#8: Carlos Pena – 45.52%
Carlos Pena’s career ended in 2014 after just 18 games of a wRC+ of 14. That’s 86% worse than league average. He hadn’t been an above average hitter in over two seasons and was above average just once in the last four years in which he played. His decline came on rather fast going from a 167 wRC+ in 2007 to a 132 in both 2008 and 2009, then a 105 the following season. There was a brief reprise to 133 in 2011.
With a .232/.346/.462 triple slash, 286 HR, 817 BB, and 1577 K, he finished his career with 2650 TTO’s. That’s 3rd most on the list for total Three True Outcomes. His first trip to the postseason was in 2008 where he hit to the tune of a 1.060 OPS to help the Rays advance past the defending champion Red Sox in the ALCS. His second trip was a loss in the division series in 2012, but he did post an 1.126 OPS.
In September of 2015, he signed a one day contract with the Rays so that he could retire as a member of the organization. The former Rays slugger has spent some time as a television analyst since retiring and joined the Red Sox broadcast team in the booth for a series in September of 2017.
Carlos Pena played for 8 teams in his professional career. He debuted with the Texas Rangers then played for the Oakland Athletics, the Tigers, the Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals.
#7: Mark Bellhorn – 45.82%
Mark Bellhorn is the second member of this list to have a significant impact on a Red Sox World Series championship. He had an .836 OPS in the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees including a 4th inning HR off of Jon Lieber to put the Red Sox up 4-0. That home run would prove to be the game winner. He also had an 8th inning leadoff HR in game 7 to put the Sox up 8-3. It would be one of several nails in the coffin of the Yankees’ playoff run that year.
With a .230/.341/.394 slash, 69 HR, 346 BB, and 723 K, Bellhorn ended his career with 970 TTO’s, the fewest on this list. His 2,117 PA are also the fewest, barely qualifying him for this ranking. Interestingly, he also had the 7th lowest percentage of TTO’s. But that was Bellhorn’s career in a nutshell. He bounced around from team to team serving mostly as a bench player. The only two seasons in which he had a starter’s load of plate appearances were 2004 with the Red Sox and 2002 with the Cubs.
2004 was the only significant playoff appearance of his career. He also earned playoff shares in 2006 with San Diego and 2007 with the Reds, but served exclusively as a defensive replacement for each club.
Mark Bellhorn played for six teams. He began his career in Oakland, then moved on to the Cubs, the Colorado Rockies, the Red Sox, the Yankees, the San Diego Padres, and finally the Cincinnati Reds.
Next: #5/6