There’s a ticking clock for every athlete’s playing career. One year they could be on top of their sport and the face of a franchise. Fast forward five years and they could be jumping from one year contract to another.
For MLB that is no exception. We are constantly seeing players fall from grace and extend their playing years much further than they should or simply regress in performance.
These 10 players fall into this category.
Miguel Cabrera
Fame players. As a 12-time All-Star, two-time MVP, seven-time Silver Slugger, and the recipient of two Hank Aaron Awards he should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Unfortunately, as Miguel continues to play in 2023 almost all of these achievements came before 2017 except one All-Star appearance.
From 2003 – 2016 he slashed .321/.399/.562 with an OPS of .961 which by itself would have given him a nod to Cooperstown. In the time from 2017 – 2023, we’ve seen his numbers drop drastically. Slashing just .262/.330/.381 and an OPS of .711 has been an extreme decline.
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Although he will be remembered as one of the greatest players from the 2000s he should have hung the cleats up much sooner.
Jacob DeGrom
Although this might be a controversial take there’s very good reason for DeGrom to be on this list.
DeGrom won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019. Since those two amazing years, he has yet to pitch 100 innings in a season. Even though his stats have been good in the years that follow, can we call a player who can’t make it through half a season a superstar? It becomes an extremely difficult question because we know how dominant he can be. If we can see him get through at least 3/4s of a season healthy he should reclaim superstar status.
Joey Votto
As “young and hip” as the Reds might be, Joey Votto is not. By the end of the regular season, Votto will have turned 40 years old.
At the height of his career, he won the MVP in just his fourth season while leading the league in OBP, SLUG, and OPS. Since then we’ve seen Joey make five more All-Star games and win a Gold Glove.
Unfortunately, it seems to be the end of the line for Joey Votto, consistently being talked about as one of the top MLB players.
Zack Greinke
As a recipient of a Cy Young Award, leading MLB in ERA twice, and appearing in six All-Star games, anyone who says Greinke won’t be in Cooperstown is wrong.
His best season came when he was 31 in 2015 when he led MLB with a 1.66 ERA and a .844 WHIP while finishing second in Cy Young voting. 2015 might not seem like long ago but people we’re still bumping Drake’s Hotline Bling on repeat and tweeting on their iPhone 6’s
Now 39 years old Greinke isn’t the same pitcher he once was. With 92.2 innings pitched in 2023, he sports a 5.44 ERA and should be looking to retire soon.
Nelson Cruz
Although being DFA’d less than a month ago by the San Diego Padres many believe Nelson Cruz will find a new home soon. If people want to say Cruz was never a superstar just remind them of the seven All-Star appearances, four Silver Sluggers and 464 career home runs.
His prime came in a run from 2013 – 2019 where his OPS was .907 and he amassed 271 home runs in just seven years. We’ve seen the regression hit Cruz hard from 2021 – 2023 where his OPS+ is 108 just barely above league average and the power has dropped significantly. With Nelson turning 42 this season all signs point to this being the last of his career
Chris Sale
Sale seems to be on a similar trajectory as DeGrom. As someone who’s finished in the top 5 of Cy Young six times and a seven-time All-Star, there’s no question he can be dominant.
The last time he threw over even 100 innings in a season was in 2019. Even then his 4.40 ERA would not constitute him being a superstar.
Since 2021 into 2023 he has gone just 107.1 innings with an unimpressive 3.94 ERA. After being put on the 60-Day IL on June 9 it doesn’t feel like he will regain superstar status by the end of the season.
Salvador Perez
As an eight-time All-Star four-time Silver Slugger and World Series MVP Salvador Perez has been one of the few consistent catchers we see in MLB.
His best season came in 2021 where he led MLB in home runs(48) and RBIs(121) while finishing seventh in MVP voting. Although that was just two years ago I’m not sure many would still consider him a superstar.
His OPS+ of 103 is only three points higher than the league average and all his offensive numbers have consistently dropped since that 2021 season.
Corey Kluber
Kluber might have one of the most severe falls from grace on this list. His first Cy Young award came in 2014 and after winning his second in 2017 it solidified him as a superstar.
His stretch from 2014 – 2018 saw him having a 2.85 ERA and a WHIP of 1.01 which is a run that had him in talks as a future Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, his play since then could hold him back.
His performance from 2019 to now makes him look like a back-of-the-rotation starter with a 4.80 ERA in 335 innings of work. With Kluber being 37 at the time of this article we could see him retire extremely soon.
Kris Bryant
Bryant had one of the best starts to a career anyone could ask for. After winning RoY in 2015 he followed up in 2016 by winning MVP. At this point, you could already start speculating his chances of being in Cooperstown by the time he retired.
Like a few others on this list, his inability to stay healthy has held him back tremendously. Since his MVP season, he has just two All-Star appearances in nine years.
Since joining the Rockies in 2022 his OPS of 101 is extremely underwhelming especially while playing in Coors Field. If we could see multiple healthy seasons strung together he could easily reclaim superstar status.
Christian Yelich
For a brief time, Yelich was not only the face of the Brewers but a face of MLB. In 2018 and 2019 he had a slash line of .372/.415/.631 with an OPS of 1.046 in 1063 at-bats. In this time he won an MVP and came in second the next year.
His reign didn’t last long as since then his OPS is just .745 in 1174 at-bats. With not winning a single other award since then there’s no question he’s lost the superstar label.
However, with a small resurgence so far in 2023, we could start hearing his name more often.
