The three most disappointing teams in MLB so far
Torey Lovullo.
We are nearly a quarter of the way through the 2024 Major League Baseball season and some teams have not quite matched their preseason expectations. While there is still time for these teams to turn it around, let’s take a look at three of the most disappointing teams in the league entering play on Tuesday.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Expectations should have been sky-high for the Diamondbacks this season. Not only because they went on a shocking run to the World Series in 2023, but because they have a really promising young core and managed to add to it just before the start of the season with the signing of free agent starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery. Entering play on Tuesday, however, the Diamondbacks are just 15-20 and in third place in the National League West.
The two biggest issues have been a starting rotation that has struggled outside of Zac Gallen, and a shockingly bad start from young star Corbin Carroll. Carroll rapidly emerged as one of the top up-and-coming players in baseball a year ago by winning the National League Rookie of the Year with 25 home runs, 56 stolen bases, a league-leading 10 triples and an .868 OPS. So far this season, he has just a .540 OPS in 33 games, placing him 158th out of 170 qualified hitters.
Houston Astros
The Astros have been the gold standard for success for the better part of the past decade, reaching an almost unbelievable seven consecutive American League Championship Series, while also winning two World Series. So far, that streak seems to be in some jeopardy, as does their actual playoff chances.
The Astros are off to one of their worst starts in franchise history with a 12-22 record entering play on Tuesday, a staggering drop for a team that has consistently won 90-plus games dating back to the 2017 season. Pitching has been a huge problem as injuries and ineffectiveness in the rotation, combined with a terrible start for star closer Josh Hader, have the Astros sitting at 26th in team ERA. Star third baseman Alex Bregman is also off to an uncharacteristically bad start with a .552 OPS in 31 games.
Miami Marlins
There can be some debate as to how good this Marlins team was actually expected to be this season, but the reality is that it won 84 games a year ago and made the playoffs. There were some potential red flags with that record, including the team’s overwhelmingly good mark in one-run games. But even if a regression was to be expected, nobody should have realistically expected them to immediately become one of the worst teams in baseball.
The Marlins are just 10-27 entering play on Tuesday and have already started their latest fire sale by trading back-to-back batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres. The pitching staff has been completely decimated by injuries, but that is far from the only issue. The Marlins are 20th in total runs scored and 29th in team OPS (just .625 in 37 games).
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