Biggest MLB Duds of Week 23, Position by Position
This past week, MLB produced its share of memorable moments, including an Adam Dunn homer in his first at-bat as a member of the Oakland A’s and the combined no-hitter by the Philadelphia Phillies against the Atlanta Braves.
As usual, though, for almost every player who excelled, there was one whose performance over the past seven days can only be classified as a dud. And those are the players we will be looking at today.
To be clear, this isn’t an indictment on their overall abilities or the type of impact they’ve had on their club this season. In fact, some are a large part of the reason why their team is leading its respective division or is in a heated battle for a wild-card spot.
It’s just that since Aug. 31, the production has been minimal. In one case, there was a player who did absolutely nothing of value at the plate from a statistical perspective. Nothing.
Here's a position-by-position look at MLB's biggest underachievers from the past week.
Wilson Ramos, C, Washington Nationals
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Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos is mired in a funk.
To be sure, he is having a fine season offensively, slashing out at .273/.309/.408 with nine home runs, 39 RBI and 24 runs scored in 301 plate appearances. But this past week fell short of expectations.
Look no further for evidence than the fact that a run-scoring sacrifice fly Friday was the highlight of his week at the plate. True, he did a fine job receiving the ball, but more is expected of him offensively.
All told, Ramos was the only MLB catcher with a negative wRC+ and an on-base percentage below .260. He will need to do more as the season draws to a close.
Last Week’s Stats: .056/.100/.056, H, RBI, minus-84 wRC+
James Loney, 1B, Tampa Bay Rays
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If it weren’t for the fact that he recorded hit No. 2,500 and scored run No. 1,500 while going 3-for-5 Saturday, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols would have easily gotten the nod. After all, he had .095/.136/.095 slash line with a minus-54 wRC+ going into yesterday’s action since last Sunday, per FanGraphs.
A dominant game changes everything, however, and because of Pujols’ explosion, this week’s dud at first goes to James Loney from the Tampa Bay Rays.
To be sure, there were some bright spots. He did score twice, drove in a run Wednesday and collected a hit in three games, but this type of output simply won’t do.
No matter how it’s looked at, manager Joe Maddon expects more from his No. 5 hitter.
Last Week’s Stats: .143/.217/.143, 3 H, 2 R, RBI, 9 wRC+
Brandon Phillips, 2B, Cincinnati Reds
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At one end of the spectrum is Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. In 22 plate appearances since last Sunday, he has a .545/.545/.909 slash line with five RBI and two stolen bases. That's good.
Unfortunately for fans of the Cincinnati Reds, Brandon Phillips was Altuve's antithesis over the past seven days. In 19 trips to the dish, he slashed out at .105/.105/.105 with two runs scored and not much of anything else. That's bad.
It must be noted that Phillips isn’t having the best season to begin with, hitting only .253 with a .649 OPS and 44 RBI. In other words, the showing over the past week isn't all that surprising.
Reds manager Bryan Price thinks that Phillips' struggles "comes down to inactivity" and suggested that he was brought back too quickly from the disabled list following thumb surgery, per CBS Sports’ Chris Towers (via Yahoo Sports).
Regardless of the reason, though, Phillips simply isn’t doing enough to positively impact the Reds, and he hasn’t been for some time.
Last Week’s Stats: .105/.105/.105, 2 H, 2 R, minus-54 wRC+
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Ian Desmond, SS, Washington Nationals
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Ian Desmond didn’t hold up his end of the bargain this past week for the Washington Nationals.
He had only three hits in 27 at-bats, collecting at least two strikeouts in four games. By far his worst performance of the week came Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers when he went 0-for-7 with four strikeouts. True, he scored a run, but that came after reaching base on an error.
And like some other players on this list, the plummeting production is a surprise. Consider: From Aug. 18 to Aug. 30, Desmond put up a .310/.370/.476 slash line with two home runs, eight RBI and three stolen bases, and he crossed the plate eight times, per FanGraphs.
Apparently, it wasn’t meant to last.
Let’s hope Desmond gets his swing back before the Nationals begin their postseason run. After all, they are going to need his power in the middle of the lineup if they hope to make this playoff appearance an extended one.
Last Week’s Stats: .111/.172/.111, 2 H, 2 R, SB, minus-21 wRC+
Chris Johnson, 3B, Atlanta Braves
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Atlanta Braves third baseman Chris Johnson would just as soon forget the past seven days.
Early in the week, he looked lost at the plate. On Tuesday, for example, he struck out twice and grounded into a double play in what ended up being the second straight shutout at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies.
It didn't get better. Truth be told, Johnson has been disappointing the fanbase for the majority of the season.
Hopefully his last game was a sign of things to come. In it, he hit the ball hard twice, walked once and scored a run. And with the Braves now tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for the second wild-card spot in the National League, manager Fredi Gonzalez is going to need to squeeze every bit of productivity from Johnson.
Last Week’s Stats: .000/.200/.000, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K, minus-21 wRC+
Marlon Byrd, RF, Philadelphia Phillies
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We almost gave Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Marlon Byrd a pass because of the incredible catch he made in the third inning against the Braves on Labor Day. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, the catch would prove to be the most memorable play in a combined no-hitter.
Unfortunately for Byrd, a hitless week at the plate and a 53.3 percent strikeout rate are too much to overlook. Simply put, he had absolutely no tangible impact on the offense the entire week, evidenced by his minus-100 wRC+.
