MLB Spring Training 2012: Every Team's Worst Everyday Hitter

There is always that guy on your favorite team who finds a way to halt momentum. He is known as the "rally-killer" and is the weakest link in your everyday lineup. All 30 MLB teams will have at least one rally-killer this upcoming year. Some of them are former greats playing well past their prime, and others do not have the experience yet to handle big-league pitching. Here are the worst hitters in each team’s lineup:

Arizona: Aaron Hill

Hill batted .246 in the 2011 season and his on-base percentage was below .300. In 2010 he barely cracked the Mendoza line at a .205 clip.

Hill is proven at hitting the long ball and should do plenty of that in the hitter-friendly Chase Field, but his recent batting average is too low.  

Atlanta: Tyler Pastornicky

The rookie shortstop has not yet taken his first at-bat in the major leagues. Pitchers will prey on Pastornicky’s inexperience and throw him combinations of pitches he has never seen before.

Baltimore: Mark Reynolds

Mark Reynolds led the league in strikeouts the past four years and is a career .238 hitter. Reynolds is your prototypical swing-for-the-fences, all-or-nothing type of player.

If he starts making more contact, he could become a great player, but for now he is the weakest link. 

Boston: Mike Aviles

Twitter exploded yesterday when MikeAviles3 tweeted "Its been a great journey down hear in #Beantown my agent just confirmed im heading to Tampa to play with the Rays. miss you #Soxnation."

However, the account does not belong to Aviles and was deleted shortly after the tweet.

Aviles hit .255 last season with little power last season, and on the Red Sox's loaded lineup, that is not going to cut it. 

Chicago Cubs: Ian Stewart

Stewart never has been able to hit for a high average, but last year he slumped miserably, hitting .156 with zero homers in 48 games played before suffering a season-ending wrist injury.

Wrist injuries are always tough to come back from as they are pivotal to a baseball player’s swing. 

Chicago White Sox: Gordon Beckham

Beckham has more experience that some of his counterparts in the lineup, but the Georgia product has never swung the bat well in the major leagues.

The former Top 10 pick is a career .249 hitter and hit .230 last season, and his on-base percentage was below .300 as well. 

Cincinnati: Scott Rolen

Rolen is a great player with over 300 career home runs, but he’s had better days. Rolen turns 37 on April 4 and is not getting any younger.

He missed the last two months of the season with a shoulder injury, and even when he was healthy, Rolen was not producing. Rolen hit at a .242 clip with five home runs. And somehow he made the All-Star team in 2011 despite his worst season in years.

Cleveland: Grady Sizemore

What do you know, Grady Sizemore is hurt again? Spring Training has yet to begin, and Sizemore already is expected to miss Opening Day.

The former Silver Slugger winner has not been able to shake off the injury bug the past couple seasons. And even when Sizemore was in the lineup, it was evident the injuries were still bothering him.

Sizemore hit .224 and .211 the past two seasons and missed more than half of both due to injuries and has had four operations in the past two seasons. 

Colorado: Casey Blake

Casey Blake is another player getting older by the day. Blake went on the disabled list three times last year and never got into a rhythm with the Dodgers.

Division rival Colorado signed Blake in the offseason, but he will not burn his former team. 

Detroit: Andy Dirks

After acquiring Prince Fielder in the offseason, Detroit possesses mashers up and down the lineup. Dirks, the second-year outfielder, is not one of those guys. 

Houston: Jed Lowrie

After trading Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn last season, the Houston Astros lineup consisted of a slew of no-name players. All of them played decent in 2011, so they get a pass from this list.

Jed Lowrie is a middle infielder who hits for a low average (.252) without any speed on the bases (three career steals).

Kansas City: Johnny Giavotella

To be quite honest, I have not seen too many Royals games lately. Years and years of last and next-to-last divisional finishes make the national media avoid broadcasting them.

Most of the Royals roster is unknown to baseball fans. Five starters in the 2012 projected lineup have played in less than 100 career games. Giavotella had the worst rookie campaign of the five, so he is my choice. 

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Bobby Abreu

Abreu’s had a nice career, but it is clear his best days are behind him. Last year was Abreu’s worst statistical season since 1997, hitting .253 with eight home runs.

Even at 37 years old, Abreu can still help out on the basepaths, having 13 consecutive 20-steal seasons. 

Los Angeles Dodgers: Juan Uribe

The Dodgers are replacing Casey Blake (Colorado’s 2012 rally-killer) with Juan Uribe.

Uribe’s first year with LA was disastrous. In 77 games Uribe hit .204/.264/.293.

With that in mind, the veteran utility man has nowhere to go but up. However, he has always been an mediocre player with a career average of .253. 

