Bad Starts for These MLB Hitters May Doom Thier Team's Chances

There is certainly no shortage of Major League Baseball players that are stinking up the field this year after great things were expected of them by their teams coming into 2008. Players such as Robinson Cano and Jason Giambi of the Yankees, Gary Sheffield of the Tigers, Ryan Howard of the Phillies, and Andrew Jones of the Dodgers are just a handful of supposed stars that have not produced. These and several others have gotten off to such bad starts that it is hard to tell in many of their cases if they are simply slumping badly or perhaps if they have come to the end of the road.

Giambi and Sheffield in particular give good cause for many experts to think they may be washed up. Giambi is batting a paltry .154 through the first week of May, but at least he can list 5 home runs amongst his 12 base hits. Sheffield, who can now never stay healthy for more than a few games at a time, has just 2 homers and 5 runs batted in to go with his sickening .185 average, a big reason the Tigers have struggled so much early. Giambi is 37 and Sheffield 39, so the end of the line is not far off, despite the millions they are making, if not earning.

Cano was looked at as a future batting champion, but he is so pitiful at the plate that Yankee skipper Joe Girardi has been giving him time off and playing a rookie at second recently. Robinson is hitting a laughable .150, with just 17 hits in 113 trips; his 2 homers along with 7 RBI are not exactly endearing him to New York fans. Howard is a strike out machine, with 45 whiffs in 31 contests for Philadelphia. He has 6 home runs and 14 RBI to post with his meager .170 batting average and is on a pace to be the first batter ever to eclipse 200 strikeouts in a single campaign.

Jones looked lost at the plate for much of last year, yet the Dodgers still gave him a fat contract and put him out in centerfield. He looks as if he has swallowed a basketball this year; as his rotund frame barely fits into his uniform, Jones is hitting .163 with 4 runs batted in after 30 games, hardly the kind of numbers you would want from a big money acquisition. Other recognizable names that are below the .200 Mendoza line include Padres' outfielder Jim Edmonds, Washington's Austin Kearns, and Kansas City's Jose Guillen.

Boston's David Ortiz is starting to come around after a dismal start to his year. Big Papi is now batting .216 with 24 RBI as he begins to find his stride. Such is not the case for the Mets' Carlos Beltran, who is going to hear it form the fans if he doesn't get his .204 average up soon. Beltran has just 3 homers and 13 runs batted in, and if the Mets are going to contend he had better get things in gear. Likewise for his teammate Carlos Delgado, who is only slightly better at .210 but has at least shown signs of life as of late.

Other hitters not carrying their weight in the season's initial stages are Chicago White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher with 8 runs batted in, the Padres' shortstop Khalil Greene with a .216 average, and Richie Weeks of the Brewers, who was supposed to be on the verge of a breakout season but closely resembles a breakdown on the freeway. Weeks is shuffling along at .195 with just 8 ribbies. However, the season is still very young and all of these players have a chance to put up some numbers. They had just better not wait too long to do so if their teams are going to be in the middle of things this summer.