Towards 2014

Spring Training: The Losers

Every year as our favorite players return to action in Spring Training, some will succeed and some will struggle and get us all worked up over nothing like Martin Prado's .517 OPS last year. That said, when you're fighting for a roster spot, it's better to put your best foot forward.

By Steven Burt@stevenburt Mar 29, 2014, 5:00pm EDT

Yo, Prods. Give me some of that secret stuff!

Worst hitter (regular)

Didi Gregorius - .222/.255/.267 = .522 OPS

For a player fighting for a starting job and, more than likely, his place on this Diamondbacks team, it's quite the disappointing spring for our young shortstop. 10 hits in 45 AB's with a 5:2 K/BB ratio won't cut it for a starting position. All indications are he lost the starting spot and has been in early season trade talks with a multitude of teams. The lone bright spot was defensively, where he was solid and showed his strong arm.

Dishonorable mentions: Tony Campana (.486) and Matt Tuiasosopo (.352)

Worst hitter (prospect)

Socrates Brito - .222/.222/.222 = .444 OPS

Not much in the way of hitting prospect failings to report, which is always a good thing. Socrates, with the 80 rank for name, didn't do much in his 9 AB's but considering his last year's club was South Bend, we'll chalk it up to inexperience for the 21-year old.

Dishonorable mentions: Nick Ahmed (.612), Tyler "Doctor Eggman" Bortnick (.333)

Worst starting pitcher (regular)

Trevor Cahill - 6.95 ERA, 22:6 K/BB

Some pretty poor results behind some nice looking peripherals from Cahill, as he was hit around in his 22 IP. The .366 AVG shows some bad luck but after his poor regular season opening, maybe it wasn't bad luck after all.

Honorable mentions: Randall Delgado (5.28)

Worst starting pitcher (prospect)

Michael Lee - 6.00 ERA, 2:1 K/BB

Not many prospects received starts other than Archie Bradley, but with Bronson Arroyo getting injured they needed a spot starter and that responsibility belonged to Michael Lee. He filled in admirably, especially considering he started last year in Independent Ball. Good job, good effort.

Worst reliever (regular)

Brad Ziegler - 11.37 ERA, 1:4 K/BB

Ziegler gonna Ziegler, oh wait. Ziegler struggled mightily in his 6 1/3 IP and was getting knocked around all over the place. Fortunately it was just shaking off the Spring rust, as Brad came through in his season debut in Australia with a scoreless inning.

Honorable mentions: J.J Putz (4.70)

Worst reliever (prospect)

Jimmie Sherfy - 81.00 ERA, 0:0 K/BB

It takes quite the effort to give up 3 runs while only getting 1 out, so for our #10 prospect to go out and perform like that is surprising. But then again, it was his first taste of Spring Training after coming from A-ball, so we'll give him a break.

Honorable mentions: Jake Barrett (4.50)