The Best Shortened Seasons at Each Position
In the midst of a global pandemic, Major League Baseball continues to look for a way to have a 2020 season. We’ve heard some details about a potential Arizona Plan, as well as the possibility of an Arizona-Florida Plan, but both are necessarily complex considering the circumstances. The one major sport that already has a definitive plan to return is golf. The PGA Tour has a tournament scheduled for June 8, with the caveat that there will be no spectators in the stands. Of course, golf is played outdoors and in four-man groups (plus caddies) that can easily practice social distancing, which isn’t the case for MLB.
I still expect there to be some sort of MLB season in 2020, but that may be more about my optimistic nature than the reality of the situation. I want baseball to be played. I want to go to T-Mobile Park for Mariner games and flip on MLB.TV so I can watch Pittsburgh Pirate games. If we are fortunate to have baseball played in 2020, we know it will be a shortened season.
With that in mind, I wondered about some great performances by players in the past who only played a limited number of games. Specifically, for the purposes of this article, I’m going to imagine MLB will be able to play 90 regular season games. I acknowledge that I have no special insight into how many games will be played—I’m not psychic, so this is just a guess—but if they can start the season in July, I think they can play around 90 games, so that’s my number.
So, looking back at the past, who were the best players at each position who played 90 games or fewer? I went back to 1962, since that was the year both leagues first played 162 games. I also wanted more recent players, rather than some guy from 1914. So, my criteria are that position players appeared in 90 games or fewer, starting pitchers made 15 starts or fewer, and relief pitchers had 35 appearances or fewer. For simplicities sake, I used FanGraphs WAR. This is not meant to be a complex analysis, just something fun while we wait for baseball to start. Let’s find out who had the best shortened seasons at each position since 1962.
Catcher—Yan Gomes, Cleveland, 2013
88 G, 322 PA, 45 R, 11 HR, 38 RBI, 2 SB, .294/.345/.481
4.3 WAR, 128 wRC+
This was Gomes’ second major league season. He was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, then traded to Cleveland after hitting .204/.264/.367 in 43 games for Toronto in 2012. Cleveland already had a great hitter at catcher, Carlos Santana, but this impressive performance of Gomes hastened the shift of Santana out from behind the plate. Santana started 81 games at catcher this season, then just 10 games at catcher in 2014 and hasn’t played catcher since.
Gomes, meanwhile, became the main man behind the dish in 2014 and had another good season with the stick (.278/.313/.472, 117 wRC+), but hasn’t been the same hitter over the last five years. Consider his numbers:
2013-2014: .284/.325/.476, 121 wRC+
2015-2019: .228/.287/.397, 77 wRC+
Despite playing just 88 games in 2013, Gomes finished sixth in WAR among catchers, behind Yadier Molina, Jonathan Lucroy, Buster Posey, Russell Martin, and Joe Mauer.
Honorable Mention: Jason Kendall, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1999
78 G, 334 PA, 61 R, 8 HR, 41 RBI, 22 SB, .332/.428/.511
3.9 WAR, 139 wRC+
Baseball fans of a certain age will remember Kendall’s 1999 season for mainly one thing—the gruesome ankle injury he suffered while running to first base in a game against Milwaukee on the 4th of July. The injury ended what was shaping up to be the best offensive season of his career, with career-highs in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, and a 139 wRC+ (meaning he was 39 percent above average on offense after league and ballpark effects are taken into account). He came back strong in 2000 and continued to be a good on-base percentage hitter into his early-30s, but his power waned. In his career, Kendall stole 189 bases, which is second-most for a catcher since 1901, behind Roger Bresnahan.
First Base—Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins, 2010
81 G, 348 PA, 53 R, 18 HR, 56 RBI, 0 SB, .345/.437/.618
5.0 WAR, 183 wRC+
Heading into the 2010 season, Justin Morneau had been a consistently strong bat in the Twins lineup over the four previous seasons. He was a three-time all-star, had been named the AL MVP in 2006, and finished second in MVP voting in 2008. He started off the 2010 season by absolutely crushing the ball in April and May and continued to hit well through June and the first part of July. Through July 7, he topped the AL in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, which led to his fourth straight all-star selection. Unfortunately, he suffered a concussion on July 7 and missed not only the 2010 All-Star game, but the remainder of the 2010 season as well. He would continue to struggle with injuries in 2011 and never came close to the heights he’d reached in this 81-game shortened season in 2010. No player since 1962 has been worth more in 90 games or fewer over an entire season than Morneau in 2010.
