Baltimore Orioles' Garrett Atkins Continues Free Fall and Other MLB Notes

Garrett Atkins came within one RBI of having three consecutive 100 RBI seasons for the Colorado Rockies, but that 99 RBI season in 2008 was the last good one for Atkins.

His career year in 2006—29 home runs, 120 RBI—ended well, but his numbers have dropped each season since.

His numbers, starting with 2006 through the 2009 season:

Home Runs: 29-25-21-9

RBI: 120-111-99-48

Batting Average: .329-.301-.286-.226

On-Base Percentage: .409-.367-.328-.308

Slugging Percentage: .556-.486-.452-.342

On-Base Plus Slugging: .965-.853-.780-.650

Atkins was non-tendered by the Colorado Rockies after the 2009 season and was signed by the Baltimore Orioles to a one-year contract for $4 million. It was very generous of Baltimore considering his offensive numbers were falling each year.

With the 2010 season nearly a third over, Atkins continues to free fall with only one home run and eight RBI in 138 plate appearances. His percentage numbers continue to fall as well with a .214 batting average, a .261 on-base percentage, a .294 slugging percentage, and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .555.

It's puzzling how a 30-year-old player like Atkins can be near the end of his career after being such a dominating player with the Rockies. He was hitting in a hitter’s ballpark, but that doesn’t explain his numbers falling each of last four seasons at Coors Field.

The Orioles, hoping Atkins would be rejuvenated with a change of scenery, are now out $4 million for a player that isn't helping the team. It's sad to see a player that has played well in the past suddenly lose the ability to hit for power and average.

Three years ago Atkins was earning $400,000 a year. If he finishes this season he will have made $15.3 million over the last three seasons, so baseball has been good to him, but his journey may come to an end before this season is over.

Around the Infield

• Max Scherzer of the Tigers was a victim of pitch counts yesterday when he was removed from the game after striking out 14 batters in 5.2 innings in the Tigers' 10-2 win over the Athletics. He threw 113 pitches before the end of the sixth inning and was removed from the game. The question is, what if he was throwing a no-hitter? Is pitch count going to prevent a pitcher from pitching a no-hitter one of these days?

• Albert Pujols had only hit two homers since April 25 but hit three home runs at Wrigley Field in the 9-1 Cardinals win over the Cubs. The three home runs moved him into a five-way tie for the NL home run lead.

• The Reds, who outscored the Astros 27-8 over the first two games, were held scoreless in a 2-0 Astros win. Neither team scored until Lance Berkman hit a two-run double in the 10th inning.

• The Blue Jays continued their home run barrage yesterday with Lyle Overbay, Jose Bautista—hitting his major league-leading 16th home run—and Alex Gonzalez all going deep. The Blue Jays have hit 88 home runs in 52 games with two games remaining before the season is a third over. If they can hit two more home runs in the next two games, they'll be on track to hit 270 home runs, breaking the record for most home runs in a season set by the Mariners in 1997.

• The Astros have the fewest home runs this season with 25 in 50 games. The Indians, Athletics, and Mariners have the next fewest with 30 home runs each.

• Justin Morneau leads the majors with a .368 batting average, and the first NL player on the list is Martin Prado at 10th overall with a .325 average.

• The Braves have the longest current winning streak with five consecutive wins. The Diamondbacks have a seven-game losing streak for the longest losing streak.

• The Braves have an 8-2 record over their last 10 games, best in the majors, while the Orioles and Pirates both had 2-8 records, tied for the worst.