Josef Martínez’s two-goal performance against Minnesota United Wednesday night have him on pace to score 19 regular season goals this season after scoring 31 in 2018 and setting a new MLS regular-season record. While 19 goals in a season is nothing to scoff at, Martínez wouldn’t be the first MLS striker to suffer a drastic dip in production after tying, or in his case, breaking a league goal-scoring record. But Roy Lassiter, Chris Wondolowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips all had more pedestrian goal tallies after scoring 27 the previous season.



Lassiter bagged 27 goals in 1996 with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, then finished with just 10 the following season. Wondolowski, recently crowned MLS’ all-time leading scorer, ended the 2013 season with 11 goals after hitting 27 in 2012. Bradley-Wright Phillips, the face of the New York Red Bulls’ franchise, scored 17 goals in 2015 after scoring 27 in 2014.



So, why is it so difficult for the...