These Early American League Baseball Surprises Are All Bad
There are plenty of Major League Baseball players who have gotten off to slow starts in the American League in 2006, some slower than others. Which of these sluggish American League baseball sluggers is experiencing an aberration and which ones should start to look over their shoulders to see who is waiting to replace them? Let’s take a look at these baseball players and try to foresee who will start to hit and who should start to pack.
Beginning in the American League Central Division, there is no one off to a worst start this baseball season than the Twins’ Rondell White. Brought in to supply some power in the middle of the line-up, he is the baseball equivalent of a brown out, hitting .093 with no home runs and 2 RBI in Minnesota’s first eleven contests. He has virtually taken the hitter part out of his American League designated hitter position, leaving only the designated; if they could, the Twins would designate White for a minor league assignment. Unable to handle fastballs inside or breaking pitches away, White is most likely at the end of a career that never lived up to its promise. Somewhere along the line, baseball minds got the idea that Rondell was a 30 homer, 100 RBI player; but he has never put up more than 87 RBI for any of the seven teams he has plied his trade for. The move to acquire White will not be at the top of Twins’ General Manager Terry Ryan’s resume. If you have him on your fantasy team, look into seeing if you can replace this American League DH with a National League pitcher.
Seattle Mariner’s third baseman Adrian Beltre can understand what White is going through, as he is living it himself. At least White has 2 RBI, which are 2 more than Beltre has after thirteen games. The Mariner’s fifth hitter in the line-up, Beltre is on pace to hit no homers and go without an RBI for the entire baseball season! The Dodgers haven’t done much right in the last few years, but not giving their former free agent third baseman a big contract and letting him move on to the American League is the one thing that Los Angeles can feel good about. Adrian has struck out 13 times in 46 at bats so far, with a .109 average. He is only 27, so it is highly unlikely that he could be this bad for an entire baseball season. Still, he looks completely overmatched at the plate in the first couple of weeks of the Mariners’ start, unable to lay off high fastballs, which he will see plenty of from American League hurlers.
Brad Wilkerson of Texas was brought in to bat leadoff, get on base, and set the table for the rest of the Rangers’ formidable sluggers behind him. But Wilkerson and his .190 average are not setting any tables, unless he is helping the stadium staff with the post game buffet dishes. He has 1 home run and 4 RBI, but has struck out an astonishing 23 times in 54 official at bats! It should be pointed out that Wilkerson is spending the early part of the baseball campaign learning American League pitchers, since he has spent his whole career prior to 2006 with the Expos. However, it may be easier for Brad to learn quantum physics than it has been for him to get acquainted with the circuit’s hurlers. Texas will regret sending Alfonso Soriano to the Nationals for Wilkerson, only a .256 lifetime hitter to begin with.
In Oakland, Bubba Crosby has struggled to the tune of a .229 average with 2 RBI, but more importantly he has scored only 4 runs. The American League West favorite A’s were considerably better last year with Crosby than without him, but he missed a lot of time in 2005 with various injuries and began 2006 being spiked in the left index finger by a sliding Robinson Cano of the Yankees. The resulting laceration has caused Crosby to miss four games and he actually plays shortstop with the damaged digit outside of his glove. Crosby is nothing if not a gamer, and he should be able to turn things around sooner than later. For the A’s sake, he must.
If ESPN’s Chris Berman needs a nickname for Toronto hurler Josh Towers, he could do worse than “Fire” Towers. The slightly built, six-foot one Towers has been igniting opposing American League bats so far in 2006 to the tune of a plus 9.00 ERA in three starts, all losses. He has always given up many more hits than innings pitched over his career, but in his three appearances he has let batters touch him for 25 hits in 12 frames. If Towers cannot find his location, which is not overpowering to begin with, the Blue Jays may need to find him a new location, especially since he has to go up against the best line-ups in baseball night in and night out in the American League East. By the All-Star break, Berman probably won’t need to worry about finding Towers a funny nickname.
Finally, in Chicago, there is plenty to be happy about, including a rejuvenated Jim Thome and his 7 home runs halfway through April; if you look closely at Thome’s American League numbers, you see he only has 12 RBI. This can be traced directly to leadoff man Scott Posednick, who has fewer hits on the season thus far as Thome has homers. Posednik is batting a bit over .100, and needs to get his on base percentage back up to his career .345 mark if the White Sox are going to keep him batting first. His speed should enable him to shake out of this slump in short order.
