Underperforming is going to happen every season of every sport, and MLB is no different. The fantasy experts rank the top players every season and every season players make the experts look like amateurs. Sometimes it is an injury plagued season, and sometimes it is just plain and simple underperforming. The following are the top ten duds of the 2013 fantasy baseball season.
Matt Kemp - Los Angeles Dodgers
Kemp is one of the biggest disappointments of the year, but honestly, experts should have seen it coming. Since finishing second in the NL MVP to Ryan Braun two seasons ago, Kemp has struggled to stay healthy, and it has affected his play on the field. Last season, despite the injuries, he managed to have a decent season, but not near his season the year prior. This season is much worse. Kemp has struggled not only with injury, but on the field as well. He’s only played in 62 games so far this season, and his failure to produce early on is one of the big reasons the Dodgers were in last place until the call up of Yasiel Puig and the return from the DL of Hanley Ramirez. If you drafted Kemp in the first round, around his fifth spot ranking, you were probably expecting another 30-30 season, instead you get one of the biggest duds of the year, and are probably going to miss the playoffs.
Giancarlo Stanton - Miami Marlins
Stanton’s struggles have more to do with what the Marlins did in the offseason than it does with him. Sure, Stanton is unhappy, and that probably has a little to do with his lack of production, but when you field a AAA team it makes it easier for opponents to pitch around your best player. The teams lineup is probably something that fantasy owners (myself included) should’ve thought about before looking at last season's numbers and drooling all over themselves, but they didn’t. He was a late first to early second round pick in most standard drafts, and that is probably where he should’ve went if he matched last season’s production. The problem is that he hasn’t even come close. He still runs into one every now and again, and will hit a monster shot that makes everyone’s jaw drop, but he is not going to hit near the 37 he hit last season. The most disappointing stat is that he currently only has 39 runs batted in. You expect a player taken that high to have close to 100 by now, and that’s what makes his season a big dud.
Josh Hamilton - Los Angeles Angels
Hammy is probably the biggest dud not only this season, but the biggest dud in recent memory. Not only is he not living up to his $125 million contract, but he is not living up to his 24th overall ranking in the offseason. While it’s not as bad as the first round spot that Kemp and Stanton were in, his ranking is currently 206th overall, a far cry from 24. He’s not going to his 30 plus home runs, not going to knock 100 batters in and he for sure isn’t going to hit anywhere near his .293 career batting average. The question becomes how big of a dud will he end up, not just in this season, but in seasons to come.
Buster Posey - San Francisco Giants
It is hard to call Posey a dud because he is having a fine season, but, it is a far cry from his 2012 NL MVP season. Posey is not going to even come close to his stats from last season, but most importantly, he is not going to come close to the stats you would expect of someone picked in the third round, and is not living up to being the first catcher off of the board. He is now ranked behind Yadier Molina, Joe Mauer and Wilin Rosario at the catcher position, not a far fall, but his draft position should outperform all other catchers.
Justin Verlander - Detroit Tigers
Verlander was ranked the second best pitcher in fantasy sports in the offseason right behind Clayton Kershaw, and some experts had them more as co-number one pitchers rather than one and two. Verlander has not lived up to the hype this season, though, as his offseason ranking of 13th overall has now dropped to 179th overall this season. He is still striking out a high rate of batters, but his ERA is almost a whole run higher than last season, and he has almost given up as many earned runs as he did all of last season. He is also well off of his average of 220 innings pitched over the past seven seasons. He has not lived up to his first round, early second round draft position, and is currently the 50th overall starting pitcher in standard Yahoo format, making him not just a dud, but a major dud.
Matt Cain - San Francisco Giants
It is hard to believe that the defending World Series Champions would have two players on this list, but when you see that they are currently in last place in the NL West it should come as no surprise. Mr. Perfect has fallen off hard this year after a fantastic season last year that earned him a 34th overall ranking, and the sixth highest ranked starting pitcher. His early season struggles are a big reason why the Giants are in the position they are in right now, along with the rest of the Giants pitching staff sans Madison Bumgarner. Cain is not coming closer to his sub three ERA of last season or any of the other career high stats he hit last season. He is currently ranked outside of the top 50 pitchers in fantasy baseball, and that is a big dud if you drafted him high like his ranking suggested.
Cole Hamels - Philadelphia Phillies
Poor Hamels is on this list more because of his team's’ shortcomings than his own. Wins are given to a pitcher, but are more of a team stat, unfortunately for fantasy owners Hamels team has let him down a lot this season. Hamels strikeouts are down, but his ERA is still good, and it is the five wins against his 13 losses that really bring him down into dud territory. Hamels was ranked 35th overall in the offseason, but is currently ranked 209 overall. 209 is not bad for a fifth starter on a fantasy squad, but when you draft a guy to be your ace and this is what you get, you’re going to be disappointed.
Joel Hanrahan - Boston Red Sox
Hanrahan was a top closer in fantasy baseball the last few years, and rightfully so he was one of the first closers taken off of the board. On top of the fact that he had been one of the top closers over the last few seasons Hanrahan was traded to the Boston Red Sox, which put him even higher on the list as being the Red Sox closer is a high profile position. It isn’t really his fault that he has hit dud status this season, it is hard to control when you are going to get injured, but in the short time he did pitch he blew two saves and had an ERA of over nine.
Jason Heyward & B.J. Upton - Atlanta Braves
Two thirds of the Braves starting outfield have been huge duds, which should not bode well for the team, but it hasn’t hurt them at all. The two were ranked only ten positions apart, 30th and 40th respectively, and the two are currently ranked way below their original rankings. Upton is by far the bigger dud as he is currently ranked 1005 in standard Yahoo format. Both have been major disappointments, though, and if you drafted either of them over the third member of the Braves outfield, Justin Upton, I hope you have kicked yourselves as many times as I have (Drafted Heyward). This pair is by far the most disappointing pair of teammates in fantasy baseball, with Upton, the B.J. one, being the biggest dud of the year so far.