The 5 biggest disappointments of the MLB season so far
There have been a few things that have surprised the baseball world in a good way but, frankly, there may be more disappointments in the MLB season thus far.
There haven’t been a ton of players that have disappointed on a huge level but there have been a few. Primarily, it has been teams that have not played well, or played up to expectations through the first week of 2022 season.
So here are the five biggest disappointments of the 2022 MLB season thus far.
Kansas City Royals third baseman Bobby Witt, Jr.
Kansas City Royals’ third baseman Bobby Witt, Jr. may be the top prospect in baseball right now but if the first week of the season is any indication, he may need to be back down in Triple-A.
Through his first week in the majors, Witt is 2-for-20 with two doubles and six strikeouts. He, at least, has been putting the ball in play a fair amount but the strikeouts do have to cut down and he has to hit better than that.
The Milwaukee Brewers
Christian Yelich had a decent start to the season but he went 0-for-4 on Wednesday, bringing his average down to .263 and his OPS down to .791. Now, outside of Rowdy Tellez and Willy Adames, the Milwaukee Brewers don’t have anyone that has been even above average at the plate.
That’s why they are 23rd in batting average (.212), 16th in on-base percentage (.303), 23rd in slugging percentage (.337), and 25th in runs (18). That’s an average of three runs per game.
They also haven’t pitched well. They have a 4.24 ERA, which is 21st in baseball.
They faced the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles, who went 71-91 and 52-110 in 2021. A team that should be in the playoffs has to hit better than that, especially against the awful Orioles.
The Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners nearly made the playoffs in 2021 but they haven’t looked like a playoff team in the first week of the season.
They have hit .191/.284/.312, which is 28th, 24th, and 28th in baseball. They also have scored just 16 runs, for an average of just 2.67 runs per game. They also have an ERA of 4.14, which is not awful but not great either (19th).
Outside of shortstop J.P. Crawford and first baseman Ty France, none of their players who have started in at least half of their games have a batting average above .200 or an OPS above .725.
They have faced the aforementioned Twins and White Sox so they aren’t facing awful teams (at least in theory for the Twins) but the Mariners should have a little bit of a better start.
Shohei Ohtani (at the plate)
Shohei Ohtani made the Opening Day start for the Los Angeles Angels. He pitched well (4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 K) but he has not hit well at all.
There’s a reason why he was giving CPR to his bat.
Ohtani giving CPR to his dead bat pic.twitter.com/aFoZbMw4sG
— Shohei Ohtani Highlights (@ohtanimoments) April 12, 2022
Through the first week of the MLB season, he is hitting .160/.160/.200 with an OPS+ of 3. In total, he is 4-for-25 with three singles and a double.
He should turn his bat around here soon but it’s definitely a disappointing start to the season for him.
The Minnesota Twins’ offense
The Minnesota Twins are hoping to be in playoff contention this year, especially since they signed the best free agent on the MLB market this offseason in Carlos Correa.
On paper, the Twins have a weak pitching staff and a good offense. But through the first week, the Twins are 2-4 to start the season and it’s not because of their pitching. Their pitching staff has an ERA of 3.83, which is 13th in baseball. It’s their offense.
As a team, they are hitting .181/.256/.362, which is 29th, 30th, and 20th in the sport. They also are 22nd in runs with 20, for an average of just 3.33 runs per game.
Byron Buxton is hitting for a low average (.217) but he is hitting for power (.976 OPS). But Max Kepler, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Sano, and Alex Kirilloff all haven’t been great at the plate.
With Kirilloff, he is 1-for-17 with a .059/.059/.059 slash line and an OPS+ of -65. He was MLB.com’s #26 prospect entering the 2021 season, he has to prove himself in the majors and he didn’t in 2021 and he hasn’t done well in 2022 yet either.
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Granted, they aren’t going to have a perfect game thrown against them for 7 1/3 innings (which is what happened on Wednesday) every day but through the first week, a team that is going to rely on their offense to win has to hit better than that.