Ranking the 10 most disappointing players in MLB so far this season

A little less than two months into the 2026 MLB season, we've seen plenty players get off to outrageous starts. Kyle Schwarber already has 20 home runs, Munetaka Murakami isn't far behind and Ben Rice leads the Majors with a near 1.100 OPS. Even on the pitching side, young guys like Cam Schlittler and Chase Burns are dominating, while Jacob Misiorowski and Cristopher Sanchez are striking out the world.

What about the other side of the coin, though? These players are off to dreadful starts, and their teams are suffering as a result.

10. Tatsuya Imai, Houston Astros

There was a lot of hype surrounding Tatsuya Imai, who was expected to play an integral role in the Houston Astros' rotation after signing a three-year, $54 million deal this offseason. But he's done anything but that thus far.

Not only has Imai been limited to just four starts for Houston, but he has a 9.64 ERA in those outings. He has more walks (14) than innings pitched (12.2), and he's gone past four innings just once. Imai has shown some good stuff, but his command has never been sharp, and he's gone out of his way to make excuses to explain his performance thus far. The Astros might be the most disappointing team in the Majors right now, and Imai is a big reason for that.

9. Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians

For the first time in what feels like years, the Cleveland Guardians have some pieces to surround Jose Ramirez. Chase DeLauter's rookie year is off to a roaring start, Travis Bazzana is already an on-base machine and Angel Martinez is enjoying a breakout campaign. That's what makes Steven Kwan's early-season struggles that much more disappointing: Kwan, the Guardians' most consistent player not named Jose Ramirez for several years, has been one of the worst position players in the sport thus far.

The outfielder is slashing .201/.320/.256 with one home run and 10 RBI on the year. He's struggling so mightily that he just recently hit lower than first in the Guardians' order in a game he started for the first time since 2022, his rookie year. Kwan has never been a power bat, but it's shocking to see a hitter who makes as much contact as he does hit just a shade over the Mendoza Line. The Guardians will need more from him.

8. Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees

Jazz Chisholm Jr. said he was aiming to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases this season. Well, he's stolen 12 bases, which is impressive, but the rest of his game isn't coming close to meeting expectations. He's slashing .230/.312/.358 with four home runs and 16 RBI, and it's not like the numbers under the hood suggest he's gotten insanely unlucky.

While the likes of Ben Rice and Aaron Judge generate the most headlines, the New York Yankees are at their best when Chisholm, perhaps the most well-rounded second baseman in the game when he's right, is feeling it. To see him perform like this, especially in a contract year, is disappointing.

7. Trevor Story, Boston Red Sox

As bad as Jarren Duran and Caleb Durbin have been, the former was already coming off a down year while and it felt like the latter overachieved in 2025; it's not as if I expected much from either Boston Red Sox player. Trevor Story, however, was coming off what felt like a career renaissance in 2025 when he hit 25 home runs, drove in 96 runs and stole 31 bases. He was their big infield bat after trading Rafael Devers away. This season has been a nightmare, though.

Story is slashing .206/.244/.303 with three home runs and 19 RBI in 41 games this season. His 47 wRC+ is tied for the third-worst mark in the sport. He's gone from performing at a borderline All-Star level to being one of the worst hitters in baseball. A lot can explain why the Red Sox are struggling, but Story's regression tops the list.

6. Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies

Trea Turner had one of the best seasons of his career in 2025, winning the NL batting title and improving immensely at shortstop. Well, he's regressed both offensively and defensively this year, playing a role in what's been an uneven start to the season for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Turner is slashing .236/.286/.340 with four home runs and 15 RBI. He has a 75 wRC+, worse than the likes of Jacob Young and Marcus Semien. He ranks in the 18th percentile with -2 OAA. Turner remains an elite baserunner, but the Phillies need a whole lot more than that to justify the $27 million he's owed this season.

As fun as it's been watching Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper dominate of late, the only way for the Phillies to go on a run is if Turner is the table-setter he was signed to be. The Phillies have seen none of that this season.

