MLB: The 5 Worst Players in Baseball
Ryan Howard, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies
.160/.219/.376, 233 PA, 19 R, 14 HR, 30 RBI, -1.4 WAR (Fangraphs)
$25 million salary
Even though he doesn’t have the fewest Wins Above Replacement (WAR, per Fangraphs) of any player in baseball, because of his hefty price tag and the likelihood that he’ll continue to take up space on the Phillies’ roster, Ryan Howard gets the title of Worst Player in Baseball.
There are so many ways in which Ryan Howard is the worst player in baseball. His hitting has been atrocious. For players with at least 200 plate appearances, Howard ranks second-to-last in batting average and on-base percentage and 13th from the bottom in OPS. He has the 11th-worst strikeout rate. His defense is bad and has been below average in every full season of his career. He’s a sloth on the bases.
On top of all that, Howard is making $25 million this season. He’s in the final year of a 5-year, $125 million contract extension that he signed before the 2012 season. In that time, he’s been below average every year and below replacement level in four of those five seasons. He’s currently having the worst season of his career.
Then there are a couple of bizarre statistical anomalies Howard has going against him. Ryan Howard has 14 home runs this year, but has scored just 19 times. Eleven of his 14 home runs have been solo shots. In the history of baseball, the fewest runs scored for a player with 14 home runs is 31, by Scott Brosius in 1994. Howard has scored 12 fewer runs than that.
Howard’s 14 home runs have come with 31 RBI on the season. Other than Howard, the fewest RBI for a player with 14 home runs in a season are the 38 that Andrew McCutchen currently has. Not only has Howard been awful in a traditional way, he’s also been awful in unusual, quirky ways.
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