Biggest MLB Duds of Week 5, Position by Position
In the grand scheme of things, one week's worth of MLB games adds up to just a fraction of the length of a 162-game season.
However, here in the early stages of the season, one bad week can take a significant bite out of a player's batting average or inflate a pitcher's ERA.
With that in mind, what follows is a look at the biggest duds of Week 5 of the 2015 MLB season, with one player chosen to represent each position along with a starting pitcher and a closer.
Simply put, to qualify as a dud, a player needed to struggle considerably relative to expectations over the past week. Players with a chance of being unseated by someone else on the roster more than anyone can't afford to rank as a dud, and there are a few such guys on the ensuing list.
There is still plenty of time for the following players to get on track, but the early returns have not been good.
Catcher: Blake Swihart, Boston Red Sox
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Last Week's Stats
5 G, 1-for-19, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K
Player Overview
With Christian Vazquez lost for the season during spring training and Ryan Hanigan recently landing on the disabled list with a fractured finger, the Boston Red Sox finally pulled the trigger on promoting Blake Swihart.
The 23-year-old Swihart entered the season as the top catching prospect in baseball and the No. 17 prospect overall, according to Baseball America.
His potential is undeniable and was abundantly clear last season when he hit .293/.341/.469 with 26 doubles and 13 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A.
After going 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in his debut on May 2, Swihart reached base just one time last week, as he's struggled to find his footing so far.
First Base: Lucas Duda, New York Mets
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Last Week's Stats
5 G, 1-for-18, 1 2B, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K
Player Overview
The New York Mets are counting on Lucas Duda to be the team's primary run-producer after a breakout season last year, and that pressure is doubled with David Wright currently watching from the sidelines.
Duda entered the week hitting .318/.413/.477 on the year with eight doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI in his first 104 plate appearances of 2015.
He scuffled badly last week, though, and he found himself on the bench on Friday when the Mets matched up against Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies.
He'll face another tough left-hander this coming week in Jon Lester when the team heads to Chicago to take on the Cubs.
Second Base: Rougned Odor, Texas Rangers
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Last Week's Stats
6 G, 1-for-13, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K
Player Overview
Rougned Odor played all of the 2014 season at the age of 20 and wound up playing in 114 games and seeing 386 at-bats as the primary second baseman for an injury-plagued Texas Rangers team.
Considering his age, he held his own, hitting .259/.297/.402 with 14 doubles, seven triples, nine home runs and 48 RBI.
With Jurickson Profar on the disabled list once again, Odor broke camp with the starting second-base job in hand, but he is off to an abysmal start here in 2015 with a .144/.252/.233 line over his first 103 plate appearances.
Meanwhile, 32-year-old Ed Lucas is currently hitting .306/.376/.408 for the team's Triple-A affiliate, and it may not be long before the club makes a switch.
"A demotion to Triple A Round Rock is a possibility for Rougned Odor, says Jon Daniels. The GM, though, said others need to get better, too," tweeted Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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Third Base: Cody Asche, Philadelphia Phillies
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Last Week's Stats
5 G, 0-for-17, 1 BB, 8 K
Player Overview
One of the few players in the Philadelphia Phillies lineup with some legitimate upside, third baseman Cody Asche has failed to build on a strong showing last season.
The 24-year-old saw his first extended action in 2014 and responded by hitting .252/.309/.390 with 25 doubles, 10 home runs and 46 RBI in 397 at-bats.
After an 0-for-17 performance last week, his triple-slash numbers are down to .235/.276/.337 this year with five extra-base hits in 105 plate appearances.
Meanwhile, down on the farm, top prospect Maikel Franco is hitting .339/.362/.529 with 12 doubles and three home runs in 28 games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
It's fairly clear the Phillies won't be playing for anything of significance this season, so it may not be long before Franco gets the call and is inserted as the everyday guy at the hot corner.
Asche spent some time in the outfield during spring training and could be shifted to one of the corner spots after Domonic Brown was demoted to the minors at the end of April.
Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins, Los Angeles Dodgers
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Last Week's Stats
5 G, 2-for-22, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Player Overview
Second baseman Howie Kendrick is off to a solid start in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the same can't be said for fellow newcomer and double-play turner Jimmy Rollins.
The 36-year-old is hitting .167/.248/.306 on the year, including just .120 over his last 20 games after he started off the season relatively strong.
It's hard to envision the Dodgers benching Rollins, especially considering he's making $11 million in the final year of his current contract, but they do have top prospect Corey Seager waiting in the wings.
The 21-year-old Seager was rated as the No. 5 prospect in the league, according to Baseball America, and he needed just 20 games in Double-A this season to get the promotion to Triple-A.
Seager hit .375/.407/.675 with 13 extra-base hits in 20 games in Double-A, and while he's off to a slow start in Triple-A, the tools are there for him to make quick adjustments and push Rollins before too long.
