St. Louis Cardinals: 30 worst players in team history

Oct 7, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals fans cheer during game four of the 2014 NLDS baseball playoff game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

#3 Bob Sykes SP

Bob Sykes pitched for the Cardinals from 1979-1981, after being traded from the Tigers to the Cardinals after the 1978 season. In his three seasons, Sykes started 31 games and also made 31 appearances out of the bullpen.

Sykes went 12-13, with a 5.08 ERA and a FIP of 4.68. When you throw in the fact that Sykes had a really unimpressive 3.87 K/9 and 4.14 BB/9, it is clear why Sykes has the worst fWAR (-0.7) of all Cardinals’ pitchers with 200 innings or more.

Out of his three seasons in St. Louis, his worst season definitely came in his first year in 1979. He had 13 total appearances that year, with 11 of those appearances being starts. He went 4-3 with a 6.18 ERA and 5.39 FIP, while averaging a 4.57 BB/9. This is where most of Sykes’ negative fWAR value came from, as he had a -0.4 fWAR that year.

Being at the top of a list is normally a good thing, but when that list is the worst pitchers by fWAR, it’s not a good thing. Unfortunately for Sykes, that’s about the only list he topped in his major league baseball career. After the 1981 season in which he had a -0.2 fWAR, Sykes never played another game in the majors. Which is probably a good thing, as Sykes was pretty bad in his three years as a Cardinal.

Next: Worst catcher ever