The Rookies Have Hit the Wall

Remember when the name Jay Bruce used to put the fear of god into opposing pitchers? This kid was on his way to becoming one of the true greats. There was nothing this Bruce couldn’t do, he was Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Albert Pujols all wrapped into one package; in other words, he was an unstoppable force.

Ahh, to be in Triple-A again.

No one will ever forget Bruce’s wonder week when he hit .577/.667/1.038 with three homers and seven RBI upon being called up to the show on May 27^th. Just like no one will ever forget how he came crashing down harder than Skee-Lo, after hitting .227/.270/.337 with 10 walks against 55 strikeouts in the 44 games since.

Bruce has plenty of time ahead of him to erase the memories of his mid-season struggles, he’s only 21, but for now he has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment. This was the guy that was supposed to come in and make Ryan Braun’s 2007 debut look like child’s play.

Fret not Reds’ fans. After early success it’s not uncommon for highly touted phenoms to struggle once the rest of the league adjusts to them and learns how to exploit their weaknesses. Hell, even the Batman played into the Joker’s hand a few times before figuring out how to take him down. It’s how they adjust to their opponents adjustments that really matters, and what also sperates the great ones from the one-hit wonders.

Bruce isn’t alone either, here’s a few other guys that came bursting out of the gate like Big Brown and have since slipped to the back of the pack like- uhhh- Big Brown.

Clayton Kershaw

With all the pressure from fans and media types alike, it’s no wonder the Dodgers rushed Kershaw to the show before he was ready. The fact that Kershaw posted a 2.49 ERA with 276 K’s and a mere 91 walks in 220.1 minor league innings make it easy to forget that he was taking his reps from a high school mound just two years ago. But what shouldn’t have been forgotten was that he never pitched in a AAA game before being called up.

There were some moments of brilliance after Kershaw was called up, such as fanning seven hitters in his May 25th debut, but overall it has been quiet lucid that this kid isn’t at all prepared to pitch at the Major League level. His 5.18 ERA is well above the 4.38 league average, and his 1.824 WHIP would embarrass most pitchers. Not to mention how he allowed hitters to tee off on him to the tune of a .302/.400/.420 line.

It’s not that bad, though. Most pitchers his age would have washed out of the league after a start or two. It just never seemed like he got settled in and got comfortable. All he really needs to do is harness his control and he should be fine.

After walking 24 batters in 38 innings to end June, Kershaw was sent back down to the minors. He has since made it back, but in his last start he allowed ten hits, five earned runs, and walked three batters in as many innings, so chances are he may not stick around long.

“He just needs to learn how to attack hitters and throw his stuff for strikes. Hitters know that if they wait him out he’ll either groove a fastball or walk them. The kid has the stuff but he looks nervous out there. He has to believe in his stuff, once he can do that, he’ll be fine. He’s young, give him time,” one scout explains.

Jacoby Ellsbury

With last season’s post season heroics it’s easy to forget that Ellsbury is still a rookie. When he showed up on the scene last year it seemed like he had been here forever.

After getting off to a fast start that saw him hit .290/.389/.420 with four homers, 20 RBI, and 27 stolen bases through May, Ellsbury looked as though he was on the fast track to success, immune to the problems that plague most players’ rookie year. But then June came, and it was all downhill from there. In the 42 games since his hot start, Ellsbury has hit a rather meager .229/.257/.291 with 1 homer, 7 RBI, and just eight stolen bases.

Like all the players on the list, he has the talent to get there. He’s just starting to make that second trip around the league, so it’s time to start making those adjustments. The good news is that even though Ellsbury is pressing, he’s still impossible to strike out. He just needs to get some seasoning and become accustom to the demands of a major league season.

Justin Upton

Upton has struggled his way through a typical rookie season with a stat sheet that has more highs and than a bipolar elevator operator. He got off to a great start hitting .327/.372/.554 with five homers and 15 RBI in April, but quickly faltered, posting a gruesome .176/.340/.327 line over the next two months.

It should come as no surprise that the Diamondbacks offense, as a whole, has ran a similar course. Early on they were firing on all cylinders, but over the next two months they ranked among the league’s worst. But, they are on their way back, as was Upton before hitting the disabled list on July 9^th. It’s quite a small sample, but through the first week of July Upton was hitting .304/.360/.609 with two homers and two RBI.

Johnny Cueto

Remember when Cueto was the Red’s hot pitching prospect? He still may someday eclipse Edison Volquez as the premier pitcher of this staff, he has the stuff, but he needs to learn how to pitch first.

We all saw what he could through his first two starts of the season after striking out 18 hitters in 13.1 innings while allowing only six hits and three earned runs, but he fell apart after that, and currently is sitting on a 4.90 ERA.

Scouts believe that his struggles are due to being too predictable. “He’s too consistent in his patterns. He’ll usually throw hard stuff early in the count, then try to finish off hitters with his changeup,” a scout told ESPN. “Cueto is going to be great; the tools are there.”

Just like everyone else on this list.