MLB Playoffs 2010: Which Players Let Their Teams Down?
Poor Brooks Conrad.
The Atlanta Braves second baseman, whom the team was forced to place considerable faith in when they lost infielders Chipper Jones and Martin Prado to season-ending injuries, could not have had a harder time of it during Atlanta's four-game loss to the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS. He collected just one hit and committed four extraordinarily costly errors, including three in the team's Game 3 loss alone.
By the fourth and final contest, Cox could not even justify starting Conrad, and the man who had very nearly become a folk hero during a strong regular season now looks like the biggest playoff goat in Atlanta since Lonnie Smith.
Believe it or not, though, Conrad might not be the biggest goat of this year's postseason. Several key contributors of whom much more was expected faltered nearly as badly as their teams made first-round exits, and thus Conrad has plenty of company. Where among the top five losers of the 2010 playoffs does he rank? Read on.
5. David Price
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Price got two home starts in the Rays' ALDS loss to the Texas Rangers. He had two chances to dissect an offense that runs in streaks, and to at least hand a lead off to his squad's strong bullpen. He did not capitalize on either opportunity.
In Game 1, Price really struggled, surrendering five runs and nine hits in 6.2 innings. He did punch out eight (and would ultimately notch 14 whiffs without issuing a walk in the ALDS), but gave up two home runs and left trailing 5-0. There was little Price could do about the lack of support from his offense, but he certainly did the team no favors. The Rays would lose all three of their home games in the set.
By virtue of winning two games on the road in Texas, however, the team gave Price another chance at redemption. The left-handed ace fared only slightly better, though, allowing three runs (all earned) in just six innings of work in Game 5. He allowed eight hits and departed after throwing only 104 pitches.
This young man can record outs with the best of them, and he will be back sooner or later to try again in October. For 2010, however, much of the blame for the Rays' premature expiration lies at Price's feet.
4. Joey Votto
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If the Reds were to have any chance of unseating the mighty Philadelphia Phillies, those hopes rode on the prospect of a big series from their MVP candidate, Votto. Votto cranked 37 home runs, swiped 16 bases and led the National League in both on-base percentage and slugging average this season, but in October, with the bright lights on him for the first time in his career, he had just one hit in 10 at-bats. It was a single.
Votto may be the MVP of the league this season, but for the Reds, his disappearing act in the NLDS cost them any chance of making it a series in Philadelphia.
3. Brooks Conrad
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It hurts to do it, but it would be unfair not to point out Conrad's massive self-destruction in a piece like this.
He committed four errors; you know that. He had just one hit; you know that too. Unless you are a Braves fan, though, you may not know just how much Conrad did during the regular season to get the Braves to the playoffs in the first place.
The man had two pinch-hit grand slams this season, and three total pinch-hit homers. One of the slams, on May 20 against Cincinnati, was a walk-off job that capped a seemingly impossible seven-run ninth-inning rally. He finished the year with eight homers and 33 RBI, over a third of which came as a pinch-hit specialist. His 20 extra-base hits gave him an overall .487 slugging average.
He did commit eight errors in limited action at second and third base during the regular campaign, but all in all, it seems eminently possible that without Conrad, the Braves would never even have reached the NLDS. Yes, he stunk once the postseason came, but Conrad has a future as a productive utility man for Fredi Gonzalez's 2011 Braves.
2. The Minnesota Twins Pitching Staff
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This was supposed to be the year in which Minnesota finally overcame their Yankee stigma and beat the Bombers en route to the ALCS. The Twins had home-field advantage, a better lineup than at any point in their history and a pitching staff that pitched well to contact, keeping the ball on the ground and walking practically no one.
Three frustrating defeats later, the Twins' season was over, and much of the blame falls on a pitching staff that grossly underachieved during the series.
The three starting pitchers for the Twins—Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano and Brian Duensing—combined to work just 15 innings, and gave up 13 runs on 23 hits during that stretch. Only once did they hand a lead off to the bullpen, and that precarious Game 1 advantage went by the boards when Jesse Crain imploded on the mound at Target Field.
Brian Fuentes, Jose Mijares and Jon Rauch did their jobs just fine, but otherwise, the Twins' whole staff crumbled before a Yankee offense that should not have intimidated them so. The Twins issued seven walks and allowed four home runs in 26 innings of work, which may not sound like much but was far more than a Twins staff that does not pitch for strikeouts could afford.
1. Jason Heyward
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As bad as Conrad was, no one fell further short of expectations in the NLDS than Heyward. After a sterling rookie season only briefly marred by injuries and lofty strikeout totals, the Braves counted on Heyward to provide an offensive spark for a team that lacked punch all year, but especially so after losing Jones and Prado.
Heyward could not figure out San Francisco's pitching during the playoffs, though, managing only two hits and striking out eight times in 16 at-bats. He drew only one walk, as well, perhaps indicative of some October jitters that drew him out of his normally patient approach.
He reached base at a .393 clip this year and has all the makings of a future superstar. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Heyward showed just how far he still has to go in this first taste of October baseball, and it cost the team any hope of belittling the Giants.
