The top 5 most disappointing MLB players this season, or Bareknucks.com's Kerry Wood Award Nominees

Logan on 06 14, 2009

This season has seen its share of disappointing performances. Sure, there have been a few pleasant surprises, Raul Ibanez’s name immediately comes to mind (No, not for steroids. Calm down Raul), but those successful 2009 campaigns have been significantly overshadowed by the struggles encountered by some of the game’s most elite. This is a list of the five most disappointing performances in my eyes from individual players. Keep in mind that this is not necessarily most heavily influenced from a statistical standpoint, there may be some other factors that come into play.

The five underachievers (ranked from least to most disappointing):

(5) Alfonso Soriano [.237 AVG, 64 SO, 6 SB]

Soriano is heavily relied upon by a Cubs team that is going through a rough patch of key injuries and underachieving performances, however he is failing to step up and lead his team. Soriano is striking out at an alarming rate for a guy who has a decade of experience in the big leagues and is getting paid $17 million this season alone. With 64 strikeouts through only 56 games, Alfonso strikes out an average of about once in every four at bats, or just over once a game. He makes the list at number five because it’s hard to put a guy any higher when he does have fourteen home runs already.

The Cubs have plenty of problems at this point in the season and find themselves at 29-29 after Friday’s 7-4 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Twins, their third straight defeat. Soriano desperately needs to start performing if the Cubs want to climb out of fourth place. He is on the list due to his reputation, salary, and importance to his team’s success.

(4) Daisuke Matsuzaka [1-4, 7.66 ERA]

Daisuke is on the list for several reasons. After a season that saw him go 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA, Matsuzaka followed that up by again winning the World Baseball Classic’s MVP Award again leading team Japan to a WBC Title. It looked as though he had it all figured out here in the United States after struggling in 2008 posting a 4.40 ERA and going 15-12. That’s the biggest disappointing aspect of Daisuke’s 2009 campaign to this point, the fact that he had shown nothing but improvement heading into the year. After a couple starts in 2009, Matsuzaka landed on the disabled list due to “arm fatigue.” This is extremely worrisome to the Sox given the fact that it happened so early in the year. Since his return from the DL, Dice-K has turned in only one decent start, winning his lone game of the year against the Detroit Tigers (1-3 since his return).

The Red Sox have won only one game out of the six games started by their highly paid Japanese acquisition. Daisuke has yet to go a full six innings in any start this season, and has allowed 44 hits and 13 walks in his 27 IP, leading to an inflated 2.11 WHIP. The only reason Dice-K doesn’t find himself higher on the list is due to the fact that he has never shown the ability to go deep into games during his MLB career and has always had to tip-toe around walks and hits, it was bound to catch up to him. Thankfully for Matsuzaka, the Red Sox have by far the most depth from a pitching standpoint in the league, so his struggles haven’t effected his team as much as the players who are listed higher.

(3) B.J. Upton [.212 AVG, 72 SO, 15 RBI]

The Rays are in the unfortunate circumstance of being forced to play in the American League East. As defending division champions, the team formerly known as the “Devil Rays,” find themselves six games back of the Boston Red Sox at 32-31 as of June 13th. After surprising the baseball community by reaching the World Series in 2008, they have failed to live up to expectations in 2009, and B.J. Upton is a major reason behind that.

The 24 year-old Upton is struggling heavily at the plate, and the Rays are finding it difficult to keep up with the rest of the East. 72 strikeouts is unacceptable from that spot in the batting order, and it is severely hurting this club offensively. B.J. was the instigator in the team’s offense which was such a vital part of their success last season. His inability to produce for guys who are having good years such as Longoria and Crawford is truly hampering this team’s win total.

(2) David Ortiz [.205 AVG, .299 OBP, 25 RBI]

This one is well documented at this point, and some of you are most likely wondering how Ortiz is not in the number one spot. Again, Ortiz’s struggles have not effected his club to the point of a guy like Upton. There’s no doubting “Papi’s” significance to Boston’s lineup, but they have proven all season that it is not an obstacle that is impossible to overcome. Despite Ortiz’s problems at the dish, Boston finds themselves in first place and highly regarded as the team to beat in the American League (and all of the MLB for that matter).

Ortiz has begun to pick it up to some extent as of late, showing signs of a possible return to top form…or somewhere around there at least. David is hitting .368 with 3 home runs in the last seven days (06/06-06/13). However it is impossible to deny him a spot on this list because despite his recent success, he is still hitting only .205 with 4 home runs and 25 RBI. ESPN.com projects the normally reliable slugger to hit only 11 home runs in 2009 with just 71 RBI, to go along with 159 strikeouts. It’s no secret that the Red Sox are currently in pursuit of offensive help based on Ortiz’s struggles. You can’t expect to win a World Series title when your designated hitter is a liability at the plate. Fenway fans have almost begun to expect a swing and a miss (or three) every time David steps to the plate.

(1) Chien-Ming Wang [0-4, 14.34 ERA]

Wang has been terrible this season. There’s really no other way to describe it. The Yankees’ sinker-ball specialist was a trendy pick by some to contend for the Cy Young this season after going a combined 46-15 from 2006-2008. Thought to be a key part of what was viewed as one of the stronger starting fives entering 2009, Wang was brutal to watch right from the beginning. He has left his sinker-ball up in the zone all year resulting in five home runs already through less than 22 IP.

A pitcher who has never had an ERA above 4.07 over the course of a full MLB season, Chien-Ming Wang finds himself with the highest ERA through the first five games started by any starter in the history of Major League Baseball (this does not include his three relief appearances). The Yankees need to find more balanced starting pitching on a consistent basis if they want to contend for the AL East crown, or the Wild Card spot for that matter. Wang is a huge part of that. Few players on this list have the potential to influence their team’s success more than Wang.

If he can figure out what is bothering him relatively soon, there’s no reason to discount the Yankees as World Series contenders. With Pettitte, Chamberlain, Sabathia, and Burnett, the Yankees could have one of the most devastating rotations in the league if all play up to their potential. Again it begins with consistency, and while Wang has been consistent this year, it isn’t the positive type of consistency he is looking for.

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