MLB Stars Contending Teams Can No Longer Count on Down the Stretch
Johnny Cueto and Albert Pujols are just two of the MLB stars who are letting down their contending clubs at the worst possible moment.
With October looming, the Kansas City Royals righty and the Los Angeles Angels vet have been playing so poorly that their respective teams can no longer count on them down the stretch. The big leaguers who cracked this unfortunate list earned their spots for a variety of reasons.
Some, like Pujols, have been dealing with injury issues that have derailed their campaigns. Others are simply beginning to wear down as the 162-game grind comes to a close. As it turns out, both a 40-year-old outfielder and a 23-year-old rising ace fit into that second camp.
Albert Pujols, 1B/DH, Los Angeles Angels
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For Albert Pujols, 2015 has been a tale of two halves.
Heading into the All-Star break, the veteran slugger had mashed 26 home runs and was sporting a .532 slugging percentage and an .855 OPS. But since the Midsummer Classic, Pujols checks in with nine bombs, a .398 slugging percentage and a .682 OPS.
Pujols' second-half slide mirrors the trajectory of the Los Angeles Angels' underwhelming campaign, which has been trending in the wrong direction since the end of July. The Halos are stuck in third place in the American League West, 4.5 games off the pace.
At least a portion of Pujols' struggles can be attributed to the fact that he's not 100 percent. Per Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News, the 35-year-old recently underwent an MRI on his balky right foot, which indicated he's dealing with inflammation.
"I don't want to use it as an excuse," Pujols told Teaford when asked if the injury is impacting his play. "It does, but I don't want to use it as an excuse. I'm going to have to monitor it. Maybe one day I'll wake up and it's gone."
With just 22 games to go, time is running out not just on Pujols but on the Angels to climb back into postseason position.
Carlos Martinez, SP, St. Louis Cardinals
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The second half of 2015 has been far from a disaster for the St. Louis Cardinals' Carlos Martinez. At the same time, there's no question that the 23-year-old has begun to wear down in his first full season as a big league starter.
Martinez snagged a spot on the National League All-Star team by posting a 2.52 ERA and holding opponents to a .226 average in his first 18 outings. In 10 appearances since the Midsummer Classic, Martinez is the owner of a 4.24 ERA, and opponents are tagging him to the tune of a .307 average.
As Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com pointed out, the right-hander has shattered his previous career high for innings pitched.
Martinez has already piled up 164.2 frames in 28 appearances. Before this year, he had topped out at 108 innings in 2013.
"I feel good," Martinez told Langosch, via a translator. "I want to finish strong and be ready for opportunities in the playoffs. Before the year I was ready [to be a starter] and training really hard in the Dominican [Republic]. I was mentally prepared coming into the season and knew something like this could happen. I feel all right."
With Martinez on track to double his workload from a season ago (99.2 innings), the rising star is in uncharted territory. As a result, it will be difficult for St. Louis to know just what to expect in the closing weeks of the regular season—not to mention October.
Josh Harrison, UTL, Pittsburgh Pirates
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Josh Harrison has crashed back to earth after a monster 2014 in which he finished ninth on the National League MVP Award ballot.
As David Todd of 970 ESPN Pittsburgh argued on Twitter, a return to that impressive form doesn't appear to be in the cards for the Pittsburgh Pirates' super-utility man: "And I hate to rain on the parade, but this is the real Josh Harrison. 2014 was a wonderful anomaly."
After taking a look at the numbers and watching Harrison play, it's difficult to disagree with that assessment. Last year, the 28-year-old posted a .315 average and an .837 OPS, but this year, those figures stand at .269 and .670.
One of the most alarming aspects of Harrison's drop-off is that his power is nowhere to be found. In 2015, he put up a .490 slugging percentage. This year, the right-handed hitter is slugging .360, the second-lowest mark of his career.
Fortunately for the Bucs, they don't have to count on Harrison nearly as much in 2015 as they did in 2014 due to the emergence of Jung Ho Kang. With 11 jacks and a .943 OPS in the second half, Kang is making a serious push to claim NL Rookie of the Year honors.
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Torii Hunter, RF, Minnesota Twins
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It looks like Torii Hunter is finally running out of gas, as the 40-year-old has tumbled into an epic funk in the second half. Just check out the numbers:
- .190 AVG, .247 OBP, .310 SLG, .557 OPS
While Hunter has been a non-factor at the plate, he's also been a liability in the field. With young outfielders like Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Aaron Hicks on the roster, Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor opted to lift Hunter for Buxton as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of Monday's 6-2 win over the Kansas City Royals.
"Of course I don't like it. I'm a professional athlete," Hunter said, via Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. "I don't feel like I'm hurting us out there. But if it's the best thing for the team, of course that's what he should do. Whatever is going to help us win. If you can put those fresh, fast young legs out there, hey, let them run."
The slumping outfielder is handling his decreased role with aplomb, but it's impossible not to notice the end could be near.
Just six weeks ago, Hunter told Miller that he "would love to come back" in 2016. Hunter also acknowledged, however, that it was much too soon to make a final call: "But I think everybody just wants to wait for the season to end. Who knows how I'll feel then?"
Hunter's second-half numbers indicate it's likely time to call it quits after a brilliant 19-season career.
Johnny Cueto, SP, Kansas City Royals
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When Johnny Cueto arrived at Kauffman Stadium, he was supposed to be the missing piece for the best team in the American League. He was supposed to step in as the ace whom the Kansas City Royals had been lacking.
And at the beginning, everything was going as planned. In his first four outings with Kansas City, Cueto sported a 1.80 ERA and mixed in a four-hit shutout in the process. Since then, everything has fallen apart, as the right-handed starter has allowed 21 earned runs in 20 innings of work in his last four starts.
Even though Cueto hasn't been remotely ace-like for the past three weeks, Royals manager Ned Yost isn't ready to hit the panic button.
"I'm not going to fan the fire with him," Yost said, per Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. "Every time I turn on the TV, it's, 'What's wrong with Johnny Cueto? What's wrong with Johnny Cueto?' Hey, he's going to be fine."
Cueto's cutter definitely hasn't been fine during his recent downturn. As Jayson Stark of ESPN.com noted, opponents are hitting .385 against that pitch since he joined the Royals. With the Cincinnati Reds, the figure was .241.
The good news for Kansas City is the club can afford to take a patient approach with the struggling vet, as the team owns a commanding 10-game edge in the AL Central. But the Royals can't be too patient; the Toronto Blue Jays are only three games back for the top seed in the AL.
Note: All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com.
If you want to talk baseball, find me on Twitter @KarlBuscheck.
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