Elijah Dukes
Posted by Andy on December 4, 2007
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays traded Elijah Dukes to Washington today.
Using the PI Batting Season Finder, here are first-year players since 1901 who batted .200 or worse, ranked by most home runs:
Cnt Player **HR** BA From To Ages G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS OBP SLG OPS Positions Teams +----+-----------------+-------+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+ 1 Elijah Dukes 10 .190 2007 2007 23-23 52 220 184 27 35 3 2 21 33 0 44 2 0 1 6 2 4 .318 .391 .709 /*8D79 TBD 2 Kevin Roberson 9 .189 1993 1993 25-25 62 195 180 23 34 4 1 27 12 0 48 3 0 0 2 0 1 .251 .372 .623 /*978 CHC 3 Matt Williams 8 .188 1987 1987 21-21 84 266 245 28 46 9 2 21 16 4 68 1 3 1 5 4 3 .240 .339 .579 /*65 SFG 4 Franklin Stubbs 8 .194 1984 1984 23-23 87 245 217 22 42 2 3 17 24 3 63 0 3 1 0 2 2 .273 .341 .614 /*3978 LAD 5 Jack Dittmer 7 .193 1952 1952 24-24 93 355 326 26 63 7 2 41 26 0 26 1 2 0 9 1 0 .255 .291 .546 /*4 BSN 6 Dave Henderson 6 .167 1981 1981 22-22 59 145 126 17 21 3 0 13 16 1 24 1 1 1 4 2 1 .264 .333 .597 /*8*97 SEA 7 Matt LeCroy 5 .174 2000 2000 24-24 56 190 167 18 29 10 0 17 17 2 38 2 1 3 6 0 0 .254 .323 .577 /*2D3 MIN 8 Dave Hollins 5 .184 1990 1990 24-24 72 127 114 14 21 0 0 15 10 3 28 1 0 2 1 0 0 .252 .316 .568 /53 PHI 9 Jeff King 5 .195 1989 1989 24-24 75 243 215 31 42 13 3 19 20 1 34 2 2 4 3 4 2 .266 .353 .619 /*3546 PIT 10 Bill Bathe 5 .184 1986 1986 25-25 39 112 103 9 19 3 0 11 2 0 20 1 6 0 2 0 0 .208 .359 .567 /*2 OAK 11 Jack Howell 5 .197 1985 1985 23-23 43 158 137 19 27 4 0 18 16 2 33 0 4 1 1 1 1 .279 .336 .615 /*5 CAL 12 Ray Oyler 5 .186 1965 1965 26-26 82 217 194 22 36 6 0 13 21 3 61 0 2 0 9 1 0 .265 .294 .559 /*6435 DET 13 Dave Nicholson 5 .186 1960 1960 20-20 54 133 113 17 21 1 1 11 20 0 55 0 0 0 2 0 2 .308 .345 .653 /*79 BAL 14 Lou Limmer 5 .159 1951 1951 26-26 94 247 214 25 34 9 1 30 28 0 40 0 5 0 4 1 0 .256 .280 .536 /*3 PHA
So Dukes set a record this past year. This list is a mixed bag. The only big star is Matt Williams, but several other players had good careers, including Stubbs, Dave Henderson, Hollins, King, and Howell.
