OK, I guess
Terming Randy Arozarena a disappointment would be too harsh. But he hasn’t risen to stardom the way many expected, and his lukewarm performance to date is probably a big reason why the Rays, stuck in fourth place in the AL East, are generally viewed as a disappointment.
Arozarena is batting .252 with a .734 OPS. That OPS is measurably above the MLB average of .702, but it’s well below what Arozarena produced during 2019 and 2020 auditions, not to mention his star turn in the 2020 post-season.
The Tigers hoped that 2020 would be the season their young pitchers would lead a renaissance, with Casey Mize in a starring role.
Thus far Mize has been only average at best. He’s made seven appearances with a 4.19 ERA. Two of those starts, coming back to back in mid-April versus Oakland and Kansas City, hurt his stats. Mize allowed 11 earned runs in less than 10 innings on those two dates. In his other five starts he’s actually been pretty good.
The Cincinnati Reds hoped Jonathan India, a farm system product, would be the answer at second base. India has shown some power – he has three home runs and a .412 slugging average. But his .235 batting average and 25 percent strikeout rate are average at best, and that’s in a bad year for offense.