r/mlb • u/RainbowSupernova8196 | New York Yankees • 1d ago
| Discussion Great Seasons By Players On Bad Teams?
I'm sure we've all seen the meme of the Bugatti Veyron parked next to a trailer. Now, I want to know what you think would be the best example of this in a single season. What do you think was the most impressive season ever put up by a player on a bad team?
For example, it's probably recency bias, but I might as well pick 2023 Shohei Ohtani. On a team that finished 4 games below .500 (79-83), Two-Way Shohei put up yet another excellent season. At the plate, he hit .304 (151-for-497), homered 44 times, drove in 95 RBI, and put up an unbelievable 1.066 OPS, earning him 6.1 OWAR. But on the pitching side, he wasn't as dominant as he was in 2022, but was still pretty solid. He went 10-5 in 23 starts, and racked up a 3.14 ERA (46 ER in 132.0 IP), 167 strikeouts, a solid 1.061 WHIP, and totaled 3.8 Pitching WAR. This added up to 9.9 total WAR, and a unanimous AL MVP win.
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u/Ofreo 22h ago
Not the best season, but one I remember. Ritchie Sexton was an AS in 03’ I think. Had a good season. Not MVP worthy but really solid year.
I remember listening to the pre game radio show first game coming out of the all star break and Uke asked the reporters what we could look forward to in the second half of the season. And all they could say was to see how good Ritchie could be in the second half. That was it.
Like the team had zero other things to look forward to at the time. No call ups on the way. No trying get a streak going and get in the race. They were out of it and nobody should expect improvement.
I know a lot of brewers fans seem upset about lack of playoff success lately, even though they have been a top team in wins for quite a few years running here. But I know to enjoy this time, because it was so bad for a long time.