Honorable Mention: Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals, 2000
89 G, 321 PA, 60 R, 32 HR, 73 RBI, 1 SB, .305/.483/.746
4.6 WAR, 195 wRC+
Just two years after The Great Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa Home Run Race of 1998, we have this season from Mark McGwire, when he hit 32 dingers and just 8 doubles in 89 games. That doubles-to-homers ratio is unusual. In the long history of baseball, there have been just four players who hit 30 or more homers and had fewer than 10 doubles. Along with McGwire, there’s 1982 Dave Kingman (37 homers, 9 doubles), 1955 Gus Zernial (30 homers, 9 doubles), and 2016 Jedd Gyorko (30 homers, 9 doubles). McGwire, Kingman, and Zernial were sluggers who regularly hit more homers than doubles, so Gyorko is a bit of an outlier here.
By wRC+, this was Mark McGwire’s third-best season. He also finished with the highest on-base percentage and second-highest slugging percentage of his career, but the injuries were catching up to him. He would continue to struggle to stay on the field in 2001, when he hit .187/.316/.492 and had an incredible 29 homers and just 4 doubles in what was his last season.
Second Base—Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox, 2010
75 G, 351 PA, 53 R, 12 HR, 41 RBI, 9 SB, .288/.367/.493
3.2 WAR, 128 wRC+
Three years removed from his AL Rookie of the Year Award and two years removed from winning the AL MVP, Dustin Pedroia was having another strong season through late June of 2010. Then he fouled a ball off his foot, breaking a bone, and was put on the 15-day injured list. He tried to come back in August, but only played two games before going back on the IL. At the time, he was in the middle of an eight-year stretch in which he played 135 or more games every season but this one. That seems strange to think about now considering how little he’s played the last two years (just nine games total). Before the injury, Pedroia looked to be in line for one of his best seasons, as he was tied for his career-high in slugging percentage and had his second-best wRC+, after the injury, at least he can still lay claim to one of the best shortened seasons out there.
Honorable Mention: Dustin Ackley, Seattle Mariners, 2011
90 G, 376 PA, 39 R, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 6 SB, .273/.348/.417
3.0 WAR, 117 wRC+
Mariner fans might be shocked to see Dustin Ackley on this list, but Ackley was actually quite good in his first taste of major league play. He was drafted by the Mariners as the second overall pick in 2009 (one pick after Stephen Strasburg and 23 picks before Mike Trout), then moved quickly through the minors and made his major league debut on June 17, 2011. He singled in his first major league game, hit a home run in his second major league game, and a triple in his third major league game. He just made it under the limit by playing 90 games in 2011 and was worth 3.0 WAR with the best wRC+ of his career. After this impressive debut, he hit .235/.296/.358 (84 wRC+) over the next five years before washing out of the big leagues after his age-28 season. He played two years in Triple-A for the Angels in 2017-2018, then signed a minor league deal with the Mariners in 2019, but was released that March.
Shortstop—Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2013
86 G, 336 PA, 62 R, 20 HR, 57 RBI, 10 SB, .345/.402/.638
4.9 WAR, 191 wRC+
Ramirez had been traded to the Dodgers from the Marlins during the 2012 season. He was set to be the starter at shortstop in 2013, but tore a ligament in his thumb while playing for the Dominican team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He came back from the thumb injury near the end of April, but only played four games before suffering a hamstring injury on May 3. He finally came back for good in early June and hit .387/.427/.707 that month, then continued his hot hitting over the rest of the season. He had the highest batting average and slugging percentage of his career and by far the best wRC+. Only Justin Morneau was worth more WAR among position players who played 90 or fewer games in a season since 1962 than Hanley Ramirez this year.
Honorable Mention: Hubie Brooks, Montreal Expos, 1986
80 G, 338 PA, 50 R, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 4 SB, .340/.388/.569
4.2 WAR, 163 wRC+
Hubie Brooks played 15 seasons with five different teams, but was never as good in any other season or with any other team as he was for the Montreal Expos in 1986. Brooks started his career with the New York Mets, then was part of the Mets’ blockbuster trade prior to the 1985 season in which the Mets dealt Brooks, pitcher Floyd Youmans, catcher Mike Fitzgerald, and outfielder Herm Winningham to the Expos for Gary Carter, who would go on to help the Mets win the 1986 World Series and be voted into the Hall of Fame in 2003. For his part, Brooks drove in 100 runs in 1985 and was on his way to do it again in 1986 before tearing a ligament in his left thumb shortly after the 1986 All-Star break. One key to Brooks’ surprising season was a .380 BABIP. His career mark was .299.
