading into the 2023 season slotted alongside Sandy Alcantara and Jesús Luzardo atop the Miami rotation.
At surface level, there are other pitchers who are off to a worse start. Over five appearances, he has gone 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA and 9.8 K/9, but it's his complete lack of control that has landed him on this list.
The 25-year-old leads all pitchers who have tallied at least 20 innings of work with a 19.2 percent walk rate, racking up 20 free passes in 22 innings. He issued 13 walks over 6.2 innings in his first two starts, so things are trending in the right direction, but he has not taken the step forward the Marlins were no doubt banking on when they pulled the trigger on trading away Pablo López.
Cole Irvin, Baltimore Orioles
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The Baltimore Orioles failed to make a splashy addition to their young starting rotation in free agency, settling on signing veteran Kyle Gibson to replace Jordan Lyles as the elder statesman on the staff.
However, they did swing an intriguing under-the-radar deal to acquire controllable left-hander Cole Irvin from the Oakland Athletics in late-January, and he began the year slotted in the No. 3 starter role.
The Athletics acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for cash considerations prior to the 2021 season, and in his two years in Oakland he logged a 4.11 ERA over 62 starts while chewing up 359.1 innings, and the O's were hoping he could be a similar workhorse in 2023.
He made just three starts before he was optioned to Triple-A after posting an unsightly 10.66 ERA with 17 hits and 15 earned runs allowed in 12.2 innings while opponents hit .327/.413/.538 against him. With a 5.73 ERA in 11 innings in the minors, it's clear he has some work to do before he returns to the big leagues.
Jake McCarthy, Arizona Diamondbacks
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Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Jake McCarthy was one of the breakout offensive stars of the 2022 season, hitting .283/.342/.427 for a 118 OPS+ with 27 extra-base hits and 23 steals in 99 games to finish fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting.
The 25-year-old was expected to be a centerpiece of the D-backs lineup and the everyday right fielder this year, joining Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas to form one of the best young outfields in baseball.
Instead, he hit .143/.229/.238 with a 30 OPS+ over his first 70 plate appearances before he was optioned to Triple-A earlier this week.
With Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Pavin Smith also in the mix for playing time in the outfield alongside the two other up-and-comers the D-backs have alternate options, but it has nonetheless been a disastrous start to the year for someone projected to be a 2.1-WAR player in 2023.
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Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals
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Brady Singer took his lumps during his first two years in the big leagues, but he took a significant step forward last season when he finished 10-5 with a 3.23 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 150 strikeouts in 153.1 innings.
The 26-year-old has always had frontline potential going back to his time at the University of Florida when he was in the conversation to go No. 1 overall in the 2018 draft, and on a young, rebuilding Royals team, he had seemingly emerged as a long-term building block.
After earning a spot on the Team USA roster in the World Baseball Classic, he started the team's home opener and allowed two hits and one run over five strong innings.
He was equally solid last time out, tossing six innings of five-hit, one-run ball against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, but in between he was knocked around to the tune of a 10.13 ERA in his other three starts.
Can he find some consistency and return to the form he showed last season?
Kolten Wong, Seattle Mariners
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Kolten Wong posted a career-high 118 OPS+ last season with 24 doubles, 15 home runs, 47 RBI and 17 steals in a 3.1-WAR season. It was the second year in a row and the sixth time in his career he has been at least a 2-WAR player.
Much of his value over the years has come from his glove, and he is a two-time Gold Glove winner at second base, so even with some offensive regression he still brought an extremely high floor in terms of value.
The Seattle Mariners sent last year's failed trade pick-up Jesse Winker and versatile infielder Abraham Toro to the Milwaukee Brewers as a replacement for departing Adam Frazier at second base, and he was expected to be an offensive catalyst alongside Julio Rodríguez at the top of the order.
The 32-year-old has quickly slid down the batting order while hitting .153/.250/.169 with only one extra-base hit in 68 plate appearances. Even more surprising have been his defensive struggles (-8 DRS, -7.7 UZR/150), leaving him as a minus-0.9 WAR player through 19 games.
Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers
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With a first-round pedigree and stellar numbers in the minor leagues, first baseman Spencer Torkelson and outfielder Riley Greene were expected to be the centerpiece of the Detroit Tigers latest rebuilding efforts.
Unfortunately, neither lived up to expectations during their rookie seasons:
That said, Greene (22) and Torkelson (23) are still years from reaching their respective primes, and optimism remains that the duo can take a step forward during the 2023 season.
Let's check in on how that's going:
- Torkelson (2023): 100 PA, 68 OPS+, .220/.260/.330, 20.0 K%, -0.1 WAR
- Greene (2023): 102 PA, 76 OPS+, .223/.284/.330, 32.4 K%, 0.1 WAR
If that high-upside duo can't get things going at the plate, it's a major setback for the team's future outlook.
The Cleveland Guardians' 2022 Breakout Players
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The Cleveland Guardians won 92 games and swept the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Series last season on the strength of a long list of breakout players alongside the star duo of José Ramírez and Shane Bieber.
First baseman Josh Naylor, second baseman Andrés Giménez, outfielders Steven Kwan and Oscar Gonzalez, starting pitchers Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill and reliever Sam Hentges all had the best year of their young careers in 2022.
This year, not so much:
- Josh Naylor: 69 OPS+, .197/.267/.329, -0.6 WAR
- Andrés Giménez: 98 OPS+, .253/.337/.356, 0.9 WAR
- Steven Kwan: 92 OPS+, .258/.357/.309, -0.2 WAR
- Oscar Gonzalez: 50 OPS+, .197/.222/.311, -0.4 WAR
- Triston McKenzie: Injured, has not pitched
- Cal Quantrill: 5 GS, 5.40 ERA, 25.0 IP, 0.1 WAR
- Sam Hentges: Injured, has not pitched
That group will need to pick things up if the Guardians hope to build off last year's success and make another playoff run.
The San Francisco Giants' Offseason
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The San Francisco Giants made a serious run at signing both Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa during the offseason, ultimately whiffing on both before pivoting to secondary targets to bolster the roster.
They ended up signing Mitch Haniger (3/$43.5M), Michael Conforto (2/$36M), Taylor Rogers (3/$33M), Sean Manaea (2/$25M) and Ross Stripling (2/$25M) to multiyear deals, and so far those additions have been a whiff across the board.
The Giants entered play on Friday with an 11-14 record sitting fourth in the NL West standings, and the lack of impact from their offseason moves is one of the biggest reasons for their early struggles.
Biggest NL Disaster: St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals have a serious starting pitching problem.
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery is off to a solid start once again following last season's stellar run over the final two months, but Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Jake Woodford all have a 5.00 FIP or higher.
Veteran Adam Wainwright will return soon to provide a boost and top prospect Matthew Liberatore is throwing well at Triple-A, but it might take more than their own in-house arms to make this a competitive staff.
With a 6-11 record and 4.96 ERA through 26 games, the rotation has been the clear weakness for a team that is 10-16 with a minus-five run differential after starting the year as the favorites to repeat as NL Central champions.
Biggest AL Disaster: Chicago White Sox
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After back-to-back playoff appearances in 2020 and 2021, and with a solid core in place both in the starting lineup and in the rotation, the Chicago White Sox appeared set to contend for the foreseeable future heading into last season.
Instead, a clueless manager and some key injuries made them one of the most disappointing teams in baseball last year, and they finished 81-81 and a distant second place behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
With a new manager at the helm and a healthy roster, expectations return for a team with plenty of talent, but they have stumbled out of the gates once again with a 7-19 record and minus-58 run differential entering play on Friday.
They rank 24th in batting average (.231), 27th in OPS (.662), 22nd in runs scored (101), 29th in team ERA (5.75), 26th in starters' ERA (5.55) and 29th in bullpen ERA (6.06). Simply put, it's been bad across the board for the South Siders.
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