A slump in baseball feels worse than a free-fall in any other sport. The relentless, daily nature of the season provides no respite. You are a drowning man unable to surface for air and, in fact, being pushed further down each night.
And because there is a game almost every day, most fans without a fantasy league addiction do not have time to stay vested in what is going on elsewhere. It
is your team and 29 props.
Thus, when someone like Ike Davis is in an epic nose dive, Mest fans can believe
no other team/player/fan base is enduring anything nearly this bad. Friends, I am here to say you are wrong.
Either because the investment is larger/longer or the player simply is more critical to his team’s future than Davis is to the Mets, there actually are plenty of Ike-like calamities around the majors — only worse.
Here are 10 with these ground rules — as with Davis, we are highlighting those whose situations have plummeted since the beginning of the season. Thus, someone such as Alex Rodriguez does not make this collection because by spring training the Yankees were aware of his hip problem and the Biogenesis allegations. Also, we are staying away from those slumping but with expiring contracts because they are not long-term albatrosses — think Detroit’s Victor Martinez and Tampa Bay’s Fernando Rodney:
1. Albert Pujols, Angels
As troubling as Josh Hamilton has been for the Angels, they have this good news — he “only” has about $120 million left on a five-year contract signed last winter. Of course, it is good news compared to the more than 8 ½ years and $218 million-ish still owed Pujols. Because of knee and foot issues, Pujols already is a DH about half the time.
That might be tolerable if he still were Albert Pujols. But he is facing a fifth straight year of declining OPS, this time into the mid-.700s. He is looking like the Angels’ A-Rod — a 10-year, $200-plus million contract gone horribly, horribly wrong. Obviously, the Hamilton contract also is a nightmare for this organization as he underperforms and misses games because of back spasms.
2. B.J. Upton, Braves
He is a near carbon copy of Davis (four homers, 62 strikeouts, .145 average, major league-worst .476 OPS — Davis is third-worst at .496). Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez says he may ask Upton to accept a minor league assignment. He already has lost full-time status despite being in the first season of a five-year, $75 million pact. Like Carl Crawford, he is an outfielder who left Tampa Bay for the big bucks and has crashed in his new locale.
3. Ricky Romero, Blue Jays
Well, at least Pujols and Upton remain in the majors. Romero went from a terrible 2012 (9-14, 5.77) to such a bad spring that he was demoted to the minors. He came up for two starts in which he lasted a combined 4 1/3 innings (12.46 ERA). He was so bad last week in Triple-A (eight runs, two-thirds of an inning) that he was outrighted off the 40-man roster. That meant every team could have picked him up on waivers, but no one would touch him in Year 3 of a five-year, $30.1 million deal. His plummet makes giving up big prospects and a contract extension for R.A. Dickey (4-6, 4.85) appear less problematic by comparison.
4. Jesus Montero, Mariners
Like Romero, he was sent to the minors and matters got worse — he tore a meniscus and is out 4-6 weeks. Montero is not a big-money sign for Seattle. But once the Mariners decided they were not trading Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda was their best chip to get offense. Remember, it was not long before that their best chip to get offense was Cliff Lee, who brought Justin Smoak. Or the No. 2 pick in the 2009 draft, which brought Dustin Ackley. Now Montero (.590 Mariners OPS) and Ackley (.516) are Triple-A Tacoma teammates while Smoak (three homers, eight RBIs) has become a reserve. Can Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik survive these moves?
5. Mike Moustakas, Royals
We could ask the same about Royals GM Dayton Moore, though manager Ned Yost seems most likely to pay with his job first if matters do not improve in Kansas City. Moore essentially believed that having corner infielders Moustakas and Eric Hosmer to team with Billy Butler and Alex Gordon gave the Royals enough offense to sacrifice touted outfield prospect Wil Myers for James Shields.
But after hitting two homers as a team — both by ancient Miguel Tejada — in 13 games, the Royals’ act of desperation was to bring in George Brett as hitting coach, mainly to see if Moustakas (.177 average) and Hosmer (one homer) could be salvaged. If not, yet another rebuild attempt for the Royals already may be over.
6. Ryan Howard, Phillies
No first baseman — not even Pujols — makes more on average than Howard’s $25 million a year. And he is signed through 2016. And he now has an arthritic knee condition, robbing his power (seven homers, 11 walks, 62 strikeouts). The Phillies keep hoping for a revival around Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Roy Halladay and, instead, they have fallen and can’t get up. And now prime-aged Cole Hamels is 1-9 with a 4.86 ERA in the first season of a six-year, $144 million extension.
7. Matt Kemp, Dodgers
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly finally admitted last week what most believed — that Kemp’s surgically repaired shoulder had robbed his power, which is why he had two homers, a .640 OPS and a more worrisome future (particularly because he is in Season 2 of an eight-year, $160 million contract). Then matters got even worse, as Kemp injured his hamstring and had to be put on the DL.
8. Edwin Jackson, Cubs
Chicago cautiously gave out one-and two-year contracts to several veterans in the offseason hoping they would bring respectability during rebuilding. The Cubs broke that mold to give Jackson a four-year, $52 million deal, becoming the latest team to believe he had not yet reached his ceiling. Well, he has now hit the floor: 1-7 with a 6.11 ERA.
9. Yovani Gallardo, Brewers
Second baseman Rickie Weeks (signed through 2015) has been worse than Gallardo. But Milwaukee’s problems are pitching, pitching and then some pitching, and Gallardo is supposed to be the ace. Instead, his fastball continues to drop in velocity, his control has gotten sketchy, and it is all reflected in his 4-5 record with a 5.05 ERA. Quirk: He has the same five-year, $30.1 million contract Toronto gave Romero.
10. David Price, Rays
There is hesitation to include Price because he is just too good to struggle all year. But here is the problem — Tampa Bay was hoping for one more Cy Young-ish year out of him before dealing the lefty in the winter for multiple elite prospects. The idea would be to keep the payroll down but the influx of talent up. But then Price began the season 1-4 with a 5.24 ERA with his fastball also down a few notches. Price wound up on the DL on May 16 with a triceps injury and is not due back before the middle of this month. Thus, he is going to have to restore the perception that he is a great starter for the Rays actually to make that bonanza trade in the offseason.
joel.sherman@nypost.com