MLB is not that easy - For some players it’s all downhill

[Bigdaddy]

Ok, I'm squeezing Frank's timeline here a bit, but in 1961 Cuno Barragan of the Cubs hit a homerun on the first pitch he saw in the majors. Never hit another one in his career.

So maybe not such a great first year, but a great first pitch. Finished with a career .202 avg (and 1 HR) after starting at 1.000 avg and a 4.000 slugging percentage.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by egri

How about Billy Rohr? In his first start, he came a strike away from a no-hitter. He went 1-2 the following year, and was gone from the majors.

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

Ok, I'm squeezing Frank's timeline here a bit, but in 1961 Cuno Barragan of the Cubs hit a homerun on the first pitch he saw in the majors. Never hit another one in his career.

So maybe not such a great first year, but a great first pitch. Finished with a career .202 avg (and 1 HR) after starting at 1.000 avg and a 4.000 slugging percentage.

I have checked and neither Billy or Cuno ever received any Hall of Fame votes for their first game accomplishments.

Of note Billy in his first year with Boston followed his one hitter with another complete game win before finishing the year 2-3. But in his second and final year in the bigs with Cleveland he was undefeated posting a 1-0 record.

Cuno in his third and final year played three innings and struck out in his only AB.
Despite his auspicious start, he was a bit of a hot potato, initially affiliated with the Cubs, then the Braves, then the Dodgers, then the Braves and back to the Cubs, who finally sent him to the Dodgers (bypassing the Braves this time around.

Both are good candidates for the thread, but the length of career takes precedence over a precipitous decline in productivity.