in MLB Betting Trends

Big Unit struggling

It’s Memorial Day in the United States on Monday, but around Major League Baseball it could also be called Disappointment Day. Five pitchers who have performed well below expectations for their teams this season will take to the mound at various times on Monday, and each of them will be looking to shake off their struggles and grab a win.

Here’s a rundown of each of those five pitchers and how they have been performing:

Randy Johnson (New York @ Detroit, 1:05pm ET)

Does The Big Unit have anything left in the tank, or are the Yankees stuck with a very expensive has-been in their rotation? Although Johnson does have a winning record (6-4) on the season, and he’s still striking out opposing batters (49 in 62.2 innings pitched), he hasn’t been pitching deep into games, and he’s been giving up way too many runs.

In his last outing, against the Red Sox in Boston, Johnson allowed five earned runs on nine hits in just five innings of work. Good run support by his teammates, however, gave Johnson the win in that game, his first victory since May 4. In his five starts prior to that game versus the Red Sox, Johnson allowed 23 earned runs in only 26.1 innings pitched.

Kerry Wood (Cincinnati @ Chicago, 2:20pm ET)

Kerry Wood hasn’t pitched enough this season to truly be called a disappointment on the field, but therein lies the problem. The Cubs need Wood to be taking his turn on the mound every five days if they hope to climb out of the standings hole in which they find themselves. And Wood has only been able to pitch twice so far during the 2006 season.

In his first outing, against Washington on May 18, Wood gave up four earned runs on five hits in five innings of work, walking none and striking out six. He then followed up that performance by giving up three runs on only two hits (and five walks) over five innings versus the Marlins on May 23. After two starts, Wood’s ERA sits at a high 6.30.

Matt Morris (San Francisco @ Florida, 6:05pm ET)

Much more was expected from former St. Louis Cardinals hurler Matt Morris by the San Francisco Giants this season than what he has produced. Morris was supposed to give the Giants a solid No. 2 guy behind Jason Schmidt; instead, he has a 3-5 record and a 5.49 ERA. Also, he hasn’t been striking out many more batters than he’s been walking.

Morris has given up four or more earned runs in five of this last six starts, and he has a 1-4 record over that span. His only good outing came on May 17, when he limited the Astros to one earned run on three hits over eight innings. Last time out, against his former team, Morris gave up four runs on eight hits over six innings, and took the loss.

Matt Clement (Boston @ Toronto, 7:07pm ET)

Randy Johnson may be hurting the Yankees in the AL East standings, but Matt Clement is doing the same for the Red Sox. Clement has a 4-4 mark on an above-.500 team, and his high ERA (6.31) isn’t acceptable on a contender. The BoSox should by now be quite tempted to switch the last letter on his jersey to an ‘S' and give it to someone else.

And Clement’s most recent outing, which came against the rival Yankees, was awful. The righthander allowed eight earned runs on nine hits in just 4.1 innings of work, and obviously took the loss. In five outings prior to his disaster versus New York, Clement had allowed 14 earned runs on 25 hits in 29.0 innings pitched, putting up a 3-2 record.

Brad Radke (Minnesota @ Los Angeles, 9:05pm ET)

Perhaps the worst of the lot, though, has been Brad Radke, a previously dependable pitcher who has been the workhorse of the Minnesota Twins’ staff for many, many seasons. That past duty is probably all that has kept Radke in the Twins’ rotation, as he has a 4-6 record and an unbelievable 7.44 ERA over 55.2 innings pitched on the year.

Over his last six outings, Radke has had only one good performance - back on May 3 he allowed only one earned run over seven innings to the pathetic Royals. Last time out, Radke gave up six earned runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings versus the Tribe. That marked the third time in the last six starts that Radke had given up six runs and double-digit hits.