Big League Chatter

We see it every year; players emerge from the past to once again find themselves in the spotlight.  More times than not these players have been cut by a former team or traded.  There are situations where a player simply gets lost in the Minor Leagues and is forgotten about.  Sometimes these players, who had so much promise in the minors, were just not ready to stand on the big stage of the Major Leagues.  Whatever the case may be, there are quality Major Leaguers who are forgotten about and come back from "the dead" to put up huge numbers.

One of the best examples of a player who came out of nowhere to put up monster numbers is David Ortiz in 2003.  Ortiz was considered to be an average, at best, Major League first baseman/DH.  Minnesota seemed to regard him as a player who wasn’t important to their success. But from 2003 to present day Ortiz is viewed as one of the premier sluggers in the game.  More recently, Carlos Pena came out of nowhere to hit .282 with 46 homer and 121 RBI’s.  Pena’s talent was never in question.  We remember hearing about him when he was with Texas, Oakland, and even in the Minor Leagues.  He was projected to be the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Of course things didn’t turn out as planned but his talent was always there.  Another player who languished in the minor leagues for most of his career is Jack Cust.  Cust, like Pena, was a much ballyhooed player before he got his shot at the majors.  His home run potential was compared to Babe Ruth.  Once again his talent  was always there but getting the opportunity to showcase his skills has been a problem.  Most players need at bats in order to put up numbers and until last season Pena and Cust never got a regular chance to do so.  Case in point, in 2004 Carlos got 481at bats, he hit 27 home runs, and drove in 82.  So we shouldn’t be completely shocked by the numbers he put up last season.

Like Pena and Cust last season, there are a host of talented players who are making an impact for their team in 2008.  The Florida Marlins’ Jorge Cantu was viewed as one of the best offensive second basemen in 2005.  Cantu hit .286 with 28 homers and 117 RBI’s in 2005, which at the time set a Rays all-time record for RBI’s.  In 2006 Cantu fouled a ball off his foot and was limited to 413 at bats.  The following season he never got a chance to regain his former promise when he was given just 58 at bats with the Rays before being traded to the Reds, where he was relegated to a back-up role.  This season he won the starting third base job for the Marlins.  Thus far in 2008 Cantu is playing much like he did in 2005 by batting .280 with 5 home runs and 16 RBI’s.  Once again the talent has always been there but injuries and a lack of Major League at bats have slowed Cantu’s progression.  Jorge is only 26 years old so he has plenty of time to make good on the promise he showed three years ago.  It is amazing that a player has one or two bad years and they are dropped like a bad habit.  On the other hand we do live in an instant gratification society so maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising.

Eric Hinske is another prime example of a player who was tossed to the curb after a few down seasons.  Hinske was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2002.  He put up some average numbers from 2003 through 2005 for the Blue Jays then the fall began.  His playing time was cut significantly in 2006 then he became a backup for the Red Sox in 2007.  This year Hinske has made a bit of a resurgence for the Tampa Bay Rays.  He is hitting .265 with 7 homers and 16 RBI’s.  At age 30 Hinske may never be a superstar in the Major Leagues but he is capable of putting up solid numbers when given the at bats.  There is an old adage in baseball that if a player puts up numbers once he can do it again.  This isn’t a guarantee, but it is a good indicator of a repeat performance.

Clint Barmes is another player who has started the 2008 campaign on a tear.  Barmes is batting .333 with 2 home runs and 12 RBI’s.  He is another example of a player who showed tremendous promise when he came up in 2003.  In 2005 Clint was well on his way to winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award when his season was cut short by a freak injury.  Like Cantu, Barmes was never able to regain the promise he showed in 2005.  He struggled in 2006 and bounced back and fourth between the Rockies and Colorado Springs in 2007.  Barmes wasn’t projected to be in the Rockies lineup this season but the departure of second baseman Kaz Matsui opened the door for a starting position.  A position that was supposed to be filled by Marcus Giles or Jayson Nix.  The Rockies gave Nix the first crack at it but Barmes took the job from him early in the season.  Now Clint is playing his original position of shortstop due to the injury of starting shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

There is a significant list of pitchers who fall into the same category, most notably Cliff Lee.  Of course we are all shocked by the numbers Lee is putting up so far this season.  They look more like little league numbers than legitimate Major League stats but if we take a closer look at Lee’s entire body of work his numbers shouldn’t be as shocking.  Until last season Cliff had been one of Cleveland’s best pitchers.  In 2005 Lee went 18-5 with a 3.79 ERA in 202 innings.  Lee had all sorts of troubles last season including injuries.  At age 29 he still has plenty of shelf life and could rebound for a Cy Young Award winning season.  The St. Louis Cardinals have two pitchers who were rescued from obscurity in Kyle Lohse and Joel Pineiro.  Both guys were highly touted when they were in the minors and when they first broke into the big leagues.  Pineiro performed well in 2001 through 2003 for the Seattle Mariners then the fall began.  He had a rough 2004 through most of 2007.  His stuff was still there but the numbers weren’t.  Only when Pineiro came over to the Cardinals and Dave Duncan did his season, and possibly his career, turn around.  Kyle Lohse’s story is a lot like Pineiro’s.  The only difference is that Lohse never put up stellar numbers.  He has always had a live arm but it has never translated into success.  Lohse was a highly touted prospect when he was with the Minnesota Twins organization.  He has flirted with success throughout his career but until now the results never came to fruition.  One can not say enough about Dave Duncan and the job he does with pitchers who are on the verge of unemployment.  Just ask Jeff Weaver.  Two more players worth mentioning who fall into this same category are Rays pitcher Edwin Jackson and Nationals pitcher Odalis Perez.  Both of these guys have shown promise in the past and this year just might be their year to shine.  Jackson was a solid prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003.  He came up that year to go 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 22 innings.  Granted, that is a small sample size but he only allowed 17 hits in those 22 innings while striking out 19.  He struggled in 2004 and 2005 before being traded to the Rays.  This season Jackson has showed flashes of the player that the Dodgers thought they had in 2003.  Sometimes a player, especially a pitcher, needs extra time in the minors or a couple of years in the "Bigs" to get adjusted to facing professional hitters.  Although not as young as Jackson, Odalis Perez is another one of those guys who showed promise early in his career.  In 2002 Perez won 15 games while posting a 3.00 ERA in 222 innings.  More recently he recorded a 3.25 ERA in 196 innings in 2004.  Then the fall came.  We don’t know why player’s careers fall so quickly, but we do know their track record and there is always a chance they can recapture the magic that made them so good.  Hopefully those mentioned above can continue their present success.

With the talent pool sitting in the Minors, the category of forgotten superstars will continue to grow in the future. Cleveland’s Josh Barfield is one who is destined to be the next player to return from forgotten prominence to superstar status again.  Barfield was one of the National League’s best young players after the 2006 season.  As a second baseman he offered both speed and power.  He was traded from the Padres to the Indians before the 2007 season.  Barfield struggled mightily last season hitting only .243 with 3 homers and 14 stolen bases.  He struggled so much that the Indians don’t even have him on their 25 man Major League roster. With his talent and abilities, look for Barfield to be the next forgotten treasure to have a resurgence in the future.