Biggest MLB Duds of Week 23, Position by Position
Fans and teams alike look to their biggest stars to come through in the clutch, especially down the stretch when every game takes on extra importance and one win—or loss—can be the reason a team is playing meaningful October baseball or watching the playoffs from the couch.
That some key players on contending clubs have found their way onto our Week 23 All-Dud team isn't good news for those clubs, which will be hard-pressed to reach the promised land without a better showing from those stars.
Whether you prefer traditional statistics or advanced metrics, we've used both in determining who made the cut on this week's team that, really, nobody ever wants to be a part of.
Catcher: Wilson Ramos, Washington Nationals
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Not even a grand slam against the hated New York Mets was enough to keep Washington's Wilson Ramos off our All-Dud squad. That bases-clearing blast—which gave the Nationals a brief lead in a game they ultimately lost—was one of only three hits for Ramos on the week, during which he hit .136 (3-for-22).
While you can't blame Ramos for Washington's disappointing showing last week, the Nationals certainly could have used far more than a .403 OPS and eight strikeouts from a key piece in the lineup.
Dishonorable Mention: Yan Gomes, Cleveland; A.J. Pierzynski, Atlanta
First Base: Brandon Moss, St. Louis Cardinals
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Break out the Benadryl, for Brandon Moss' bat is clearly allergic to baseballs.
Moss failed to record a hit in Week 23, striking out 11 times in 24 plate appearances, a nearly 46 percent strikeout rate. Were it not for three walks, the slugger wouldn't have reached base at all in Week 23. His minus-57 wRC+ was the lowest in baseball, regardless of position.
It'd be a gross understatement to say that Moss has been a huge disappointment since St. Louis traded one of its better pitching prospects, lefty Rob Kaminsky, to Cleveland in exchange for the nine-year veteran.
While he's shown flashes of life, the Cardinals certainly expected more production than the .218/.325/.386 triple-slash line and eight extra-base hits (four home runs) he's given them over 117 plate appearances.
Dishonorable Mention: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
Second Base: Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians
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Cleveland's Jason Kipnis earned his second straight start at second base for our All-Dud squad, hitting only .158 (3-for-19) with a .449 OPS over five games last week. Of course, his struggles at the plate are nothing new.
Over the past two weeks, he's hitting .140 (7-for-50) with a .389 OPS, and he's managed a meager .209/.269/.326 triple-slash line since being activated from the disabled list on Aug. 18. While the Indians remain in contention for a playoff spot, you can't help but wonder if they'd be leading the race had Kipnis been producing at his usual levels.
Dishonorable Mention: Elian Herrera, Milwaukee; Chase Utley, Los Angeles (NL)
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Shortstop: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
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Elvis Andrus may not be a focal point in Texas' lineup, but the Rangers need all hands on deck as they not only try to hold off Minnesota and Los Angeles in the AL wild-card race, but catch Houston atop the AL West.
While Saturday saw Andrus stroke three doubles against Oakland, those were the only hits he had all week. Hitting .120 (3-for-25) with a .154 on-base percentage and .394 OPS over a seven-game stretch isn't acceptable at any juncture, especially this late in the regular season when every game means so much.
Dishonorable Mention: Alcides Escobar, Kansas City; Jordy Mercer, Pittsburgh
Third Base: Jed Lowrie, Houston Astros
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Week 23 started off well enough for Jed Lowrie, as the eight-year veteran's seventh-inning grand slam against Minnesota last Sunday propelled Houston to victory and, more importantly, ahead of Texas in the standings.
But that was pretty much all Lowrie contributed to the cause last week, failing to reach base in his last 17 plate appearances and finishing the week hitting .087 (2-for-23) with a .304 OPS, the lowest mark among qualified third basemen by more than 110 points.
Dishonorable Mention: Adrian Beltre, Texas; Miguel Sano, Minnesota
Left Field: Eddie Rosario, Minnesota Twins
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Nobody disputes that Eddie Rosario has made a big impact in Minnesota as a rookie and will play an even bigger part in the team's future success.