5. Eury Perez, Miami Marlins

Expectations for Eury Perez were sky-high, as he was finally entering his first fully healthy MLB season. Perez was dominant as a rookie in 2023 and showed flashes of brilliance when he returned in 2025 after missing all of 2024 with injury, so Miami Marlins fans expected him to take a Cy Young-caliber leap. That has not happened — if anything, he's regressed.

Stuff is not the issue with Perez, who averages over 98 mph with his fastball and features a wipeout slider that generates whiffs at a near 40 percent clip. The reason why he has a 5.33 ERA in 10 starts is his command, or lack thereof: Perez has an astonishingly high 12.2 percent walk rate, and when he's in the zone, he's been getting hit quite hard. He's already given up 10 home runs in 52.1 innings of work after surrendering 12 long balls in 95.1 innings in 2025.

There are 79 qualified starters as of this writing, and Perez is 76th in ERA. His stuff is far too good for that to be the case, which is why he finds himself on this list.

4. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers

Corey Seager's biggest flaw throughout his career has been availability, not production. Well, this season, Seager has appeared in 42 of the Texas Rangers' 46 games, but he's looked like a shell of his usual star self, slashing .179/.286/.353 with seven home runs and 20 RBI. Seager was just placed on the IL with a back injury, but that doesn't fully explain the lack of production to this point.

Seager had been the model of consistency throughout his Rangers career until this season. It goes without saying that for Texas to make the playoffs, let alone go on a run, they're going to need the star version of their shortstop.

3. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres

Fernando Tatis Jr. ranks in the 99th percentile in hard-hit rate and the 87th percentile in average exit velocity, hitting the ball as hard and as consistently as anyone in the sport. Yet, the results are laughably bad: Tatis has slashed .232/.307/.274 with zero home runs and 15 RBI. Yes, Fernando Tatis Jr., the player who hit 25 home runs last season and has hit as many as 42 in a season, is homerless in 193 at-bats. Baffling stuff.

The explanation for this is quite simple. Tatis is hitting the ball hard, but he's rocking a career-high 52.4 percent ground ball rate and a career-low 6.3 percent pull-air rate. He's hitting a ton of ground balls and not pulling fly balls; it's hard to hit home runs that way. Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado haven't done much either for the San Diego Padres, but Tatis struggling to this extent is shocking. He might not be a 40-home run hitter anymore, but again, he doesn't even have one!

2. Bo Bichette, New York Mets

There were concerns about Bo Bichette's glove given his move from shortstop to third base, but his bat was expected to outweigh whatever negatives that'd come with his defense. Well, Bichette was fine at third base and has even been fine at shortstop, but he's been one of the worst hitters in the sport. Yes, Bichette, who led the AL in hits twice, is one of the worst hitters in the league right now.

Outside of an injury-riddled year in 2024, Bichette has always been remarkably consistent as a hitter, with 2026 proving to be a massive exception. Even while he doesn't offer a ton of power, Bichette has always found ways to record extra-base hits. Well, he has just five doubles and two home runs this season, and doesn't have a single extra-base hit in May. His 52 wRC+ is the ninth-worst among qualified hitters. It's been a slog. Yeah, he's gotten a bit unlucky under the hood, but he's played a huge role in the New York Mets' offensive struggles thus far.

1. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners

The odds of Cal Raleigh repeating his record-breaking 60-home run season from 2025 were always slim, but even the pessimists couldn't have expected this. Raleigh is slashing .161/.243/.317 with seven home runs and 18 RBI while sporting an ugly 31.5 percent strikeout rate. His 64 wRC+ is good for 160th out of 173 qualified players. He's gone from the MVP runner-up to a subpar hitter.

Even if you thought Raleigh would regress to the hitter he was before his 2025 breakout, his 2026 OPS is still 200 points shy of that mark. Yes, Raleigh has been battling through an oblique injury that recently caused him to land on the IL, but going from an MVP candidate to a net negative as a hitter is as shocking as any early-season outcome thus far in what's been a disappointing start for the Seattle Mariners.

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