Worst of the Worst
September 10, 2007 by Geoff Young
Filed under Odds and Ends
With the season winding down, I got to wondering who’s stinking up the joint? Here are the players with the lowest OPS+ by position (minimum 430 PA, roughly what it would take to qualify for the batting title if the season ended now) and the pitchers with the highest ERA+ (minimum 140 IP for starters, 40 G for relievers):
| Pos | Name | Team(s) | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of September 9, 2007. | ||||||
| C | Jason Kendall | Oak/ChN | .245 | .300 | .313 | 63 |
| 1B | Lyle Overbay | Tor | .239 | .317 | .397 | 85 |
| 2B | Josh Barfield | Cle | .245 | .273 | .326 | 59 |
| 3B | Nick Punto | Min | .199 | .286 | .255 | 46 |
| SS | Tony Pena | KC | .256 | .276 | .334 | 56 |
| Omar Vizquel | SF | .239 | .299 | .295 | 56 | |
| LF | Jason Bay | Pit | .253 | .331 | .424 | 95 |
| CF | Juan Pierre | LA | .290 | .323 | .347 | 73 |
| RF | Delmon Young | TB | .293 | .322 | .416 | 92 |
Quick comments:
- Kendall and Pierre have humongous contracts. Kendall’s is up at the end of the ‘07 season, but the Dodgers get to pay Pierre a total of $36.5 over the next four years. Good times.
- Punto’s futility at the plate borders on the historic. Since 1961, only seven players have had a worse OPS+ while qualifying for a league’s batting title; the most recent was Neifi Perez, playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2002.
- There aren’t really any bad-hitting corner outfielders. It’s surprising to see Bay at the bottom of the left fielders. We’ll cut Young some slack due to the fact that he’s starting in the big leagues at age 21. That makes up for a lot.
| Pos | Name | Team(s) | W-L | ERA | ERA+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of September 9, 2007. | |||||
| RHSP | Adam Eaton | Phi | 9-8 | 6.28 | 72 |
| LHSP | Scott Olsen | Fla | 9-12 | 5.76 | 73 |
| RHRP | Jose Mesa | Det/Phi | 1-3 | 7.36 | 61 |
| LHRP | Jay Marshall | Oak | 1-2 | 6.75 | 65 |
Kip Wells (6-16, 5.65, 76) could overtake Eaton, while Olsen’s lead over Dontrelle Willis (8-15, 5.27, 80) appears to be safe. Eaton is on pace to become the first pitcher to finish with a winning percentage while being at the absolute bottom of the ERA+ pile since Colby Lewis (10-9, 7.30, 68) did it in 2003 while “pitching” for the Texas Rangers.
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