The week's worth of work is especially stunning when we consider that he put up a .333/.385/.583 slash line with two home runs, five runs scored, five RBI and a 165 wRC+ from Aug. 23 through Aug. 30, per FanGraphs.
Last Week’s Stats: .000/.000/.000, 8 K, minus-100 wRC+
Sam Fuld, CF, Oakland A's
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Thanks to the injury Coco Crisp suffered after barreling into the outfield wall last week trying to rob Chris Iannetta of a home run, Sam Fuld received three starts in center field for the Oakland A’s.
He was not up to the challenge at the plate or in the field.
All told, Fuld struck out in every game he started and went hitless in 16 plate appearances in those same games. He did deliver a pinch-hit, run-scoring double against the Seattle Mariners last Tuesday, but other than that, it was a forgettable week.
Even with Crisp’s return Saturday, Fuld is going to see regular playing time. Let’s hope he can improve—even slightly—over the next few weeks. If not, the postseason could be in jeopardy.
Last Week’s Stats: .059/.111/.118, 2B, 2 R, RBI, minus-40 wRC+
Josh Hamilton, LF, Los Angeles Angels
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"I just have to remind myself before every at-bat to go up there and cut it loose," Los Angeles Angels left fielder Josh Hamilton told Bleacher Report not too long ago, per B/R's Scott Miller.
Well, it certainly didn't work last week.
Perhaps the reason Hamilton has struggled so mightily at the plate and in the field since last Sunday is that he isn’t 100 percent healthy. To that end, he left Thursday's game against the Minnesota Twins with soreness in his right AC joint (shoulder) and was still out of the lineup when the Angels took the field Saturday.
Honestly, though, it hasn’t been working for most of the season. His batting average and on-base percentage have gone down each month since April, and his ISO (difference between batting average and slugging percentage) hasn’t been above .192 in any of the last three months, per FanGraphs.
In all fairness, he could very well end up being a key part of an Angels run to the World Series. And as Miller noted in his article, "it seems a bit premature yet to call this the twilight of Hamilton’s career," but efforts like the past week’s won’t do.
Last Week’s Stats: .200/.250/.200, 3 H, 2 R, BB, 2 K, 33 wRC+
Carlos Beltran, DH, New York Yankees
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New York Yankees designated hitter Carlos Beltran made this list three weeks ago after posting a .056/.105/.111 slash line with a minus-49 wRC+.
Thankfully, he’s improved a bit since then, but he was still the worst DH in MLB last week—by a wide margin.
To be fair, he ended the week on a high note, going 1-for-4 with a double, RBI and a run scored against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. And that is notable because it’s the first time he has scored and driven in a run in the same game since Aug. 27, per game logs at FanGraphs.
For manager Joe Girardi’s sake, let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come. The Yankees need everyone contributing if they hope to reach the playoffs as the second wild card.
Last Week’s Stats: .143/.250/.190, 3 H, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 28 wRC+
Lester Oliveros, RHP, Minnesota Twins
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In his season debut Tuesday, Minnesota Twins right-hander Lester Oliveros was torched by the Chicago White Sox.
In the 10th inning, he surrendered a solo shot to Dayan Viciedo and a two-run bomb to Tyler Flowers en route to his first loss of the season. Needless to say, it wasn’t what anyone envisioned when he was called up from Triple-A.
After all, he'd missed most of the 2013 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and had pitched quite well in the minor leagues this year, appearing in 50 games across two levels, compiling a 1.64 ERA with 18 saves and a 1.081 WHIP, per Baseball-Reference. Frankly, Oliveros’ journey had the earmarks of being a feel-good story.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be—not last week anyway.
And while it was only one outing, Oliveros pitched poorly enough to garner the dubious distinction of being the dud of the week among relievers.
Last Week’s Stats: 0-1, 81.00 ERA, 1 G, 0.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 HR, 81.13 FIP
Kyle Lohse, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
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As usual, there is more than one starting pitcher who deserves this week’s recognition.
After all, Scott Kazmir from the Oakland A’s put up a 10.57 ERA in his two starts and lasted into only the second inning this past Sunday, surrendering six earned runs in the process. He fared well his last time out, however, yielding three earned runs and pitching into the seventh inning.
Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Kyle Lohse is a different story.
He lost both of the games he started, compiling a 11.17 ERA in the process. And it wasn’t one bad outing that led to the inflated numbers.
Lohse didn’t make it out of the sixth inning in either start, giving up at least five earned runs each time out, and opposing batters combined to hit .323 on balls they put in play. In other words, he was hit hard in successive outings. Oh, he also walked four and gave up three home runs.
Lohse was having a fine season too. Let’s hope his next few starts are a bit better so that a season’s worth of work isn’t undone by a series of bad outings to end the year.
It also wouldn't hurt the Brewers' chances of reaching the postseason if he came through with a couple of quality starts.
Last Week’s Stats: 0-2, 11.17 ERA, 2 GS, 12 ER, 13 H, 3 HR, 8 K, 4 BB, 7.06 FIP
Unless otherwise noted, all traditional and advanced statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs and are accurate as of game time Sunday, September 7. Weekly stats were pulled from individual game logs and can be accessed on each player's page. Transaction, game and injury information are courtesy of MLB.com.
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