Biggest MLB Duds of Week 13, Position by Position
We might view the number 13 as unlucky, but perhaps we're being a bit overcautious in that approach, considering that some of the most superstitious people around—professional ballplayers—seem to embrace it.
Case in point: You can find a player wearing No. 13 on 21 of baseball's 30 teams this year.
While only one of them made this week's cut for our All-Dud squad, it might not be a terrible idea for those other 20 players to have a backup number in mind, just in case. After all, nothing can ruin a season like a lengthy stretch of bad luck.
Which players are looking forward to putting the regular season's unluckiest week in the past? Let's take a look.
Catcher: Mike Zunino, Seattle Mariners
1 of 10
Weekly Stats
6 G, 2-for-18 (.111), HR, RBI, BB, 9 K
Overview
Two weeks ago, Mike Zunino was coming off a four-game stretch that saw him hit .357 while going down on strikes only once. He was proof of the impact that Seattle's new hitting coach, Edgar Martinez, was having on the club.
"I'm just simplifying everything, slowing everything down," Zunino told MLB.com's Greg Johns. "I've been trying to work with Edgar quite a bit and doing some stuff to just slow down and try to use the whole field. It's helped me see the ball a little better, too."
Well, either Zunino forgot what the seven-time All-Star taught him or has stopped working with Martinez altogether, because he was back to his free-swinging ways last week, striking out nine times in 19 plate appearances.
That 47.4 strikeout percentage puts Zunino at the top of the weekly charts among qualified batters; he still cracks the top five when we expand the field to include players with at least 10 plate appearances.
First Base: Mike Napoli, Boston Red Sox
2 of 10
Weekly Stats
7 G, 2-for-24 (.083), 2B, RBI, 3 BB, 9 K
Overview
If Mike Napoli had it his way, he'd likely wake up on Sunday morning with no recollection of what transpired over the past week.
The bad week started with a second-inning ejection against Tampa Bay on June 28 for arguing a called third strike and ended when he committed an error on a hard ground ball by Houston's Preston Tucker on Independence Day, which extended the ninth inning just enough for the Astros to steal a victory.
Napoli's minus-14 wRC+ was easily the worst among qualified first basemen and finds him sitting with a mark of 80 on the season. If the campaign ended today, it would be the first time that he's been a below-average producer at the plate in what has been a solid 10-year career.
Second Base: Addison Russell, Chicago Cubs
3 of 10
Weekly Stats
6 G, 1-for-19 (.056), 2 BB, 5 K
Overview
No matter how talented a first-year player may be, nearly every one of them eventually runs smack into the "rookie wall," that point in the season—typically in the second half—where they're completely drained and have nothing left to offer at the plate or in the field.
“These guys that have never done it before—it will just smack you in the face,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon told CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney when asked about the phenomenon. “So now is the time to really be proactive regarding how you work with these guys."
That includes giving players more days off than normal, though to his credit, Russell insists that he feels great. "I just hear from people that it’s a grind," he told Mooney. "(But) this is actually my first year where I feel really, really good and I’m playing every single day. And it’s at the big league level."
But you can't help but wonder if he's starting to hit that wall, especially after a week that saw the 21-year-old muster only one single in six games and post a minus-41 wRC+.
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Third Base: Mike Moustakas, Kansas City Royals
4 of 10
Weekly Stats
7 G, 3-for-27 (.111), 2B, 4 BB, K
Overview
While we're at the point in the season where most players have enough at-bats under their belts for their numbers to withstand a rough patch, an extended funk can wreak havoc with even the most impressive batting lines.
Look no further than Mike Moustakas for evidence of that.
A virtual lock to make his first American League All-Star team, he entered the season's 13th week hitting .323 with a .843 OPS. He leaves it hitting .308 with a .799 OPS—a drop of 15 points in batting average and 44 points in OPS.
Moustakas didn't strike out an obscene amount, drawing four times as many walks as he had strikeouts, which would suggest he was more the victim of bad luck than anything else, but those are still some significant drops in his numbers over the course of a single week.
Shortstop: Ruben Tejada, New York Mets
5 of 10
Weekly Stats
7 G, 2-for-24 (.083), 7 K
Overview
By now you've probably heard about the scathing "State of the Franchise" penned recently by the New York Post's Mike Vaccaro on the New York Mets or read one of the many spin-off articles it inspired others to write shortly thereafter.
In his accurate, passionate rant, Vaccaro notes that general manager Sandy Alderson "has forced his manager to play an everyday lineup that is often composed of one-third Quad-A players." Ruben Tejada is one of those "Quad-A" talents.