Third Base—Matt Williams, San Francisco Giants, 1995
76 G, 318 PA, 53 R, 23 HR, 65 RBI, 2 SB, .336/.399/.647
4.5 WAR, 170 wRC+
The last time MLB had a shortened season was in 1995, when teams played a 144-game schedule. This was coming off the strike-shortened 1994 season that ended in August and resulted in no World Series for the first time since 1904. San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Williams was one of the big stories of the 1994 season, as he had 43 home runs in 112, which gave him a chance to break the single-season mark of 60 home runs set by Roger Maris in 1961. Of course, the season ended because of the work stoppage and his quest went unfulfilled. Williams picked up right where he left off in 1995 by hitting .381/.436/.754, with 13 home runs in the Giants’ first 36 games, a 58.5-homer pace for the season. Going back to the start of the 1994 season, Williams had launched 56 dingers in his last 148 games while hitting .294/.347/.641. Then he broke his foot on a foul ball and missed about six weeks. He came back and hit well enough to put up the line shown above, and was worth 4.5 WAR in just 76 games, the best any third baseman has done in 90 games or fewer since 1962.
Honorable Mention: Bill Madlock, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1981
82 G, 320 PA, 35 R, 6 HR, 45 RBI, 18 SB, .341/.413/.495
3.4 WAR, 153 wRC+
Bill Madlock joined the Pirates in a mid-season trade with the San Francisco Giants in 1979. At the time of the trade, the Pirates were in third place in the NL East with a 36-33 record. Madlock hit .328/.390/.469 down the stretch as the Pirates went 62-31 and finished two games ahead of the Montreal Expos for the division title. This was the famous “We R Fam-A-Lee” squad that was led by Willie Stargell (personal note: this is the team that made me fall in love with baseball as a kid). Madlock hit .375/.483/.417 in the World Series, which the Pirates won in seven games. Two years later, he was having another great season when everything came to a halt in June because of the strike. The Pirates resumed play on August 10 and from August 12 through August 25, Madlock hit a scorching .458 to run his batting average up to .352 for the season. He finished the year with a league-leading .341 average to win the third of his four batting titles and was second in the league in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging percentage.
Left Field—Shane Mack, Minnesota Twins, 1994
81 G, 347 PA, 55 R, 15 HR, 61 BI, 4 SB, .333/.402/.564
3.8 WAR, 145 wRC+
Like Bill Madlock, Shane Mack’s shortened season was the result of a work stoppage. Mack was cruising along with a career-high 145 wRC+ in 1994 when the season ended in early August. He had the best batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage of his career. This capped off a five-year run from 1990 to 1994 during which Mack hit .309/.375/.479, good for a 132 wRC+, which was 22nd in baseball for players with 2,000 or more plate appearances. Mack was a free agent that offseason, but the relationship between players and owners was turbulent, to say the least, and Mack ended up signing a two-year deal with the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Central League. At the time, it was the richest deal in the history of Japanese baseball. He hit well in Japan, where he played alongside a 21-year-old Hideki Matsui and helped the Giants win the league title in 1996. After two seasons abroad, he returned to play two more seasons in the major leagues.
Honorable Mention: Tim Raines, Montreal Expos, 1981
88 G, 363 PA, 61 R, 5 HR, 37 RBI, 71 SB, .304/.391/.438
3.7 WAR, 136 wRC+
If not for the Fernandomania phenomenon, Tim Raines would have won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in this strike-shortened 1981 season. Fernando Valenzuela was the correct choice, but Raines had a terrific rookie year in his own right. In addition to an impressive .391 OBP, Raines stole a league-leading 71 bases and scored 61 runs in just 88 games. This was the first of five straight years in which Raines stole at least 70 bases (with an 86.8 percent success rate). It was also the first of seven straight all-star selections. Raines was an incredible player. For the 13 seasons from 1981 to 1993, only three players topped Raines in WAR (per FanGraphs). One of them happened to be Rickey Henderson, the greatest leadoff hitter in history.
