5 slow starters who could struggle in MLB's 60-game season

It’s always exciting to see a player who struggled in the first half of the MLB season catch fire down the stretch, but the upcoming 60-game season will stress the importance of a fast start. Here are five players who are notorious for their slow starts. 

5. Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana rarely gets off to a smooth start, which goes a long way in explaining why he never made an All-Star roster until last year.

Santana’s career first-half OPS is .797, a far cry from his career .841 OPS in the second half of the season. March/April has seen Santana hit just 29 homers (209 games), the lowest output of any month in his career.

4. Kyle Hendricks

When Kyle Hendricks won the ERA title and made a Cy Young bid in 2016, he did so on the strength of a monster second-half in which he went 9-2 with a 1.68 ERA, significantly better than his 7-6 record and 2.55 ERA pre-All-Star break. His career splits tell a similar story.

Hendricks is a .500 pitcher in the first three months of the season (28-28) with an uninspiring 3.55 ERA. But in the second half, Hendricks has gone 35-15 with a 2.68 ERA. He also sees a drop in WHIP (1.144 to 1.085) and an increase in strikeout/walk ratio (3.31 to 4.27).

3. Corey Kluber

It could be difficult for Corey Kluber to bounce back in 2020, as he’s infamous for his slow starts.

Kluber’s career ERA in March/April is 3.91. His next-highest mark for any month is 3.36, which unfortunately for Kluber has occurred in May. The two-time Cy Young winner has made hay on his career second-half ERA of 2.92, second only to Clayton Kershaw’s 2.20 mark (min. 500 second-half innings), but won’t have that chance this season.

2. Alex Bregman

Trash-can related reasons aside, it would not surprising if Alex Bregman stumbled out of the blocks in 2020.

The Astros third baseman has a career OPS of .878 in the first-half of seasons, contrasting sharply with his .945 OPS in the second-half. Just six of Bregman’s 99 career home runs were hit in March/April.

1. Zack Wheeler

Zack Wheeler, whom the Phillies signed away from the division-rival Mets (five years, $118 million), has been the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde pitcher over the last two seasons.

While his 2.26 second-half ERA (23 starts) is the MLB’s third-best mark behind only Jacob deGrom (1.58) and Jack Flaherty (2.26), his ghastly first-half ERA (4.57) is 16th-worst in the majors. Wheeler beginning the year in the hitter-friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park in the middle of summer could lead to disastrous results. 

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