He proved it again last week, mustering only a pair of singles while striking out seven times. He produced a weekly wRC+ of minus-44 that was the worst among any qualified infielder and second in all of baseball, regardless of position.
Keep numbers like that in the back of your head for the next time you hear the argument that New York doesn't actually need an upgrade at shortstop.
Left Field: Justin Upton, San Diego Padres
6 of 10
Weekly Stats
6 G, 2-for-22 (.091), 2 BB, 8 K
Overview
While there were questions about Matt Kemp's ability to stay healthy and whether Wil Myers' bat would awaken in spacious Petco Park, there was never any doubt that Justin Upton would prove to be a consistent contributor at the plate in San Diego heading into the season.
And for the most part, he's been just that. At least until last week, when he was anything but a contributor (in the positive sense).
Upton was a non-factor for the Padres in Week 13, failing to record an extra-base hit while striking out in a third of his plate appearances. It's no wonder then that the Padres finished the week losing four of their six games, including a pair of shutouts at the hands of the Seattle Mariners.
Center Field: Marcell Ozuna, Miami Marlins
7 of 10
Weekly Stats
4 G, 1-for-14 (.071), BB, 4 K
Overview
The good news for Marcell Ozuna is that he slashed his weekly strikeout rate by more than half, from an MLB-leading 52.2 percent two weeks ago to a far more manageable 21 percent last week.
The bad news, of course, is that he is still in a serious funk and getting his second consecutive start in center field for our All-Dud squad.
While Ozuna hasn't gone down on strikes in either of his past two games, he's was as close to an automatic out as you could get last week, posting the worst wRC+ among qualified position players with a whopping minus-61 mark.
It's not a stretch to say that he's been overmatched at times this season, and it wouldn't be shocking if the Marlins sent him back to Triple-A in an attempt to regain some of the confidence that he's lost at the plate.
Right Field: Steven Souza, Tampa Bay Rays
8 of 10
Weekly Stats
7 G, 2-for-17 (.118), HR, 2 RBI, BB, 11 K
Overview
Tampa Bay knew there was some swing-and-miss in Steven Souza's game when it acquired him from Washington over the winter. But 11 strikeouts in 18 plate appearances? Yikes.
Not even a ninth-inning, game-tying, two-run shot off Yankees reliever Dellin Betances on Independence Day at Yankee Stadium makes up for his 61.1 percent strikeout rate, the highest in baseball last week. Luckily for him, his 2-for-4 showing on Saturday snapped what was an 0-for-24 streak that dated back to June 24.
Starting Pitcher: Rick Porcello, Boston Red Sox
9 of 10
Weekly Stats
GS, 0-1, 31.50 ERA, 3.50 WHIP, 2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 K
Overview
Another start, another reason for Red Sox fans to question the team's sanity in handing Rick Porcello a four-year, $82.5 million extension before he had ever thrown a regular-season pitch in a Boston uniform.
Porcello's stat line in only two innings of work against Toronto last week was downright dreadful, but it gets even uglier when you consider that besides the seven hits (and runs) in two innings, he managed to hit a batter, throw a wild pitch and serve up three home runs.
That led to manager John Farrell thinking about giving Porcello some time off, perhaps until after the All-Star break. "It’s been about an eight-start stretch where he continues to battle. His approach in between starts doesn’t change," the manager said, per WEEI 93.7 FM. "His preparation doesn’t change and yet the results for the work put in is not there. So we collectively have to work with Rick to improve.”
After his latest debacle, Porcello now has as many starts in which he's allowed at least four earned runs—eight—as he does starts in which he's allowed three earned runs or less.
Relief Pitcher: Santiago Casilla, San Francisco Giants
10 of 10
Weekly Stats
2 G, 0-1, 40.50 ERA, 6.06 WHIP, 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BS
Overview
We knew that Santiago Casilla's run of scoreless outings was eventually going to come to an end, but after he didn't allow an earned run for the entire month of June, nobody expected it to arrive on the first day of July.
Yet that's exactly what happened as San Francisco's closer failed to record an out in the ninth inning against Miami with the Giants holding a 5-3 lead. He allowed back-to-back singles before surrendering a three-run, game-winning blast to Justin Bour.
Whereas one or two games don't have a huge impact on a position player's numbers, the same can't be said for closers, as that one outing saw Casilla's season ERA jump from 2.12 to 3.03.
Perhaps most concerning was manager Bruce Bochy's remarks afterward, when he told reporters that he'd be giving his veteran closer some time off to rest an arm that looked "a tad tired." That Casilla is dealing with arm fatigue before the All-Star break is most definitely not a good sign.
Unless otherwise linked/noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs and are current through July 4.
Hit me up on Twitter to talk all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR
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