Left Field: Kevin Pillar, Toronto Blue Jays
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Last Week's Stats
6 G, 3-for-22, 1 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Player Overview
While Kevin Pillar has played some tremendous defense in left field for the Toronto Blue Jays this season, his bat has been inconsistent so far.
The 26-year-old already has a career-high 119 at-bats on the season, as he hit .239/.274/.367 in 218 total at-bats over the previous two seasons.
He's currently hitting .261/.294/.378 with nine doubles, 15 RBI and 17 runs scored, but a 3-for-22 performance last week didn't do his batting average any favors, dropping it from .289 to .261.
Pillar was expected to compete for the fourth outfielder spot this spring but got an opportunity to be the everyday option in left field after Michael Saunders was shelved with a knee injury.
Saunders returned at the end of April for nine games, before returning to the disabled list with more issues in his surgically repaired knee.
Center Field: Odubel Herrera, Philadelphia Phillies
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Last Week's Stats
6 G, 3-for-21, 1 RBI, 1 R, 0 BB, 11 K
Player Overview
Rule 5 selection Odubel Herrera had been one of the few bright spots for the Philadelphia Phillies this year, but he struggled mightily last week.
The 23-year-old entered the season having never played above Double-A, but that did not stop him from winning the everyday center-field job during spring training.
A .301/.341/.422 line in April made him by far the team's most productive hitter, but that's been on a steady decline since the calendar turned to May, as he's hit just .172 with 11 strikeouts in 29 at-bats during the month.
With a .361 BABIP, hefty 24.6 percent strikeout rate and minuscule 4.2 percent walk rate, via FanGraphs, Herrera was a prime candidate to regress from his hot first month, and we're seeing just that here in the early part of May.
Right Field: Allen Craig, Boston Red Sox
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Last Week's Stats
6 G, 2-for-15, 3 BB, 7 K
Player Overview
It's easy to forget just how good Allen Craig was in the not-so-distant past.
As recently as 2013, he hit .315/.373/.457 with 29 doubles, 13 home runs and 97 RBI for the St. Louis Cardinals, hitting a ridiculous .454 with runners in scoring position.
His production plummeted last season, though, and he was shipped to the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline along with Joe Kelly in exchange for right-hander John Lackey.
With no clear path to everyday playing time, Craig has seen just 59 plate appearances so far this season, hitting an uninspired .135/.237/.192 with just one extra-base hit and 17 strikeouts.
Thinking he may benefit from seeing more regular playing time, the Red Sox optioned Craig to Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday and called up Jackie Bradley Jr.
"I’ve been an everyday player, a fourth-hitter," Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis told Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. "It’s really tough to go from being that kind of player, to being a guy that plays whenever. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s an adjustment that he’s trying to make right now and I think he will."
Starting Pitcher: Carlos Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals
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Last Week's Stats
2 GS, 0-1, 9.0 IP, 16 H, 14 ER, 8 BB, 11 K
Player Overview
After shuffling between the starting rotation and the bullpen last season, Carlos Martinez broke camp this spring as a member of the rotation, seizing the spot opened up by the trade of Shelby Miller during the offseason.
Martinez has some of the best stuff in all of baseball, leaving him with a tremendous ceiling, but he's not always been able to harness his repertoire and keep his emotions in check.
However, a fantastic month of April had him looking like a potential breakout candidate, and he wrapped up the month at 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA and 1.038 WHIP in 26 innings of work.
It's been a different story here in May, though.
Last Sunday, he allowed nine hits and seven earned runs in 3.2 innings of work against the Chicago Cubs, but he managed to escape with a no-decision.
He followed that up by surrendering seven hits and another seven earned runs in 5.1 innings on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, suffering his first loss in the process.
Relief Pitcher: Craig Kimbrel, San Diego Padres
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Last Week's Stats
3 G, 2-of-3 SV, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Player Overview
With all due respect to Greg Holland, Aroldis Chapman and a handful of others, Craig Kimbrel has been the most dominant reliever in baseball over the past four seasons.
During that span, he converted 185 of 204 save chances with a 1.51 ERA, 0.880 WHIP and an eye-popping 14.6 K/9 while leading the National League in saves each season.
The 26-year-old was the last big trade chip moved by the Atlanta Braves during a busy offseason, as they shipped the closer to the San Diego Padres in a six-player deal that came on the eve of Opening Day.
The flame-throwing right-hander has converted nine of 10 save chances so far this season, but he's been far more hittable than in years past.
His hits-per-nine have jumped from 4.4 to 8.5, and he's already surrendered as many home runs (two) in 12.2 innings this season as he did in 61.2 innings all of last season.
That has all amounted to a 5.68 ERA, as he's allowed an earned run in five of his 14 appearances, including two of three last week.
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference and reflect the week stretch from Sunday, May 3 through Saturday, May 9.
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