Meet the hitters who are less productive than Dan Uggla

Dan Uggla has been benched by Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez after hitting .152 in 74 games since June 6, which is remarkably awful production for a remarkably long time.

However, during that three-month stretch Uggla didn’t even have the lowest OPS in baseball. In fact, among hitters with at least 200 plate appearance since June 6 he doesn’t have one of the 10 worst OPS totals:

                    OPS
Justin Smoak       .465
Josh Thole         .506
Rafael Furcal      .551
Jeff Francoeur     .553
J.J. Hardy         .564
Daniel Descalso    .574
Brian Bogusevic    .575
Jemile Weeks       .576
Gregor Blanco      .578
Clint Barmes       .579
Brian Dozier       .579
DAN UGGLA          .580

Some pretty big–or at least recognizable–names on that list, although one key difference with Uggla is that a) he’s also a poor defender at second base, and b) he’s making $13 million while being owed another $39 million for the next three seasons.

The Red Sox salvaged the final game of their three-game home series against the Astros, winning 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. In doing so, they ended the Astros’ 10-game winning streak.

Xander Bogaerts struck the decisive blow, knocking in a run with a double in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie. Michael Chavis also hit another homer — his eighth of the season — while Mookie Betts collected three hits and scored three runs to raise his OPS to .899.

The Astros last lost on May 7 against the Royals, the second game of a three-game series. The Astros won the final game of that set, then swept the Rangers in a four-game series, the Tigers in three, and won the first two games against the Red Sox. It’s their second 10-game winning streak of the season, as they won 10 striaght between April 5-16, sweeping the Athletics, Yankees, and Mariners before losing the second of two games against the A’s in Oakland.

At 31-16, the Astros are slightly behind the Twins — in progress as of this writing — for the best winning percentage in the majors. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have made up some ground after ending April 13-17. They’re now 24-22, good for third place in the AL East.

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