What Do These MLB Players Have In Common?

Jason Giambi
Russell Branyan
Chris Davis
Grady Sizemore
Ken Griffey Jr.
Ian Kinsler
Todd Helton
Ben Zobrist
Eric Chavez
Matt LaPorta

↵The answer? None of those players, as of this writing, has hit a Major League home run yet in 2010. There are others, of course - several others, dozens of others who get regular playing time - but those are guys like Willie Bloomquist and Chone Figgins, guys who make their contributions elsewhere. The names above are known in large part for their bats, and their bats have yet to really come through.

↵In fairness, many of those players have faced some obstacles so far. Giambi’s a bench player. Branyan’s been hurt. Davis got demoted. And so on and so forth. It’s not quite as damning as it looks. But the Mariners have zero homers out of DH, and the Indians have zero homers from three guys they thought would be in the meat of the order. Power isn’t the only way to score, but it’s the quickest way to score, and when you’re missing it, you miss it.