Miami: John Buck

In the offseason, the Marlins changed the perception of their team. Normally a team that never pays for any free agent, this time bought three expensive ones.

The Fish's lineup improved with the Jose Reyes acquisition, making Buck the low man in the order. Buck has some power and can get on base fairly well, but his low .227 average makes me cringe. 

Milwaukee: Mat Gamel

Mat Gamel has the unfortunate task of replacing Prince Fielder in the Brewers lineup.

Gamel worked hard in the weight room this year before spring training, and told MLB.com he is 25-30 pounds lighter than at this time last year. We will see if that translates on the field.

So far in 85 career games, Gamel’s career average is just .222 and has five homers. 

Minnesota: Denard Span

After experiencing concussion issues last season, Span will have chips on his shoulders in 2012. Since experiencing the concussion in June of last season, he has not been the same.

Prior to the injury, Span was a decent hitter. We will see if he can return to form.  

New York Mets: Ruben Tejada

After failing to re-sign Jose Reyes in the offseason, Tejada will be called upon to be the everyday shortstop.

Tejada currently has an issue with his visa and did not report to spring training early, which disappointed his manager.

When he arrives in Florida, the third-year shortstop from Panama has large cleats to fill. In 174 career games, Tejada has a .256 average with seven steals. 

New York Yankees: Russell Martin

The Yankees lineup is stacked across the board with future Hall of Famers and Silver Sluggers. Martin is an easy choice for being on the lowest end of the totem pole. 

Oakland: Cliff Pennington

The Oakland A’s for years have been built on strong pitching and use sabermetrics to get by with their little-speed, little-power lineup.

Pennington is a below-average hitter who after four mediocre seasons, will still be the Opening Day starter.  

Philadelphia: Carlos Ruiz

The Phillies are another team in that upper echelon of top lineups.

Ruiz is a top-10 hitting catcher in baseball, but because of his teammates, Ruiz's .292 average over his last two seasons doesn’t look as impressive. 

Pittsburgh: Pedro Alvarez

It is never a good sign when you are the worst hitter on the Pirates. But that is where Alvarez, a career .230 hitter lands.

The former No. 2 overall draft pick suffered a dreaded sophomore slump last season with just four home runs and hit below the Mendoza line. 

San Diego: Jason Bartlett

For quite a while, the offensive firepower in San Diego has been lacking. The Padres acquired Carlos Quentin in the offseason, but still, the talent is void on the anemic offense.

Jason Bartlett has some speed, but hit just .245 with two homers in 2011.

San Francisco: Brandon Crawford

Not many people know the player Brandon Crawford. Giant fans would like to erase his dreadful rookie season last year from their memory.

Crawford is still the front-runner to win the shortstop job again in 2012, but must improve at the plate after hitting .204 in 2011. 

Seattle: Take Your Pick

Trying to pick the worst hitter on the team that scored the fewest amount of runs (556) and hit for the lowest average (.233) in baseball is hard to do.

That is why it is anybody’s guess on who that player will be.

Perhaps Ichiro Suzuki will continue his career-worst slump into the 2012 season.  Perhaps one of the players nobody knows about yet will be that guy. 

St. Louis Cardinals: Rafael Furcal

Despite losing Albert Pujols in free agency in the offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals still have a strong batting order.

Furcal is another player on this list with a career-worst 2011 season. Furcal batted just .231, and the speedster stole less than 10 bases. 

Tampa Bay: Reid Brignac

Reid Brignac is too easy of a choice here. The projected everyday shortstop hit just .193 with one home run last season.

Brignac was sent down to the minors last season, and if he plays like he did in 2011, he will stay there for a long time. 

Texas: Craig Gentry

The Rangers lineup is one of the best in MLB, which carried them to the World Series the past two seasons.

Gentry is the only Rangers starter that is not a household name. He has played in just 95 career games so far with a .246 clip and only one homer. 

Toronto: J.P Arencibia

The past couple of seasons, hitters such as Jose Bautista and Adam Lind have mashed the ball in Canada.

Arencibia can crush the ball too, but his low average and high amount of strikeouts counter the homers. In 2011 he hit .219 with 23 homers, but also struck out a team-high 133 times. 

Washington: Ian Desmond

After Nationals outfielder Mike Cameron abruptly retired last week, shortstop Ian Desmond now becomes the worst hitter in the lineup.

On top of the many defensive miscues, Desmond hit just .253 with eight homers last season. 

If Bryce Harper makes the Opening Day roster, then the Nationals would certainly shift Jayson Werth into center, creating a dynamic outfield core. If not, Roger Bernadina would probably get the nod in center, and his production last season was worse than Desmond.