Center Field—Aaron Hicks, New York Yankees, 2017
88 G, 361 PA, 54 R, 15 HR, 52 RBI, 10 SB, .266/.372/.475
3.4 WAR, 128 wRC+
Hicks spent the first three seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins, then was traded to the Yankees for John Ryan Murphy before the 2016 season. Coming into the 2017 season, he had a career batting line of .223/.299/.346 (76 wRC+) and was considered a platoon outfielder with a strong arm. To the surprise of most everyone in baseball, he got off to a scorching hot start in 2017 that had him hitting .290/.398/.515 in late June. His season was interrupted at that point with an oblique injury. He came back in August, but hit the injured list for a second time in early September. Despite the injuries, he finished the year with career highs in just about everything.
Honorable Mention: Dan Gladden, San Francisco Giants, 1984
86 G, 384 PA, 71 R, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 31 SB, .351/.410/.447
3.3 WAR, 149 wRC+
Gladden was signed by the San Francisco Giants as a non-drafted free agent in June of 1979, then hit .300 or better in four of his five minor league seasons before getting a cup of coffee with the Giants in 1983. He only hit .222/.275/.302 in 18 games and was sent back to Triple-A to start the 1984 season. After crushing the Pacific Coast League (.397/.493/.543), Gladden continued to rake with a .351/.410/.447 batting line in 86 major league games. It was pretty incredible. I remember playing APBA in those days and Gladden’s card, with that batting line and his 31 steals, was fun to play with. Looking back, his career-high .384 BABIP was a major part of his success. His second-highest BABIP in a season was .323 and his career BABIP was .298. Gladden played with the Giants for two more years before a trade to the Twins led to World Series rings in 1987 and 1991. He famously threaded the needle with a vintage 1980s mustache and 1990s mullet, the perfect combination to represent those bygone eras. He also scored the winning run in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, which was one of the most memorable World Series games in baseball history.
Right Field—Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins, 2015
74 G, 318 PA, 47 R, 27 HR, 67 RBI, 4 SB, .265/.346/.606
3.5 WAR, 155 wRC+
Giancarlo Stanton was already a well-established power hitter coming into the 2015 season, but he took it up a notch by hitting 27 dingers in his first 74 games. His rate of home runs was roughly 51 per 600 plate appearances, which was significantly better than his 35 HR/600 PA rate over the previous five seasons. It’s still the second-best single-season rate of his career. The one time he topped it was in 2017, when he hit 59 home runs. Stanton’s 2015 season came to an abrupt halt in late June when he suffered a broken hamate bone. At the time, he had the highest average exit velocity in baseball, at 96 mph, along with the highest exit velocity on any one ball, at 120.3 mph. The injury very likely cost him a 40-homer season and possibly a 50-homer season.
Honorable Mention: Roger Maris, New York Yankees, 1963
90 G, 351 PA, 53 R, 23 HR, 53 RBI, 1 SB, .269/.346/.542
3.4 WAR, 147 wRC+
Two years after breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record, Roger Maris was limited to 90 games in 1963 because of various injuries during the season. He was still very good with the bat, as that 147 wRC+ can attest and his per-game rate of home runs projected out to around 41 homers in a full season. Of course, that would have been 20 short of the 61 he hit to top the Babe in 1961, but it’s still very good. Despite Maris being limited to 90 games, the Yankees made the World Series in 1963, but Maris only played in two of the four games and the Yankees were swept by the Dodgers.
Designated Hitter—Yordan Álvarez, Houston Astros, 2019
87 G, 369 PA, 58 R, 27 HR, 78 RBI, 0 SB, .313/.412/.655
3.8 WAR, 178 wRC+
The best “90 games or under” season for a DH since 1962 belongs to last year’s rookie phenom Yordan Álvarez. He came up to the big leagues on June 9 and started crushing dingers right away, with four tater tots in his first five games. He didn’t slow down much from there, finishing with an Astros’ rookie record 27 home runs and unanimously winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Among all MLB players with 350 or more plate appearances, Álvarez’ 178 wRC+ was only topped by Mike Trout (180 wRC+). Going back to 1901, the only rookie with 350 or more plate appearances to have a better wRC+ was Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1911 (184 wRC+).
Honorable Mention: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox, 2012
90 G, 383 PA, 65 R, 23 HR, 60 RBI, 0 SB, .318/.415/.611
3.1 WAR, 170 wRC+
Despite being 36 years old, David Ortiz was still at the top of his game in 2012. He crushed the ball in the first three months of the season and made the all-star team for the eighth time. Then he suffered an injury to his right Achilles about a week after the all-star game and struggled to get back on the field. He appeared in just one more game that season. It’s a shame, too, because he was having his second-best year by wRC+. The missed time cost him a chance to pass Mike Schmidt on the all-time home run list. Schmidt finished with 548 to Ortiz’ 541.
