10 Most Notorious Slow Starters in Spring Training

Do you smell it? Fresh cut outfield grass, wet dirt and freshly laced balls...spring training is just around the corner!

It's the best time of the year to be a baseball fan. If you're like me, all your time is taken up joining fantasy leagues, watching coverage online and tweeting at your favorite players.

It's time for everyone to show a little love to baseball. But it's still spring training. The name in itself implies that it's nothing more than preparing for the season ahead. The games don't matter to most established players and the full effort we expect is sometimes overshadowed by greater needs—healing, getting back in shape, honing that curveball.

So while I'm not a big fan of placing much emphasis on spring performances, there are a handful of players who routinely seem to start especially slow in spring training.

Here are 10 of them:

1. Kevin Youkilis

Youk has had a couple pretty good Springs in his day. And lately, he's been slowed by healing injuries as he prepares for the season. But just take a look at last year to get an idea of how poorly he normally starts:

.175/0/4 in 21 games with 15 strikeouts. Yuck.

In nearly 300 spring training games in his career, Youk has a .285 average with just 13 home runs.

He usually makes up for it during the regular season, but clearly, Youkilis is not into the whole baseball-in-March thing.

2. Corey Hart

In 2009, Hart tore the league up, jacking seven homers and hitting over .350. And that's his spring training moment in the sun. Because every other year, he's been a joke.

For his career, Hart is a .264 spring training hitter. What's most troubling is he averages 19 strikeouts in 20 games played through his spring career.

When you're sporting a cool 5:20 walk to strikeout ratio as a hitter, you might want to consider reporting with pitchers and catchers from now on.

3. Michael Bourn

Attention leadoff hitters: skip this slide. This is going to hurt your heart. A .263 career average and 70 strikeouts versus 34 walks just won't get it done as a table-setter.

Especially against spring competition. Bourn has never really let down too much in the regular season, although I don't think he's tapped into his potential fully. 

Maybe 2012 will be the year that Bourn finds his spring training identity. Or Bourn might have to give himself an ultimatum to perform better. Then Bourn might be supreme. See what I did there?

4. James Loney

I hate to put my boy Loney on this list, but he's got 99 problems and spring training's one. Hit me! Except the big, strong first baseman can only hit singles in March.

This is the same problem that has plagued Loney since day one with the Dodgers. He drives in some runs, hits for a decent average and plays a smooth first base.

But where is the power? If a team wanted a smooth-swinging lefty who hits for average, they'd look at a shortstop. But three bombs from Loney in almost a full season's worth of career games in spring training is really ugly.

5. Jayson Werth

Good thing the Nationals probably didn't care about Werth's spring numbers when they signed him to a fat contract. In 2009, Werth put up some solid numbers, including six homers.

In the other four spring trainings he's attended, he's got six combined. His career average in preseason ball is .245 and he's got twice as many K's as walks.

Werth needs to bounce back in a big way to help the Nats complete their surge back to contention, and it's all going to start in spring training.

6. Dan Uggla

Dan Uggla might be the worst All-Star caliber player in spring training.

These stats just hurt to look at. Over six full seasons of spring ball, Uggla is hitting .229 with a strikeout in more than 25 percent of his at-bats.

Let's not even begin to discuss the sub-.300 on-base percentage. No respectable baseball player should have a figure that low in OBP, let alone in spring training.

Uggla usually puts up huge numbers when it counts, so he gets a pass. But clearly, he's not a morning person.

7. Nick Swisher

Swisher's story is a tale of two cities (three, technically, but bear with me).

In his first two springs with Oakland, Swisher absolutely mashed. He hit over. 300 both years and got on base at a clip over .400.

Then he moved on to Chicago for one season where the downfall began and continued into New York. When he moved to the East Coast, something about his spring success magically disappeared.

Since leaving the A's, Swisher's numbers in March hover below .250/2/10. He's a serviceable regular-season player, but competition is tough in the pinstripes so he might have to step up his preseason game.

8. Derrek Lee

Yikes. Despite hitting nearly .500 with 22 RBI just four short springs ago, plus a big spring in 2009, Lee is losing his form. 

We've seen his body start to break down a little bit over the past couple seasons. It's a shame, since he's been such a great player for so many years. But it might be worth just going lightly in spring training from now on.

If a .227 average with no home runs and one RBI in 2011 is any indication, it may be time for Lee to start stepping out of the spotlight.

9. Geovany Soto

Soto is one of the few players young enough on this list for me to trace his spring training stats all the way back to when he started showing up. Out of the three full springs Soto has taken part in, he's hitting right around .235.

Sure, he's a catcher. Sure, they need to save themselves in the spring so they don't break down in September. Well, Soto is also a reigning Rookie of the Year who is supposed to beef up the Cubs lineup.

I say strap on the shin guards and get to work early in 2012. The Cubs are the last team that needs an underachieving hitter in their lineup.

10. Mark Teixeira

All hail the "King" of spring training struggle!

Well, formerly at least. He's been a terror since hitting spring training with the Yanks, but with Texas and Atlanta before that, it was bad news bears.

From 2006-2008 in March, Tex combined to get three less hits than strikeouts. He was well under a .300 on-base percentage all three seasons, including a laughable .258 number in 2008.

He's a great player and a strong hitter, but slow starts have always plagued him, even in the regular season.

Luckily now, he's in a lineup that can afford to have a little bit of lag from their slugging first baseman.