More than a month had passed in this year’s MLB season. And at the moment, a lot of surprises had begun. Some are great surprises others are the nightmares of MLB teams. And I’m sure that your MLB betting had turn upside down too. Here's a countdown of the 10 worst nightmares that have become reality this MLB season, ranked in order of how devastating they are. Read on because this will help you decide on your MLB betting picks. 6. Tim Lincecum's Ineffectiveness - By the time the 2009 season came to a close, it was clear that Tim Lincecum was the most dominant pitcher in baseball. He's dropped out since then, and he's been anything but dominant this season. In six starts, he has an ERA of 5.68, and he's walked 17 men in 31.2 innings. He's walked at least four in each of his last three starts
5. Jose Bautista's Ongoing Slump - In the first half of the 2011 season, Jose Bautista was the best hitter in the world. He went into the All-Star break with a batting line of .334/.468/.702, and he had 31 home runs and 65 RBI. Bautista went into a slump after the All-Star break, hitting .257/.419/.477 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI. The good news for the Jays is that it was right around this time of the year in 2010 when Bautista started to explode.
4. Clay Buchholz's Struggles - Buchholz has been awful in his six starts this season, the most recent of which was a 3.2-inning beatdown at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Buchholz's -0.7 WAR is the worst in the major leagues among qualified pitchers, and it's not close. The next guy on the list is Ervin Santana, and he's at -0.4.
3. Struggles of Miami Marlins' High-Priced Free Agents - The Miami Marlins went all in this offseason, giving out big deals to Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle. Buehrle has been fine, as he has an ERA of 2.83 in six starts. He's fifth in the NL with 41.1 innings pitched. He's been everything the Marlins hoped he would be. The same cannot be said of Reyes and Bell, who are combining to make $17 million this season. Reyes is hitting just .234 with a .317 OBP, and Bell has blown four saves and has been demoted as the team's closer.
2. Albert Pujols' Struggles - Albert Pujols finally hit his first home run on Sunday, and a lot of people are theorizing that Pujols may finally get on a roll now that that monkey is off his back. Maybe so, but that doesn't hide the fact that Pujols' first season as an Angel has been an utter disaster. Yes, Pujols homered on Sunday, but that one hit only raised his average to a mere .196. He hasn't had a multi-hit game since April 19. Just as discouraging is the fact that his on-base percentage is now down to .236. Pujols has clearly been pressing this season, and it's been a strange thing to behold. And as he's gone, so have the Angels gone. They're 19th in MLB in runs scored, and they're struggling right along at 13-17 this season.
1. New York Yankees is In Big Trouble – I definitely think many people still have their MLB betting placed in the Yankees. But the Yankees time might be over. Trouble in Starting Rotation: On January 13, 2012, news broke that the Yankees had traded for Michael Pineda and signed Hiroki Kuroda as a free agent.
With those two moves, their starting rotation went from being a weakness to being a strength. Or so it seemed. Pineda has since been ruled out for the season with a torn labrum in his shoulder, and Kuroda has struggled to adapt to life in the American League. He's had some good starts here and there, but he hasn't been as a reliable as he was for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
There are other problems in New York's starting rotation. Ivan Nova has come back down to earth after overachieving in 2011, Phil Hughes has an ERA of 6.67 and Freddy Garcia was bad enough in his starts to get kicked out of the rotation.
Trouble in their Star Player: The Yankees' rotation struggles aren't the only blow the organization has been dealt this season. The baseball gods also decided to punish the Yankees by targeting Mariano Rivera's knee. As you no doubt heard, Rivera tore his right ACL while shagging fly balls during batting practice in Kansas City last week. He's likely out for the year, and his career may be over for good.
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