Ten MLB players not living up to the hype

Byron Buxton, center fielder, Minnesota Twins

If you’re a fan of college sports, you’ve no doubt encountered a player or two who seems like he’s been in college for the better part of a decade. Buxton is MLB’s version of that. It feels like he’s been around for decades. That’s because while Buxton is only 23, he has consistently been touted as a future star since the Twins drafted him in 2012.

The 2017 season was no different, with Minnesota general manager Thad Levine saying before the season that Buxton had “turned a meaningful corner,” which you can read about here.

So far, he’s only regressed. Regression is never a good thing. But given that Buxton wasn’t exactly coming from a strong place to begin with, this regression has been even worse for him.

Over the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Buxton slashed at .220/.274/.398. Even for a stud defender at a premium position, those numbers are just not MLB caliber. But in 2017, he’s slashing at .178/.271/.271. It’s way too deep into the season to have numbers like that.

Buxton is still young, so he has a long time to improve. But at some point soon, he’s going to have to show that he’s a major league hitter. Nothing like that has happened in 2017.

Rick Porcello, starting pitcher, Boston Red Sox

While his Cy Young win upset some very good looking people, it’s undeniable that Porcello had a stellar season in 2016. Still, it came out of nowhere. Entering the year, he had a career 4.39 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. In 2016, he put up a 3.15 ERA with a 1.01 WHIP to win the Cy Young Award.

So, was he just a nice pitcher who had a great year? Or did Porcello find his stride in 2016?

Ten starts into 2017 and it looks like Door No. 1 is the winner.

Porcello has a 4.35 ERA with a 1.44 WHIP. The main culprit has been Fenway Park, which has eaten Porcello alive in 2017. On Tuesday, Porcello went 6.2 innings, allowing 11 hits and four earned runs. Generally speaking, we’d call that a mediocre start, and that’s being nice. But it actually lowered the totals Porcello had at his home stadium entering the year.

Overall, Porcello is amazingly missing more bats than he ever has before, with 62 strikeouts in 62 innings. If he continues that rate, Porcello will better his career high K/9 by more than a full strikeout. He isn’t being done in by the walk, either. He’s walking only 1.7 hitters per nine innings. That’s slightly worse than his 2016 total (1.3), but that was an outlier. The 2017 BB/9 rate is still extraordinary.

In strange way, it actually may be too good. While Porcello isn’t walking hitters, he is allowing 11.2 hits per nine innings. That’s a sign of a pitcher throwing the ball over the heart of the zone. As the numbers show, those balls are being hit hard.

Until he finds more corners, Porcello will continue to be well off of his 2016 pace. That will make him one of baseball’s most disappointing players in 2017.