posted April 22, 2008 at 18:37 in MLB Articles

1) Washington Nationals (2-8) (-$602.00) Since starting out 3-0 to start the season, the Nats have gone on to lose 15 of their next 17 ballgames and they’re in the midst of another three-game losing streak. This club can’t hit to save their lives, and they can’t pitch much better. Their .227 batting average is the worst in all of baseball (#30), and their OPS of .647 comes in ranked 29th. The offense has only been able to muster up 3.5 RPG (#27), and they’ve only gone yard 11 times ranking them 25th of all MLB offenses. They have no team speed either, as they’ve only been able to steal six bases ranking them 26th in that department. If their offense wasn’t enough to make you vomit, take a gander at their pitching stats. Their team ERA of 4.87 is good for 28th and their 1.52 WHIP ranks 26th amongst all MLB pitching staffs. They’ve gotten a total of six quality starts leaving their bullpen out to dry that’s currently ranked 20th with a 4.48 ERA and 2-4 W/L record. With them facing the Braves, Mets, and Cubs in their next three series’, things only look to get worse for the poor Nats.

2) Texas Rangers (2-8) (-$523.00) The Rangers are coming off a series sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox that saw them get outscored 30-14, and they’ve now lost eight of their L/10 costing their backers a shade over $500 during that stretch. Texas has always been known for having a solid offense backed by a piss poor pitching staff. The same can’t be said of the 2008 Texas Rangers. The pitching staff still stinks out loud, but now their offense is mediocre and that spells trouble for second year manger Ron Washington. You need to be above average in at least two of the three major categories to be a successful baseball team in this league. The Rangers are poor in all three. Their 4.1 RPG average has them ranked 24th offensively, while their team ERA of 4.58 also has them in the 24 spot. The bullpen’s also a nightmare only managing five saves while blowing six, and it owns a team ERA of 5.59 with a 3-5 W/L mark. On top of that, they’ve committed 22 errors, which has them second to last (29) in the league in fielding percentage. So, they allow more runs than they earn themselves, and the defense makes it easier for their opponents to score by kicking balls all over the diamond. Look for the Rangers to continue to be on this list throughout the rest of the year until they start earning their paychecks.

3) Pittsburgh Pirates (4-6) (-$135.00) It might be surprising to see the Pirates on this list with just a 4-6 mark over their L/10 ballgames and a loss of barely over 100 bucks, but these guys have gotten obliterated of late causing them to lose six straight. They’ve been outscored 58-16 throughout that stretch, and they now sit six games out of first place in the NL Central behind the Chicago Cubs. Offensively, the Buccos are alright. They average 4.5 RPG good for 16th in the league, but their pitching and defense have been flat out atrocious. They’re either dead last or close to it in a number of important categories. Their 5.93 team ERA and 1.70 WHIP are the worst marks in all of baseball, and the bullpens 5.47 ERA is good for 28th. The only good new to come out of the pitching department is that Matt Capps has converted all four of his save opportunities. Making it even harder on the Pirates pitching staff is the team defense that’s committed 24 errors good for dead last in all of baseball. The Pirates franchise is one season short of tying the all time MLB mark for consecutive losing seasons. The ’08 version of the Pirates are a shoe-in to match that mark this year if they continue to play as poorly as they have throughout the first month of the season.

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