Beginning in the American League Central Division, there is no one off to a worst start this baseball season than the Twins’ Rondell White. Brought in to supply some power in the middle of the line-up, he is the baseball equivalent of a brown out, hitting .093 with no home runs and 2 RBI in Minnesota’s first eleven contests. He has virtually taken the hitter part out of his American League designated hitter position, leaving only the designated; if they could, the Twins would designate White for a minor league assignment. Unable to handle fastballs inside or breaking pitches away, White is most likely at the end of a career that never lived up to its promise. Somewhere along the line, baseball minds got the idea that Rondell was a 30 homer, 100 RBI player; but he has never put up more than 87 RBI for any of the seven teams he has plied his trade for. The move to acquire White will not be at the top of Twins’ General Manager Terry Ryan’s resume. If you have him on your fantasy team, look into seeing if you can replace this American League DH with a National League pitcher.
Seattle Mariner’s third baseman Adrian Beltre can understand what White is going through, as he is living it himself. At least White has 2 RBI, which are 2 more than Beltre has after thirteen games. The Mariner’s fifth hitter in the line-up, Beltre is on pace to hit no homers and go without an RBI for the entire baseball season! The Dodgers haven’t done much right in the last few years, but not giving their former free agent third baseman a big contract and letting him move on to the American League is the one thing that Los Angeles can feel good about. Adrian has struck out 13 times in 46 at bats so far, with a .109 average. He is only 27, so it is highly unlikely that he could be this bad for an entire baseball season. Still, he looks completely overmatched at the plate in the first couple of weeks of the Mariners’ start, unable to lay off high fastballs, which he will see plenty of from American League hurlers.
Brad Wilkerson of Texas was brought in to bat leadoff, get on base, and set the table for the rest of the Rangers’ formidable sluggers behind him. But Wilkerson and his .190 average are not setting any tables, unless he is helping the stadium staff with the post game buffet dishes. He has 1 home run and 4 RBI, but has struck out an astonishing 23 times in 54 official at bats! It should be pointed out that Wilkerson is spending the early part of the baseball campaign learning American League pitchers, since he has spent his whole career prior to 2006 with the Expos. However, it may be easier for Brad to learn quantum physics than it has been for him to get acquainted with the circuit’s hurlers. Texas will regret sending Alfonso Soriano to the Nationals for Wilkerson, only a .256 lifetime hitter to begin with.
In Oakland, Bubba Crosby has struggled to the tune of a .229 average with 2 RBI, but more importantly he has scored only 4 runs. The American League West favorite A’s were considerably better last year with Crosby than without him, but he missed a lot of time in 2005 with various injuries and began 2006 being spiked in the left index finger by a sliding Robinson Cano of the Yankees. The resulting laceration has caused Crosby to miss four games and he actually plays shortstop with the damaged digit outside of his glove. Crosby is nothing if not a gamer, and he should be able to turn things around sooner than later. For the A’s sake, he must.
If ESPN’s Chris Berman needs a nickname for Toronto hurler Josh Towers, he could do worse than “Fire” Towers. The slightly built, six-foot one Towers has been igniting opposing American League bats so far in 2006 to the tune of a plus 9.00 ERA in three starts, all losses. He has always given up many more hits than innings pitched over his career, but in his three appearances he has let batters touch him for 25 hits in 12 frames. If Towers cannot find his location, which is not overpowering to begin with, the Blue Jays may need to find him a new location, especially since he has to go up against the best line-ups in baseball night in and night out in the American League East. By the All-Star break, Berman probably won’t need to worry about finding Towers a funny nickname.
Finally, in Chicago, there is plenty to be happy about, including a rejuvenated Jim Thome and his 7 home runs halfway through April; if you look closely at Thome’s American League numbers, you see he only has 12 RBI. This can be traced directly to leadoff man Scott Posednick, who has fewer hits on the season thus far as Thome has homers. Posednik is batting a bit over .100, and needs to get his on base percentage back up to his career .345 mark if the White Sox are going to keep him batting first. His speed should enable him to shake out of this slump in short order.
