Quote:
Originally Posted by Déjà Bru
If you Google "baseball flashes in the pan", you can compile a list of names as shown below. These are players who, not just had a single good season and then disappeared (coffee cup players) but who actually showed the signs of greatness for a while, only to decline due to injury, or the league catching up with them, or maybe it was all a fluke and they were not that good to begin with. Here are ten names: - Mark Fidyrch
- Eric Gagne
- Chase Headley
- Ubaldo Jimenez
- Tim Lincecum
- Kevin Maas
- Denny McLain
- Mark Prior
- Dontrelle Willis
- Kerry Wood
Will Nick Kurtz be on this list someday? Who knows. But it seems that whenever there is excitement like this over a new player, usually it all comes crashing back down to earth. The path to greatness is a slow grind over time, not a meteor streaking across the sky. |
Gagne's "blip" was 4 seasons of sub‐2 ERA, which is a decent run for a reliever where volatility is the norm (though the 4th season was just 13 innings)
Are also many instances where it was longer lasting too and less flash‐in‐the‐pan, especially for a position player where the crushing injuries aren't as big a risk