But the 23-year-old was almost invisible at the plate last week, hitting only .105 (2-for-19) with four strikeouts and a minus-36 wRC+ that was not only the worst among all qualified outfielders, but the fourth lowest in baseball.
It's entirely possible that Rosario has hit the mythical rookie wall, as he's hit just .179 (7-for-39) in September and .214 (30-for-140) since the beginning of August.
Dishonorable Mention: Melky Cabrera, Chicago (AL)
Center Field: Jacoby Ellsbury, New York Yankees
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If Jacoby Ellsbury's hip, which had been bothering him toward the end of August, remains an issue, then he needs to remove himself from the lineup; he's not helping New York in its quest to end a two-year absence from the postseason.
Hitting .156 (5-for-32)—including a 1-for-15 showing in the first three games of the Yankees' crucial series against Toronto—simply isn't going to cut it. Neither is a weekly OPS of .362, baseball's eighth lowest last week.
Dishonorable Mention: Kevin Pillar, Toronto; Michael Taylor, Washington
Right Field: Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies
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Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez has been one of the game's most impressive players over the season's second half, re-establishing himself as a legitimate star and leading baseball with 24 home runs while hitting a more-than-respectable .282 with a 1.052 OPS.
That's what makes his Week 23 performance, when he hit only .136 (3-for-22) with a double, home run and .527 OPS, so disappointing and worthy of a start on our All-Dud squad, despite other right fielders having worse weekly numbers.
Dishonorable Mention: J.D. Martinez, Detroit; Gerardo Parra, Baltimore
Designated Hitter: Prince Fielder, Texas Rangers
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As one of baseball's premier sluggers over the course of his career, you know something's gone horribly wrong when Prince Fielder's on-base percentage eclipses his slugging percentage.
But that's exactly where Fielder found himself in Week 23, posting a .160/.300/.200 triple-slash line for a Texas club that needs its biggest bats to be producing at a high level down the stretch. Since the start of September, the hulking designated hitter is hitting only .179 (7-for-39) with a .629 OPS.
Dishonorable Mention: Evan Gattis, Houston
Starting Pitcher: Alex Wood, Los Angeles Dodgers
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Los Angeles' two big trade-deadline additions, Mat Latos and Alex Wood, were supposed to solidify the team's rotation for the stretch run. But the Dodgers have all but given up on Latos, and Wood, after arguably the worst start of his career, may not be long for the team's rotation, either.
Arizona crushed Wood on Friday to the tune of eight hits and eight runs (six earned) over only 1.2 innings of work. He surrendered a mammoth home run to Welington Castillo and another to Paul Goldschmidt, making it five home runs that he's surrendered over 43.2 innings in a Dodgers uniform.
For comparison, consider that he had allowed only eight home runs over 119.1 innings for Atlanta before the trade.
Dishonorable Mention: Ian Kennedy, San Diego; Lance Lynn, St. Louis; Chris Tillman, Baltimore
Relief Pitcher: Drew Storen, Washington Nationals
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Drew Storen wasn't having a great week to begin with, allowing two earned runs and walking four batters in three relief appearances. But after allowing a go-ahead home run to New York's Yoenis Cespedes Wednesday night, he slammed his locker door and broke his right thumb in the process.
“Regretful that it happened. A little bit embarrassed about it, of course,” manager Matt Williams told the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes when asked how Storen feels about the incident. “He’s a competitor. He was frustrated and he made a mistake.”
Storen, 28, follows in the footsteps of former Nationals reliever Ryan Mattheus, who broke his throwing hand in late May 2013 after punching his locker in the wake of a disappointing outing.
It's a disappointing end to a disappointing season for the setup man, who figures to be on the trade block this winter as the Nationals look to re-tool for another run at a division crown.
Dishonorable Mention: Tyler Clippard, New York (NL); Trevor May, Minnesota
All statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs and are current through Sept. 12.
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