Hope you enjoyed this week's column. If you have an idea for a future column, feel free to email me. I'm always welcome to new ideas. In the meantime, good luck and may all your curveballs drop off the table.
The Commish
Having spent the majority of my summer vacation in last place in MRLB, I know what it takes to be bad. People say it's lonely at the top but let me tell you, you don't get many visitors hanging out in the basement. This "alone time" has given me time to think more about the wonderful statistic known as FPS. Until now, we have always used FPS to point out the good players in baseball. Then I thought, who's really stinkin' up the joint, other than my entire roster? Suddenly, a column is born.
This week we're going to take a look at who the worst players in baseball have been. More specifically, who are the worst regulars in the game? Everyone knows the worst players, but I wanted to know the worst performers that are still in the lineup consistently. For the pitchers, I only used those with a minimum of 20 innings of active MRLB work. The FPS / Inning statistic reflects ONLY the games the pitcher has played as a starter on an MRLB team. Let's take a look at the pitchers least likely to win the Cy Young this year:
PITCHERS
(minimum - 20 MRLB innings)
Without question, Helling has been the worst pitcher in MRLB this year. In the 24 innings Redrum let him pitch, Helling gave up 23 earned runs and didn't win a game. Finally, Redrum came to his senses and let Helling ride the pine. Many of the other pitchers in the list are young and the inconsistency is expected, not to mention the uncertainty to start or bench a rookie pitcher. El Duque pitched poorly before realizing he was hurt, Sparks' season is successful, but since the Badass Cowboys have started him, he's been atrocious. Others from this list have been added, dropped, and traded several times over because of their ineptness.
As for the hitters, the eligible players must have a minimum of 150 MRLB at bats. Catchers own this list, but a few surprising names popped up. Here's the list:
HITTERS
(minimum - 150 MRLB at bats)
Well, quite simply, Brad Ausmus sucks this year. That's why he got traded once and then dropped. Vizquel, once a big time fantasy player, is on the bottom feeder list because of his lack of stolen bases. Ben Grieve has been a huge disappointment for Slim Shady, but he continues to put him in his starting lineup. Mark Grace's batting average has been high all year, but he hasn't produced beyond hitting for average. Ditto for Polanco. Lopez and Kendall, typically two of the best catchers in the game, have struggled all season and don't look primed to turn it around. If you have one of these 20 hitters in your lineup, you may want to think twice about starting him next week.
The Commish
