The 10 worst MLB players in July

July’s Five Worst Hitters

With wRC+ as our measuring stick, these five hitters have separated themselves from the pack in the worst way possible (we’ve included a few other statistics for good measure).

One thing that stood out about Yangervis Solarte‘s hot start in April was his 12.5% walk rate. Since then, it hasn’t been above 6.1% in any month, and it’s actually been below 4.0% on a couple occasions. It’s hard to make an impact when you’re getting on base at just a .261 clip, ya know.

If we look past July, the last couple months have been tough on Jeimer Candelario. He slashed just .176/.267/.306 between June and July, which was accompanied with a .216 BABIP despite a 35.9% hard-hit rate. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows in his peripherals, though — he also has a 26.5% soft-hit rate and an 18.9% infield-fly rate during that time (17.3% and 4.2%, respectively, up through May 31st).

Eric Hosmer was the San Diego Padres’ prized acquisition this past winter. He’s probably doing a lot of good in the clubhouse, but his on-field play has been meh. While his 37.3% hard-hit rate entering Wednesday’s games is on pace for a career high, his 61.1% ground-ball rate and 17.4% fly-ball rate both ranked as the second-worst in baseball through the end of July.

Alcides Escobar is no stranger to these lists. He actually began the year with an 84 wRC+ in April, which is fantastic for him. Since then, though? It dropped to 38 in May, -12 (yup, that’s not a typo) in June, and now 29 in July. His cumulative 37 wRC+ through the season’s first four months is the worst in baseball. Yes, even worse than Chris Davis (but not by much).

Travis Jankowski‘s wRC+ has decreased with each month (123 in April, 114 in May, 90 in June, and 36 in July). However, he at least loves hitting at Petco Park. In the confines of the outfielder’s home stadium, he owns a 118 wRC+, .336 wOBA, and .115 ISO. Those numbers drop to 53, .251, and .038, respectively, when he’s a visitor.

About Matt Musico

Matt Musico currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book about how to become a sports blogger. You can sign up for his email newsletter here.

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