But under the radar is a man who is close to accomplishing something that is about as rare as it gets:
Tony Pena Jr has a OPS+ of 1 this year in 223 PA. That's right, 1. Brought to you by a .181 OBP and a .206 SLG.
If Pena can do just a little worse than that .181/.206, he can put his OPS under 0, which is quite rare for this many PA. How rare?
This rare:
First | Last | PA | OPS+ | Year | |
Bill | Bergen | 250 | -4 | 1911 | |
Frank | O'Rourke | 216 | -11 | 1912 | |
Pat | Rockett | 157 | -0 | 1978 | |
Bill | Dinneen | 155 | -5 | 1902 | |
Togie | Pittinger | 153 | -7 | 1902 | |
Andy | Anderson | 152 | -2 | 1949 |
Since 1901, just 6 players with PA>150 and negative OPS+. Rockett, I believe, is somewhere between 0 and -.5.
In KC's last 12 games, Pena has been 1/12 with 0 BB and a SF for a .160 OPS. If he can replicate that 1-12 over the last 12 games, he can put his OPS+ at -1.5. The minimum he can do to get negative is go 0-4, which would get him to -.333. In order to tie the PA record, he needs 27 PA. If he can hit go 4-27 with 4 singles and no walks in that span, he can get to -1 and tie at 250 PA. Chances are that KC won't give him that opportunity, but it'll be interesting to (not) watch.