Uneven Distribution, Part II

This morning,, we looked at the six National League second baseman that are all having excellent seasons. Now, we look at those who are doing the opposite.

In 2006, Freddy Sanchez won the National League batting title. In 2008, he’s been one of the worst hitters in baseball, posting a .238/.265/.315 line that combines an aggressive approach with no power. Sanchez is pretty clearly a better hitter than this, and he’s a prime candidate for positive regression to the mean, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s been killing the Pirates offense for the first two months of 2008.

Earlier in his career, Felipe Lopez had above average power for a middle infielder. During the 2005 season, he posted a .486 slugging percentage, fulfilling the potential that had been put on him since his days as a Blue Jays prospect. That power, however, is clearly gone, and with it has gone his value as a regular player. Now he’s just an easy out with mediocre defense.

Speaking of evaporating power, Tadahito Iguchi was a pretty solid player for the White Sox and Phillies the last three years, doing nothing great but nothing poorly. He was the classic “took nothing off the table” player, where he wouldn’t be the reason you won a title, but he wouldn’t cost you one either. Second baseman don’t age very well, however, and at age 33, Iguchi’s power has disappeared into the sands of time, and now he takes plenty off the table. You can’t even blame the power loss on the move to Petco, as he has more extra base hits at home than on the road. Iguchi just isn’t a starting second baseman anymore.

And, since we’re in the age related collapse category, here’s Jeff Kent. At 40, it’s remarkable that he’s still playing the position, and he’s had an amazing career. That career is pretty much over, though. At .244/.287/.392 with defense that suggests he shouldn’t be handling the keystone position anymore, it’s probably time for Kent to walk away at years end. Very few second baseman last as long as he did, and we shouldn’t be surprised that Father Time has finally come calling for him.

Then, there’s Rickie Weeks, an enigma of a player if ever there was one. His physical skills are obvious, but he’s never been able to put the entire package together in the same season. He’s cut down on his strikeout rate this season, but his walk rate has suffered as well, and his power has regressed from where it was in 2007, and even with the improved contact, he’s a worse hitter. At 25 years old, there’s still time for Weeks to figure things out and become the player that the Brewers want him to be, but more and more, he’s looking like the new version of Jose Cruz Jr.

When I first started working on these posts yesterday, Kaz Matsui was hitting .259/.344/.335, so he qualified for the sub-.700 OPS club that included all the above. But, apparently, he didn’t want to be written up in this post, so he went 4 for 4 last night to raise his season line to .278/.359/.352. That’s still not good, especially for a guy who plays half his games in Minute Maid Park, but since he went out and fought like mad to get himself off the list, I’ll concede to Matsui’s desires and not lump him in with the struggling second baseman any more than I already have.