MLB: 5 Most Disappointing Teams This Season

Which MLB teams are falling short of preseason expectations? Here are the five most disappointing clubs thus far in 2016.

Before every MLB season experts and fans alike try their best to determine which teams will make their mark on the coming season. They base their opinions on free agency additions, trade additions, budding prospects and the previous season. Usually fans, and especially the experts, are able to easily discern which teams will compete for a playoff spot and which teams will be out of the picture by June or July. However, each year there is a select group of teams that don’t live up to the hype built around them during the offseason.

Whether it be injuries or simply lack of execution, there are disappointing teams in every single season. Disappointing teams are not all the same though. Some are disappointing because they were expected to win the division or be in a playoff position, but have failed to put themselves in that position at this point in the season. Others are disappointing because they had a good start to the season, but have teetered off and suddenly look like last place teams.

Disappointing teams come from all around the league and have disappointed fans for many different reasons. Regardless of why fans are disappointed, the key point is that the teams on this list have not lived up to the potential many believed they had either before the beginning of the season or after the first month of the season.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that it is only June. The teams on this list are by no means finished or out of it. The season is 162 games for a reason. These teams have been disappointing, but some of them still have a chance to turn it around and head toward being the teams everyone expected them to be.

Next: Chicago White Sox

We start off with a team that doesn’t fit the traditional mold for what most consider a “disappointing team.” Before the season, they were considered favorites by some and middle of the division finishers by others. Regardless of where experts had them finishing, the consensus was generally that they would be a contender for a division that contains a lot of equally matched teams.

In the first month of the season, they exceeded everyone’s expectations and sped out to a 17-8 record in April and a season best 23-10 on May 9. However, since May 9 they have gone 9-22 and currently sit at .500 and fourth place in the division.

Although I was hesitant to include the White Sox on this list because they have spent most of the season in first place, being around their fans it is clear that disappointment is one of the strongest feelings along with anger and sadness. For the first time in essentially 10 years, White Sox fans were excited about a team in April and believed in their chance to win the division they haven’t won since 2008. To see that come crashing down in such a quick manner has left fans extremely disappointed with the team, management and the front office.

The reasons for the White Sox’s collapse can’t simply be pinned on one or two individuals. The pitching that was incredibly good for the White Sox in the first month of the season quickly fell back to earth. Not only has the starting pitching been lackluster, but the bullpen has also failed to perform. They took turns losing games throughout the month of May, and the offense helped their fair share as well.

The White Sox lost seven straight series during May for the first time in over a decade, which quickly sent them crashing down in the division. Certainly there is some recency bias when talking about the White Sox being disappointing, but the White Sox appear to have come off the rails in a way. The addition of James Shields has not provided them with any life, and they cannot depend on rookie prospect Tim Anderson to be the spark.

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates

Another team that might having you scratching your head as to why they are on this list. A team above .500 is one of the most disappointing teams in Major League Baseball? Yes, they are. The Pirates are mostly disappointing because of the expectations given to them at the start of the season. Following their loss to the Cubs in the Wild Card game, fans and experts alike expected them to compete in the division with the Cubs and Cardinals like they did in 2015.

Granted, the Cubs have played even better than experts thought they would played. However, the Pirates were expected to really compete with the Cubs. Recently they have fallen into third place in the division, and sit barely above .500 with a 32-31 record.

Losing Gerrit Cole for any period of time won’t help them claw their way back in a division that seems to be set already either. Cole was the Pirates ace last season and one of the best pitchers in the National League, but this season he has been a bit disappointing. Some suggest that the injury is causing his decline, but either way the Pirates desperately need him to be the ace he was in 2015.

The Pirates are seemingly out of the divisional race in June, and their Wild Card chances in a strong top of the National League are slowly fading away as they continue on a skid. Fans who saw their team come up just short against a very good Cubs team that went to the NLCS less than a year ago are surely disappointed in a team 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot and 11.5 out of the division.

The Pirates are a good enough team to turn this around, but the outlook is currently bleak. With the Cardinals currently doing what the Cardinals do, it will be tough for Pittsburgh to compete with the big boys in the NL Central for the second year in a row. Which is certainly disappointing for fan expectations and expert projections.

Next: Arizona Diamondbacks

During the offseason the Diamondbacks made some of the biggest moves in all of Major League Baseball. When a team makes big moves, the media and fans tend to see them as heavy favorites going into the season. Multiple experts had the Diamondbacks winning the NL West, which sounds completely ridiculous at this point considering the team is sporting a 29-37 record.

The two biggest moves the Diamondbacks made over the offseason were the trade for Shelby Miller and signing of Zack Greinke. Together they have a 4.98 ERA in 132.1 innings pitched, which isn’t bad if they are the fourth and fifth best starters in the rotation; however, the Diamondbacks gave up $206.5 million and Dansby Swanson along with other prospects to get the two starters.

In order for the Diamondbacks to be nearly as good as people expected them to be, they need those guys to lead the team. Miller recently went on the DL, which could be the reason for his struggles and solve the problems for him. Greinke has pieced together a few really good starts, and has won his last 6 decisions.

They are certainly trending in the right direction, but the beginning of the season was so underwhelming that they are basically out of a division with the best team in the division being one of the top two teams in the National League.

Perhaps the expectations for the Diamondbacks were a bit high to begin with. Most of the lofty picks for the team were based on the two main moves they made in the offseason. With those two players under-performing up to this point in the season, the flaws that the Diamondbacks have had all along have sent the team into a tumble.

The Diamondbacks are another team that isn’t out of the race yet, but their chances are not great because of how much they underwhelmed early in the season.

Next: New York Yankees

The Yankees have high expectations every year regardless of their roster simply because they are the Yankees. This year the high expectations were somewhat warranted. After Kansas City showed two years in a row the importance of having a shutdown bullpen, the Yankees decided to go the same route. They added Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman in 2015 and 2016 respectively to add to a very good reliever in Dellin Betances. With Betances, Miller and Chapman the Yankees had arguably the best bullpen in baseball.

Where the Yankees went wrong was understanding that in order to use shutdown relievers like Betances, Miller, or Chapman the team has to have the lead going into the late innings. The Yankees have not had a lot of situations where they have needed pitchers like those three to shut down a tight game late.

Perhaps the expectations for the Yankees were a bit far-fetched. A-Rod was expected to play much better than he has to this point, and the rest of the offense was supposed to at least be mediocre. With a healthy Masahiro Tanaka that could keep balls in the park and an effective Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda, the pitching situation would look a whole lot better. CC Sabathia looks like he is having a revival year, but he did need to deal with a DL stint. Things simply haven’t gone the Yankees’ way this season.

The argument could be made that the Yankees wouldn’t be competitive in a very tough AL East regardless of how well the team has performed. The roster of the Yankees simply isn’t capable of the winning percentages the Red Sox and Orioles have posted so far. However, the expectations for the Yankees were still high enough for fans to get excited about the possibility of the team winning the division for the first time since they won two in a row in 2011 and 2012.

The Yankees currently sit in fourth place with a record of 31-32, which puts them 5.5 back. They certainly aren’t out of the race in the division or Wild Card, but fans are still very disappointed in how they have played up to this point in the season.

Next: Houston Astros