Starting Pitcher—Dave Righetti, New York Yankees, 1981
15 GS, 105.3 IP, 89 K, 3.3 BB, 1 HR, 2.05 ERA, 1.07 WHIP
3.5 WAR, 2.12 FIP
Three of the shortened seasons that show up on this list are from the strike-shortened 1981 season, including this performance by Yankees lefty Dave Righetti. “Rags” won the AL Rookie of the Year Award this season, beating out such players as Rich Gedman, Bob Ojeda, and Shooty Babitt. I have to admit, I thought Shooty Babitt was a made-up name from the TV show Cheers, but he’s real and he’s now a studio analyst for the Oakland A’s. Righetti started the 1981 season in Triple-A. After going 5-0 with a 1.00 ERA, he was brought up to The Show in May and went 3-0, with a 1.50 ERA in his first four starts before a work stoppage put the season on hold. After the season resumed in August, Righetti continued to pitch well with a 2.27 ERA in 75.3 innings down the stretch. In a true marker of how things have changed in baseball, Righetti’s 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings led the league. For reference, last year Gerrit Cole struck out 13.8 batters per nine. The other big difference between 1981 and 2019 was that Righetti pitched 105.3 innings and allowed just one home run.
Honorable Mention: José DeLeón, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1983
15 GS, 108 IP, 118 K, 47 BB, 5 HR, 2.83 ERA, 1.13 WHIP
3.0 WAR, 2.51 FIP
As a young Pittsburgh Pirates fan in the early 1980s, I remember being very excited about Jose DeLeón in 1983. He came up from the minor leagues to make his major league debut on July 23 and struck out nine batters in 8 innings during a 5-2 victory. He continued to pitch well over his next eight starts, racking up 80 strikeouts in 71 innings while going 6-2 with a 2.03 ERA. No one talked about it at the time but, looking back, it probably wasn’t a great idea to have your rookie 22-year-old pitcher make nine starts in 39 days after having already pitched 127.3 innings in Triple-A. DeLeon had a 4.38 ERA in six starts in September, but still finished the year with a very impressive 9.8 strikeouts per nine (he league leader among qualifying starters in strikeouts per nine was Steve Carlton, with 8.7). Overall, DeLeón pitched 235.3 innings between Triple-A and the major leagues. He pitched for 12 more big league seasons and never had a season with a better FIP or strikeout rate than this one. He also achieved the rare feat of losing 19 games in two different seasons. He went 2-19 for the 1985 and 7-19 for the 1990 Cardinals.
Relief Pitcher—Ken Howell, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1984
32 G, 1 GS, 51.3 IP, 54 K, 9 BB, 1 HR, 3.33 ERA, 1.17 WHIP
2.2 WAR, 1.50 FIP
Howell was drafted by the Dodgers in the 3rd round of the 1982 MLB Amateur draft and quickly moved through the minor leagues. He began the 1984 season in Triple-A, where he both started and relieved, then made his major league debut on June 25, 1984. Pitching almost exclusively out of the bullpen from that point forward, he struck out 54 and walked just 9 in 51.3 innings. He was also stingy with the long ball, allowing just one home run. While his 3.33 ERA wasn’t elite, his 1.50 FIP for this season is the 14th-lowest FIP among relievers with 40 or more innings since 1962, sandwiched between 2016 Kenley Jansen and 1990 Rob Dibble. That’s what drives his 2.2 WAR at FanGraphs and the primary reason he ended up on this list.
Honorable Mention: Bill Campbell, Boston Red Sox, 1978
29 G, 50.7 IP, 47 K, 17 BB, 3 HR, 3.91 ERA, 1.56 WHIP
1.8 WAR, 2.51 FIP
Early in his career, Bill Campbell was a workhorse reliever unlike any we’ve seen in quite some time. He appeared in 78 games and tossed 167.7 innings in 1976, then 69 games and 140 innings in 1977. That led to this 1978 season, which was beset by injuries. Early in the year, Campbell pitched on April 7 and 8, then missed two weeks. Surprisingly, the Red Sox used him in both games of a double-header on April 23. Perhaps not surprisingly, he was knocked around in his next two outings, then put on the injured list for three weeks. Despite the injuries, Campbell pitched effectively enough to be worth 1.8 WAR despite a shortened season, according to Fangraphs.
