With baseball fans' thoughts on Major League Baseball’s 88th All-Star game July 11 and Home Run Derby July 10 at Marlins Park in Miami, it would be nice to show a little love to those big leaguers whose only hope of visiting the mid-summer classic is by buying a ticket. Take the following hurlers for instance. These are the worst Pitchers in the first part of the season based on ESPN ratings. These ratings do not include players in the minors, waived or on the disabled list.
What happened in SF?
The San Francisco Giants, 39-56, have the penultimate worst record in the National League.
So it should come as no surprise their starting rotation features the worst right-handed and southpaw starters on the senior circuit. Matt Cain—a former All Star—is 3-8 with a 5.56 ERA and allowing 1.70 walk and hits per innings pitched. Matt Moore is nearly as effective on the left at 6-9 with a 5.95 ERS and 1.69 WHIP.
Matt Moore is a garbage writer for CBS, a garbage backup for the Dolphins, and a garbage pitcher for the Giants.
— Ryan Stannehill (@AustinHeff) July 8, 2017
American League hurlers are doing a little better. Cleveland Indian right-hander Josh Tomlin—who was 2-1 in the 2016 playoffs—is at the bottom of the hill at 5-8, 1.42 and 5.90. Derek Holland, a southpaw with the Chicago White Sox, is ESPN’s lowest rated left-handed AL starter.
He is 5-9 with a 5.01 ERA and 1.52 WHIP.
Bullpen help?
Surprisingly, the Washington Nationals, in first place in the National League East, have the worst right- and left-handed relievers in the league. Sammy Solis is fresh off the disabled list. In four appearances in July the southpaw pitched three innings. Solis has been tagged for 10 hits, two homers and eight earned runs.
His numbers—thanks to a very low sample—include four holds, 14.73 ERA and 2.59 WHIP. Blake Treinen—the Nats initial 2017 closer—has five holds in 33 games. He is 0-2 with three saves and two blown saves. Treinen also amassed a 5.40 ERA and 1.70 WHIP.
Live look in on Sammy Solis' pitching pic.twitter.com/KEKzfZSLuV
— MIKE (@thundersloth818) July 8, 2017
After Texas traded Sam Dyson to the Giants, AL relievers started to look better as a group.
The right hander and former closer was 1-6 with the Rangers, saved 0 games, blew four opportunities and earned a 10.58 ERA with a 2.80 WHIP in 17 appearances for the Rangers. Dyson is 0-1 with three saves since moving to San Francisco June 7. His metamorphosis includes lowering his ERA to a respectable 2.92 and WHIP of 1.14.
Kansas City Royal Travis Wood is getting rocked the most in the American League. The southpaw is 1-2 in 26 games with a hold and blown save. Wood’s ERA is 6.06 and WHIP is 6.06. Right handers are doing much better. Detroit Tiger Blaine Hardy has the poorest statistics. He is 1-0 with five holds, but Hardy’s ERA is 4.91 and WHIP is 1.75.
