Ryan Flaherty, Atlanta Braves

In my previous installment of this series, Flaherty was one of the biggest surprises in the major leagues. He’d started the season as the Braves’ regular third baseman and was putting up eye-popping numbers. By April 21, he was batting .362 with a .971 OPS, and some Orioles’ fans were lamenting that the team cut him loose just before his breakout year.

Spoiler alert: This probably isn’t going to be Flaherty’s breakout year after all.

His numbers have crashed back to earth, and hard. Since May 12, Flaherty is just 5-for-48 (.104) with one extra-base hit, and he’s been reduced mostly to pinch-hitting duty as Johan Camargo has taken over the everyday third base job. Flaherty now has a .651 OPS for the season, not far off from his career mark of .640. He’s back in his old, familiar utility role.

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