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Players who need to turn around their season to save their teams
The Colorado Rockies are battling for the NL West despite a down year so far from Carlos Gonzalez. Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports

Players who need to turn around their season to save their teams

There is an unprecedented amount of parity around the MLB this year, with four divisional races that look primed to go the distance and a wild card scene that is wide open on both sides of the league gates. 

To that extent, there are a handful of key contributors mixed into this wide-spanning pennant race in the making who could stand to pick it up personally. Which players can kick their play up a notch or two and change the course of the second half of the season — which is already upon us, All-Star Break be damned?

Let’s have a look at a few big names whose clubs desperately need them to have stronger personal campaigns, as the summer marches on.

Matt Carpenter, Cardinals


St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter struggled before moving back to the leadoff spot this season. Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals' failures this year have been numerous and often, as the team has continued to backslide for the second straight year. A major part of this issue is their inability to find production from the middle of the lineup. This responsibility was initially handed to the club’s longtime leadoff hitter in Carpenter, whose breakout in the power department over the past two years (49 home runs, 80 doubles, .505 slugging percent in 2015-16) led the club to move him to the third spot in the lineup.

That move ended up as failed effort. Carpenter struggled mightily with the move down in the order, hitting .226 with only a .440 slugging percentage. Manager Mike Matheny has since abandoned the idea, returning Carpenter to his more customary spot atop the lineup, where his usual level of production returned (.360/.500/.760 since moving up the lineup). However, his inability to adapt has left the St. Louis lineup once again a top-heavy offering. It's resulted in the Cards hovering around third place in a very winnable division.

Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies 

This one is a matter of perspective. While the Rockies are all but a certainty in the postseason at this point, once they get there it is an entirely different story. So look at this as a bit of a precursor: The Rockies will need CarGo, and they will need more than the .221/.300/.348 stat line he’s carrying into the weekend and more than the 0-for-24 drought at the plate he’s in.

Gonzalez is immensely important. He's the type of talent that can overwhelm opponents as they face the very balanced, left/right attack that Colorado brandishes. At 31, it is too soon for the type drop-off that Gonzalez has limped through this year. And if for anything else, after all the at-bats he took that meant nothing as the Rockies languished at the bottom of the division in many years past, these are the days that the 10-year vet was waiting for. It would be timely to show up and make the most of them.

Evan Longoria, Rays 


Jun 18, 2017; Detroit, MI, USA; Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria (3) looks on during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports USA TODAY Sports

These are the moments that Longoria is in Tampa for. With the Rays finding themselves somewhat surprisingly close in both the AL East and Wild Card race, they need Longoria to be a difference-making bat at the core of their lineup, providing the final push that can make all the difference in the wide open AL East.

Unfortunately, he has not been able to find the form he showcased just a year ago, at least not regularly enough. With the Rays just 2.5 games out of the Wild Card hunt, Longoria is carrying three-year lows in OPS (.734), home runs (on pace for a six-year low of 21) and batting average, which is his lowest since 2011. With the Tampa lineup clicking around him, a second-half surge from Longoria could be the final piece in springing a heist into the postseason for the Rays.

Manny Machado, Orioles  


Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has seen his batting average plummet this season. Evan Habeeb/USA TODAY Sports

Sure, Machado is still the best third baseman in the American League and on many nights this season has produced the type of eye-popping highlight plays that have become the norm for him. However, far too often, the play in between those moments has been far too inconsistent. Machado is on pace for 35 home runs and over 80 RBI, which would be his third straight season reaching those levels. Yet besides that, he is having the type of year that looks more like it belongs to a lumbering, swing-first DH than one of the top overall talents in the game. He carries a .228 average along with a .300 on-base percentage. Both numbers are 50 and 30 points lower than his career averages, respectively.

The Orioles have slid down the standings over the last month and have done so while battling a rash of unfortunate injuries to key players. However, these are the type of stretches where having the ability to fall back on a game-changing performer like Machado is a major luxury for the select few teams who can. The O’s can count themselves among that group, but they need their franchise player to tap in to that form immediately before gaining ground in the AL East slips from their reach.

Rick Porcello/David Price, Red Sox 


Boston Red Sox starting pitchers Rick Porcello and David Price have looked nothing like their former Cy Young-wining selves in 2017. Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports

Entering the year, the Boston rotation could claim two Cy Young Award winners, as well as a third front-line starter in Chris Sale, who could be destined for the honor himself. Three months later, only Sale has upheld his end of the bargain, as Porcello and Price have been disastrous thus far in the year. Over 20 combined starts, the top-billed duo has underachieved to the tone of a 5.09 ERA, while picking up the tab for only five wins against 10 losses.

For Porcello, it has been one of the most horrendous follow-ups to a Cy Young season in history. As for Price, it has continued the so-so start to his much-hallowed tenure as a member of the Red Sox. For the time being, their lack of impact has been marginalized by the fact that the Red Sox are still competing atop the AL East. But make no mistake, this is the very definition of playing with house money for the time being, and the bill will come due when the fate of the Red Sox lands in the hands of Price and Porcello, who look incapable of carrying their substantial weight thus far.

Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees 


Jun 6, 2017; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) reacts walking back to the dugout against the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports USA TODAY Sports

Even before the Yankees imparted on their breakout campaign this season, there were plenty of reasons for concern around the ability of their pitching staff to compete. Most of these worries were based around the fragile state of Tanaka, who has been competing for the better part of the last two years with a frayed elbow ligament. And wouldn't you know it, as the Yankees need him the most, it seems as if Tanaka is barely hanging on.

In five of his last seven outings, Tanaka has allowed five (yes, that many) earned runs or more. In just 76 innings, he has allowed 21 home runs as well, one short of his 2016 total over 199.2 innings. With an ERA checking in at 6.34 and a FIP at an enormous 5.65, Tanaka is essentially a loss in the making every fifth day, which is something the Yankees cannot continue to sanction if their aspirations for October are legit.
And last, but not least…

The Chicago Cubs 


2017 has proven more of a challenge than 2016 for the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs. Matt Marton/USA TODAY Sports

OK, this one is not for Kris Bryant, who is still producing at close the same MVP clip he did last summer. Nor is it for Anthony Rizzo, who has been selfless in his attempts to kick-start the Cubs as a leadoff man for likely the first time in his entire life. It is not for Jason Heyward, Wade Davis or Carl Edwards Jr., who have carried their weight as well.

However, it is for Jake Arrieta and his 4.36 ERA, and Jon Lester, who has averaged just under six innings per start. It is also for John Lackey, who looks as if he stuck around one year too many. It is REALLY for Kyle Schwarber, who was sent back to Triple-A on Thursday, a day after being in the third slot in the Chicago lineup despite sporting a .174 average. It is for Addison Russell, who’s domestic issues saw him hit well south of .200 in May himself.

The Cubs can get into gear and pull off an NL Central victory — mind you, not because of a great push within this roster, but simply because it could be up for the taking still in September and a great week or two can pull it off. With this type of inconsistency, one impressive week is about as good as can be expected at this point. Two in a row? That, unfortunately, seems to be asking too much.

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