Even with the Phils dropping a pair of games to the Mets over the weekend and missing a chance to break .500 for the first time since June 19 (after which they lost seven straight and nine of ten), they still somehow remain at least tangentially involved in the wild card hunt: in fifth place, 3-1/2 games behind the Reds. And yet the team may have one of the worst semi-regulars in baseball history in its lineup, Abraham O. Nunez.

I say semi-regular since Nunez has accumulated just 151 at-bats this year. When all is said and done, the Phils "regular" third baseman as recorded by Baseball Reference will be the since departed David Bell. Who played 90 games for the Phightin's at the position. Nunez could play no more than 77 at third (25 so far plus 52 to b played).

Nunez is batting .159 with a .221 on-base percentage, .219 slugging average, and .440 OPS. He has one home run and just eight RBI in his 151 ABs. And Nunez, a .242 career hitter, shows no real signs of breaking out of his funk. Since inheriting the starting third base job just before the trade deadline he is batting .143 an his OPS has remained at .440.

If Nunez remains the regular third baseman for the rest of the season—eh, why not?—He will surely accumulate between 250 and 300 at-bats for the year. Even though one would assume that the extra at-bats would help Nunez slip free of his noose, there are just 15 men in baseball history who have accumulated 250 ABs and batted under .159, his current average. The last man who batted as low as Nunez (min. 250 ABs) was almost sixty years ago: Les Moss, who batted .157 in 174 at-bats in 1947. And the last time before that was 1909.

The last player with an OBP as low as Nunez (250 ABs) was Angel Salazar (.219) in 1987. The last who slugged that low was in 1980 (Luis Gomez, .239). Finally, no player has had an OPS as low as Nunez in 38 years, in 1968, the year of the pitcher. That year there were two (Al Weis, .438, and Irish Mike Ryan, .434). Prior to that no player had an OPS of .440 or below (min. 250 ABs) since 1909.

Abe O. has just 8 RBI on the year, which projects to 14 over the course of the rest of the season. There are just ten players in baseball history with 250 at-bats and eight RBI or fewer, the last being Luis Castillo (with 8) in 1997. 147 have recorded 14 or less, the last being John McDonald in 2002 (12 RBI).

To sum up, Nunez is having a pretty poor year. Many lovely tables follow below.

Players with a batting average under .160 (min. 250 ABs):

Last ten:

Worst since 1993:

Worst OBP (250 ABs):

Last ten with an OBP of .221 or worse:

Worst since 1993:

Worst slugging percentage (min. 250 ABs):

Last ten with a SLUG of .219 or worse:

Worst since 1993:

Worst OPS all-time (250 ABs):

Last ten with an OPS of .440 or worse:

Worst OPS since 1993:

Fewest RBI (min. 250 ABs):

Players with 8 or fewer RBI in descending chronological order: