5 MLB Hitters Who Need to Avoid Another Slow Start

Justin Upton, OF, Detroit Tigers

The 2016 season was an interesting one for Detroit Tigers outfielder Justin Upton. His 31 homers tied a career high, but the .775 OPS and 105 wRC+ that resulted from his 626 plate appearances were both the lowest of his career since becoming an everyday player in 2008.

He basically saved his first year in the Motor City by hitting 22 of those homers after the All-Star break, which helped him produce a .916 OPS and 142 wRC+ in 242 second-half plate appearances.

The first half, though? It wasn't so good, and he encountered a rough April in which he hit just .221/.242/.326 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI in 99 plate appearances. Just by looking at that on-base percentage, it's not shocking to find out his walk rate settled in at 3.0%, but his strikeout rate was the only one in this group of 16 slow starters that was north of 30%.

And if you thought 30% was bad, you'd probably fall off your chair upon finding out it was 38.4%. All of this led to a wRC+ of just 47.

Considering how bad his tenure in Detroit began, it's impressive that his season-long strikeout rate came down to 28.4% and his wRC+ climbed all the way up to 105.