Dontrelle Willis of Cincinnati Reds sprains ankle after tripping over bat - ESPN

Dontrelle Willis of Cincinnati Reds sprains his ankle after tripping over a bat

Has anyone in recent memory had a more disappointing career? After his third major league season, still only 23 years old, he had accumulated a 46-27 record and was coming off a year with 22 wins and a 2.63 ERA. He finished a close second in the Cy Young balloting that year and should have won, given that he had more wins, more wins above replacement, and a lower ERA than the winner.

Plus he was arguably the best-hitting pitcher in the game.

Now?

Take a look at his progression in WHIP after that career start

2005 1.13

2006 1.42

2007 1.60

2008 2.21

Oops. How did he go from being Christy Mathewson to being Jose Lima? Lots of reasons. Injuries mostly. He hasn't made more than 9 starts in any year since 2007. But not just injuries. He hasn't pitched well when he was supposedly uninjured either. The only thing he leads the league in now is "most times injured tripping over bats." He's still in his twenties, but the D-Train seems to be already very close to Coney Island.