MLB Spring Training Preview: The Player with the Most to Prove from Each Team
With a little over two months until spring training, baseball is almost here. Finally.
This also means that each team has about two months to cut their roster down to 25 players. Who will make it, who won't?
While there were players who had great seasons, like Josh Hamilton and Roy Halladay, there were players who had not so great seasons. That's who we are going to look at.
And not just the top five or 10 or 15 etc. Every team has a player who needs to step up their game and improve from their less than par performance of last season.
Here we go:
Arizona Diamondbacks: Gerardo Parra
1 of 30
A sophomore slump for Mr. Parra this past season. On a positive note he improved his defense, slightly. He started less games in the field and managed to produce more double plays and less errors, but nothing too exciting.
His bat? Well it wasn't as strong as last season. However, he didn't strike out as much as he did last season.
Atlanta Braves: Brian McCann
2 of 30
He continued to get 20-plus homers for the third consecutive season now, but every other stat just seemed to drop or get worse.
Wasn't too shabby behind the plate, nabbing 36 base-stealers this season.
Baltimore Orioles: Mark Reynolds
3 of 30
Last season on the D-Backs, Reynolds didn't have such a hot season, as far as fielding goes.
The third baseman tallied up 18 errors.
From a batting standpoint he didn't do so bad. He hit 32 bombs which led all Arizona ballplayers. The downfall is his team-leading 211 strikeouts and ended the season with a .198 batting average.
Now he did play 10 more games last season than he did this season, but his numbers did drop a tad.
Slugging average was probably the biggest going from a .543 down to a .433.
With a new team (Baltimore, obviously), he'll have to prove that he can become a better fielding but still manage to bring in the runs who finished last in the AL East this past season.
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Boston Red Sox: Jon Lackey
4 of 30
A winning record, but a high ERA. Lackey seemed to be the in dark while being surrounded by bigger pitchers.
Those pitchers being ones like Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester. He should look to step up his game to move higher up in the pitching rotation.
Chicago Cubs: Randy Wells
5 of 30
Had a highlight year last season by being the first Cubs pitcher to obtain seven wins since Kerry Wood back in 1998, but this season was different.
Ending the season with a record of 8-14, the only thing that he improved on was the amount of strikeouts he threw.
Chicago White Sox: A.J. Pierzynski
6 of 30
Let a lot of base-runners gain the extra bag on steals this season, just like he usually does.
Played 10 less games than 2009 but me managed to record more RBIs.
Cincinnati Reds: Scott Rolen
7 of 30
Rolen is destined for the decline entering his 15th season. His play last season was fine and all – slugging average was pretty good (.497.)
However, he's getting older (age 35 now) and it's getting close to the end of his career. Who knows how he will perform next season? He needs to give us a preview of what he's still capable of in the pre-season.
Cleveland Indians: Luis Valbuena
8 of 30
His average slumped down to below .200 (.193 to be exact) with only playing 12 games less than he did in 2009.
A quiet year overall for Valbuena, only two home runs and 24 RBIs. Not known for being a big hitter, but it could help out the Indians a lot if he developed to be a bigger force at home plate.
Colorado Rockies: Jason Giambi
9 of 30
Giambi just signed a new contract with the Rockies, demoting him to their minor league organization with a shot at making the roster during spring training; providing he passes a physical.
On the decline, Giambi needs to start proving he can play a whole season and stay on a roster for an entire season. A mere six home runs in 87 games last season is all he produced.
Detroit Tigers: Ramon Santiago
10 of 30
Tigers
Florida Marlins: Wes Helms
11 of 30
His numbers continue to drop, but that could just be with age.
An outstanding defensive third baseman late in the game, he still needs to prove that he can hit the ball well – hasn't hit double digits in homers since 2006.
Houston Astros: Carlos Lee
12 of 30
Nothing too drastic here, just an off-season for Carlos Lee.
He produced the lowest numbers of his career this past season (as far as slugging average and batting average go).
Kansas City Royals: Alcides Escobar
13 of 30
It's hard to determine if Escobar had a good season or not, it's the first season he's played over 100 games.
Either way, he only managed .235 average and forced 20 errors. We'll have to wait and see what he can produce if he plays for another 100-plus games this coming season.
Los Angeles Angels: Erick Aybar
14 of 30
Numbers just dropped for this kid, the only thing that remained the same from 2009 was the number of home runs he hit (five).
What really stuck out to me was the amount of errors he produced: 21. In comparison to his 11 errors last season, you have to ask to yourself: what happened?
Los Angeles Dodgers: Casey Blake
15 of 30
Mighty Casey has struck out... 138 times actually. One shy of tying his career high.
Blake played almost 10 more games this season than last and walked up to plate almost 25 more times. Yet, his numbers dropped lower than last season, except for the amount of doubles he racked up.