Here are first-year players since 1901 with OPS+ of 90 or less, again ranked by most homers:
Cnt Player **HR** OPS+ Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+------+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Ray Jablonski 21 89 1953 26 STL NL 157 640 604 64 162 23 5 112 34 0 61 1 1 0 15 2 2 .268 .308 .427 .735 *5 2 Alex Gordon 15 87 2007 23 KCR AL 151 600 543 60 134 36 4 60 41 4 137 13 1 2 12 14 4 .247 .314 .411 .725 *53/6 3 Jose Guillen 14 82 1997 21 PIT NL 143 526 498 58 133 20 5 70 17 0 88 8 0 3 16 1 2 .267 .300 .412 .712 *9/8 4 Bobby Higginson 14 87 1995 24 DET AL 131 486 410 61 92 17 5 43 62 3 107 5 2 7 5 6 4 .224 .329 .393 .722 *9*7/D 5 Bob Schmidt 14 90 1958 25 SFG NL 127 432 393 46 96 20 2 54 33 5 59 3 1 2 19 0 1 .244 .306 .412 .718 *2 6 Scott Hairston 13 83 2004 24 ARI NL 101 364 339 39 84 15 6 29 21 0 88 1 2 1 4 3 3 .248 .293 .442 .735 *4/79 7 Harold Baines 13 86 1980 21 CHW AL 141 518 491 55 125 23 6 49 19 7 65 1 2 5 15 2 4 .255 .281 .405 .686 *9/D 8 Brad Eldred 12 90 2005 24 PIT NL 55 208 190 23 42 9 0 27 13 0 77 3 0 2 5 1 1 .221 .279 .458 .737 *3 9 John Buck 12 79 2004 23 KCR AL 71 258 238 36 56 9 0 30 15 0 79 0 4 1 6 1 1 .235 .280 .424 .704 *2/D 10 Shea Hillenbrand 12 77 2001 25 BOS AL 139 493 468 52 123 20 2 49 13 3 61 7 1 4 12 3 4 .263 .291 .391 .682 *5/3D 11 Craig Paquette 12 71 1993 24 OAK AL 105 409 393 35 86 20 4 46 14 2 108 0 1 1 7 4 2 .219 .245 .382 .627 *5/D7 12 George Altman 12 85 1959 26 CHC NL 135 468 420 54 103 14 4 47 34 4 80 7 6 1 8 1 0 .245 .312 .383 .695 *8 13 Gail Harris 12 81 1955 23 NYG NL 79 287 263 27 61 9 0 36 20 3 46 2 0 2 6 0 0 .232 .289 .403 .692 *3 14 Bill Nagel 12 90 1939 23 PHA AL 105 374 341 39 86 19 4 39 25 0 86 2 6 0 15 2 1 .252 .307 .437 .744 *45/1 15 Chris Truby 11 86 2000 26 HOU NL 78 279 258 28 67 15 4 59 10 1 56 5 1 5 4 2 1 .260 .295 .477 .772 *5 16 Felix Torres 11 89 1962 30 LAA AL 127 491 451 44 117 19 4 74 28 5 73 4 4 4 19 0 0 .259 .306 .392 .698 *5 17 Jake Wood 11 83 1961 24 DET AL 162 731 663 96 171 17 14 69 58 2 141 4 2 4 8 30 9 .258 .320 .376 .696 *4 18 Harry Agganis 11 87 1954 25 BOS AL 132 493 434 54 109 13 8 57 47 0 57 0 7 5 6 6 3 .251 .321 .394 .715 *3 19 Leo Norris 11 80 1936 28 PHI NL 154 644 581 64 154 27 4 76 39 0 79 3 21 0 18 4 0 .265 .315 .382 .697 *64 20 Elijah Dukes 10 88 2007 23 TBD AL 52 220 184 27 35 3 2 21 33 0 44 2 0 1 6 2 4 .190 .318 .391 .709 *8/D79 21 Tsuyoshi Shinjo 10 90 2001 29 NYM NL 123 438 400 46 107 23 1 56 25 3 70 7 4 2 8 4 5 .268 .320 .405 .725 879 22 Julio Lugo 10 90 2000 24 HOU NL 116 465 420 78 119 22 5 40 37 0 93 4 3 1 9 22 9 .283 .346 .431 .777 *64/798 23 Chad Allen 10 82 1999 24 MIN AL 137 523 481 69 133 21 3 46 37 1 89 2 1 2 9 14 7 .277 .330 .395 .725 *7/D9 24 Jim Presley 10 78 1984 22 SEA AL 70 259 251 27 57 12 1 36 6 1 63 1 0 1 4 1 1 .227 .247 .402 .649 *5/D 25 Jerry Willard 10 86 1984 24 CLE AL 87 275 246 21 55 8 1 37 26 0 55 0 0 3 6 1 0 .224 .295 .386 .681 *2/D +----+-----------------+------+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ Cnt Player **HR** OPS+ Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+------+----+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 26 John Bateman 10 71 1963 22 HOU NL 128 434 404 23 85 8 6 59 13 1 103 9 4 4 9 0 0 .210 .249 .334 .583 *2 27 Cal Neeman 10 81 1957 28 CHC NL 122 445 415 37 107 17 1 39 22 5 87 3 2 3 8 0 0 .258 .298 .376 .674 *2 28 Otis Brannan 10 79 1928 29 SLB AL 135 569 483 68 118 18 3 66 60 0 19 4 22 0 0 3 9 .244 .333 .356 .689 *4
Dukes is #20 here. Again this is a mixed bag. Harold Baines stands out as the class of this group, with a bunch of other productive players. All in all, though, it's not a great group.
We can't project Dukes' future based on 220 plate appearances. There's reason to be pessimistic, but the Nationals will be quite happy if Dukes has a career similar to Williams, Baines, or a number of other guys listed above.