Josh Reddick: Oakland A's RF Takes Home AL Worst of the Night Honors

Josh Reddick has been the Oakland Athletics' best hitter this season. He went into Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers hitting .265 with an .855 OPS, and he's already set new career-highs with 15 home runs and 33 RBI.

Reddick, however, did not have a good day at the plate on Tuesday. In fact, he did something he had only done once before in his career: don the Golden Sombrero.

Yup. It was a four-strikeout night for Reddick, his first of the 2012 season. The last time he did it was back in August of 2009 when he was still with the Boston Red Sox, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Reddick's first two strikeouts came against journeyman (a euphemism for "mediocre old guy") right-hander Aaron Harang. He got Reddick swinging in the first inning with men on first and second, and he got Reddick swinging again in the fourth with one man on.

After Harang left the ballgame, Scott Elbert and Shawn Tolleson got to have their own fun with Reddick. Elbert caught him looking with two men on in the sixth inning, and Tolleson got Reddick swinging with a man on to end the eighth inning.

That was it for Reddick. He did mix in a walk in the second inning, but he ended the night 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and six men left on base. 

Hitting with men on base has been a problem for Reddick this season. He's hitting just .190 with four homers with men on base, and just .167 with three home runs with runners in scoring position.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say Reddick was a member of the New York Yankees.

The good news for the A's is that Reddick's poor night at the plate didn't end up costing them a win. Brandon McCarthy, one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball, allowed just two hits and a walk in seven shutout innings, and Grant Balfour and Ryan Cook took it from there. The A's won 3-0.

The A's are hanging in there in the AL West. They're four games under .500 at 32-36, but they're one of just five AL teams that have as many as 10 wins in the month of June.

Surprisingly, the A's have their bats to thank for their June success. The only team that has scored more runs than them this month is the Cincinnati Reds. 

Sense? I see none, but it's pretty cool.

The A's need Reddick to get going, though. He's only hitting .246 this month with one home run and six RBI. Worse, he's striking out over 35 percent of the time he comes to the plate this month, according to FanGraphs.

We shall see if Reddick can snap out of this funk. For the time being, I'm giving him today's American League "Worst of the Night" award. He'll have to wear it.

Sadly, it won't look nearly as cool as his WWE belt:

Sigh...I wish I had one of those...

If you ever want to nominate somebody for American League "Worst of the Night" honors, hit me up on Twitter.