You wouldn't expect a player's numbers to go down with the more games he's played in a season.
Milwaukee Brewers: Prince Fielder
16 of 30
Fielder's slugging percentage dropped tremendously; the lowest he's had since his rookie season. Also, he continued to strikeout over 100 times.
Definitely a slump for the Prince, he still has the potential to put up big numbers like he has in the past.
Minnesota Twins: Jason Kubel
17 of 30
Normally a DH or a pinch hitter, Kubel saw playing time last year in right field while Justin Morneau was injured. If he wants to continue to be in the field full-time, he's going to have to prove it in spring training.
On the DH side of the ball, his numbers diminished slightly from 2009. He should still be the first string DH though come next season.
New York Mets: Luis Castillo
18 of 30
Although he spent most of the season with nagging foot injuries, Castillo didn't have the greatest of seasons.
His inconsistency led to then-manager Jerry Manuel putting Castillo in the dugout in favor of Rubén Tejada. That's why Castillo needs to prove he is the better candidate for the second base position: he has some competition now.
Tejada isn't the most powerful of hitters, but he is fast and is quick on the defensive side of the ball.
A little fun fact: the Mets are 21-9 when Tejada is playing. Better step it up Castillo.
New York Yankees: A.J. Burnett
19 of 30
You had to figure his picture was on the opening slide of this article for a reason. A.J. Burnett posted his first losing season since his days back in Florida in 2001 when he went 11-12.
That was better than this season's 10-15 record. Also, it's been back to back seasons now where he's let up 25 home runs.
Highest ERA of his career: 5.26, Burnett has got to get his game back together for the Yankees bullpen.
Oakland Athletics: Cliff Pennington
20 of 30
Played for over 100 games for the first time in his young MLB career, and maybe that was the problem.
Solid batting and base running wise (stole 29 bases this season) but his weakness comes in the fielding department.
Placed third in the MLB with 25 errors, if Cliff can brush up on his fielding than he can be a productive player for Oakland.
Philadelphia Phillies: Raul Ibanez
21 of 30
Interesting, he started more games this season but a lot of his numbers were lower than 2009.
His average increased only by .003 and his slugging dropped from .552 to .444. At his age, he still needs to show Philly what he was once able to do.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Ronny Cedeno
22 of 30
His numbers just don't jump out at me.
You could make the case that he's better a fielder than a batter, but then how can you back it up when he posted 18 errors this season?
Playing for a struggling Pirates club, you can't expect the greatest of things to happen to your players.
San Diego Padres: Will Venable
23 of 30
Strikeouts are a killer. Venable had almost one each game he played this season.
Averages and numbers dropped with the more games he played last year; not too bad fielding though.
San Francisco Giants: Pablo Sandoval
24 of 30
Kung Fu Panda needs to put for Fu back in his game.
The big boy dropped his numbers throughout the regular season but also didn't have the greatest of postseason with the Giants. Three hits throughout the playoffs was his contribution to the World Champion Giants.
Seattle Mariners: Chone Figgins
25 of 30
The good news is he still stole bases as he's normally done for the past six or seven seasons. The bad news is he suffered a slump entering the Mariner's organization.
Could it have been the switch to second base? Probably not. He's used to playing all around the infield and that wouldn't mess up his batting. However, he did commit a career high 19 errors this season.
St. Louis Cardinals: Yalider Molina
26 of 30
He did well behind the plate, only allowing 35 steals and caught 33 base runners. However, his hitting game wasn't too strong this season, at least when compared to others.
Most strikeouts of his career (51) but a career high in RBIs (62). Bounced around a lot, spring training is an opportunity for him to find a happy medium.
Tampa Bay Rays: Ben Zobrist
27 of 30
An all around player, Zobrist found his niche in the outfield last season.
However, his batting average dropped, slugging dropped etc. in 41 more at-bats than last season.
Texas Rangers: Julio Borbon
28 of 30
His first 100-plus game season in his young two-year career.
Can you say it was a sophomore slump? It's hard to tell because his stats dropped but that was mainly due to him being started more games. Starting more games means more chances to strikeout, fly out etc.
Toronto Blue Jays: Aaron Hill
29 of 30
Committed a few errors this season (10 to be precise) but other than that had a quiet year.
Numbers weren't something to be impressed about but they weren't something to be upset about. Definitely a step down from the '09 season, but at least that season showed he has the potential to be great.
Washington Nationals: Livan Hernandez
30 of 30
Now I feel like there is some potential with Hernandez here. He may have had three consecutive losing seasons now, but he improved his ERA greatly.
He hasn't had a season where his earned run average was below four since 2006.
That's it, it's finally done. Now you see who, in my opinion, who needs to step it up in spring training. Enjoy!
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