Although the Major League Baseball season is only a month old, it is easy to tell which players are going to have disappointing seasons. At this point in the year, slumping players aren’t doomed to have a miserable year, but an early slump is usually a precursor for a down year.
Slumping fantasy players can be detrimental to a fantasy team’s season. Oftentimes, the most egregious slumps are from players who were taken fairly high in the draft, making their slumps that much more of a disappointment. A slump doesn’t mean the end of the season for these players, but they need to turn it around soon if they want to be back at the top of the draft board next year.
Matt Kemp - OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
After Kemp’s awesome gesture to a fan earlier this week, it makes it tough to write this. But, Kemp is slumping without a doubt. His .272 batting average is about average, but what he is really lacking in is power.
Kemp only has one homerun in 34 games so far, and is only slugging .352. The slugging percentage is way under his career slugging of .496, and the one homer is pretty disappointing. Perhaps Kemp’s numbers are mostly due to his team, which was lost seven games in a row. But if Kemp wants to break this slump his power numbers need to improve, which would automatically make his team bigger.
Albert Pujols - 1B, Los Angeles Angels
Sticking with the theme of teams struggling, the LA Angels have been a mighty disappointing this year. With a 12-22 record, it’s clear no one on the Angels is playing well. This includes their star first baseman.
The 33-year-old, in only his second year in LA, is struggling with his batting average as well, as he is averaging a career-low .238. Even when he has shown power, it’s been very sparse. Of his five homers, four of them came in two games, and Pujols hasn’t hit one out of the park since May 2. The worst part about Pujols’s slump is that there may be no coming out of this. Unless the rest of his team improves, Pujols’s age is going to continue to show, and there is no preventing aging.
Rickie Weeks - 2B, Milwaukee Brewers
It doesn’t get much worse than a .188 average. And that’s exactly the case for Weeks, who is in a huge slump so far this season. Weeks has never really been known to put up big numbers, as he is more of a stolen bases player and on-base percentage. Still, Weeks’s batting average is laughable, as are his nine runs batted in.
In his past five games, Weeks has had two 0-for-3 games, and one 0-for-4 game. If it’s any consolation for fantasy owners, Weeks has gotten off to a slow start in past years, as he hit .186 in April last year and .132 in May. However, his speed and his ability to turn up the power when necessary ensures Weeks is valuable for the time being.
Josh Hamilton - OF, Los Angeles Angels
Unlike Weeks, a low average for Hamilton is something that’s truly unexpected. The slugger did have a solid game on Thursday against the Houston Astros, homering and hitting a double, but besides that he has had a very disappointing season.
A .210 average and .341 slugging percentage are completely unacceptable for a player making $15 million this season. The 31-year-old is on pace to hit 19 homers. If that pace doesn’t pick up, it will be his lowest total since 2009, a season in which Hamilton only played in 89 games. Hamilton has been known to go through slumps before, so fantasy owners should sit tight, he is bound to come out at some point.
David Price - SP, Tampa Bay Rays
Coming off a career year, has really dropped the ball in eight starts. For one, Price hasn’t stayed in games for long enough to have a solid start. He is averaging six and a half innings per start, but has had two starts of eight innings. Price, who has a 3.26 career earned run average, is giving up over four runs per game, currently a career high.
Price needs to work on keeping the ball down, as opposing hitters have been teeing off on him. The sixth-year pro is giving up an average of a homerun per game, and opposing hitters are slugging .464 against him. His strikeout numbers are still pretty high, so look for him to retain some fantasy value as the year goes on.
Matt Cain - SP, San Francisco Giants
After winning 16 games in 2012, Cain only has one win in seven starts. His 3.7 ERA is even more disappointing, considering he finished with a 2.79 ERA in 2012 and a 2.88 ERA the year before that. More batters have been driving the ball on Cain than in the past, as he has given up nine homers this year, the same amount he had in 33 starts in 2011.
Cain is having control problems this year, as he has walked 13 batters this year, compared to 51 in 32 starts last season. Unlike some of the other players on this list, Cain’s performance has not affected his team, as they are first in the National League West with 20 wins.