Adam Dunn, Ike Davis Among Worst Hitting Offenders

Nice swing, no contact. New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis has been having a horrible year at the plate, batting only .160 so far. Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Can’t anybody hit anymore? As a late-night aficionado of the box scores I am horrified on a daily basis as I study the numbers next to the names of repeat offenders. There it is 0-for-4 over and over again.

There are so many players getting regular playing time in the majors these days who couldn’t hit a fly with a swatter or a straight throw from a pitching machine that it is stunning. Many of these players used to be somebody. All of them hit well for most of their lives, through high school, college, the minors, or they wouldn’t inhabit a big-league roster.

But that was before the termites began gnawing on their bats, their reflexes began to creak, their eyesight required squinting, or they lost their mojo completely. There is a heap of embarrassing hitting going on out there, so much it’s difficult to find a team that doesn’t have at least one batter that would seem better off in the minors.

I combed the team-by-team batting averages and was astonished by how many players I came across whose managers still put them into games fairly often who probably aren’t hitting their weight. These guys are all swinging at a sub-.200 average and many are missing that mark by a lot.

Just for openers we have Adam Dunn. Dunn is the highly paid designated hitter for the Chicago White Sox. He is batting .156 in 173 at-bats.  That represents a sinkhole in the Sox batting order. New York Met Ike Davis is hitting .163 in 166 at-bats. And they play everyday.

No one team is having more troubles than the Atlanta Braves. Going into Saturday’s games, B.J. Upton was batting .145 in 159 at-bats, Jason Heyward was hitting .146 in 103 at-bats, and Dan Uggla was hitting .182 in 170 at-bats. The most amazing part of that is that the Braves are still faring pretty well in the won-loss column.

These are glaring examples, but not isolated incidents. Nearly every team is polluted by someone who has forgotten how to hit, whether injury has contributed, brain freeze, loss of confidence, or just flat-out loss of skill.

The Boston Red Sox have Jonny Gomes, hitting .178 in 101 at-bats. Detroit has Alex Avila, .172 in 128 at-bats. Cleveland has Jason Giambi, .185 in 65 at-bats. Minnesota has Adam Hicks, .164 in 165 at-bats. Kansas City has Mike Moustakas, .183 in 153 at-bats. Oakland has Josh Reddick, .158 in 95 at-bats. Seattle has Robert Andino, .184 in 76 at-bats. And Houston has Robbie Grossman, .198 in 111 at-bats.

What this means is that those players have not been able to find themselves at the plate despite being given many chances by their managers, who probably can’t believe how badly they are doing. The boss wants them to succeed, is paying them to succeed, needs them to succeed for the sake of the team, but they can’t get themselves straightened out and continue to swing and miss or swing and trickle ground balls to short.

The Cincinnati Reds have to be wondering what’s going on with Ryan Hannigan, .179 in 84-bats, and Chris Heisey, .173 in 75 at-bats. Milwaukee’s batting order is suffering from an epidemic with Rickie Weeks stuck on .183 in 175 at-bats, Alex Gonzalez at .174 in 109 at-bats, and Martin Maldonaldo at .172 with 87 at-bats.

The Dodgers’ Luis Cruz is hitting .116 in 86 at-bats. The Washington Nationals’ Tyler Moore is at .144 in 90 at-bats and Danny Espinosa is at .164 in 152 at-bats. The Miami Marlins feature Adeiny Hechavarri at .183 in 142 at-bats.

These guys are all taking up space in the batting order. They need private hitting instruction. They need to be demoted to the minors. They need something. They need to change their bat sizes. When it is June and you are hitting in the 100s, it’s an emergency. For you, as you try to salvage your self-respect as a hitter, and for your team, that it trying to win a pennant.

It has often been said that the toughest task in professional sports is hitting a pitched ball. These players are proving it every day.