The stretch run is upon us and shockingly few MLB teams are actually out of contention. The National League is oversaturated with competent, competitive teams, while the American League might end up dragging three sub-.500 clubs into the postseason. Regardless, there is still much for play for across the board.
As Alex Bregman, Fernando Tatis Jr. and other former All-Stars find a way to turn their seasons around, other household MLB names are probably due for an extended stint on the bench. Let's dive into five accomplished "stars" who aren't really meeting the moment.
RHP Max Scherzer, Toronto Blue Jays
Max Scherzer opted against retirement to spend another season with the Blue Jays, no doubt hoping to avenge last year's heartbreaking Game 7 loss in the World Series. Toronto is down, but not quite out; there's still hope for a playoff berth and a surprise run. That said, Scherzer is not helping much. The 42-year-old has a 7.40 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 11 starts this season, with 32 strikeouts in 45.0 innings.
The numbers are slightly less appalling under the hood, as Scherzer still knows how to miss a barrel and get folks swinging outside their comfort zone. The peaks don't last nearly as long as the valleys nowadays, unfortunately, and Scherzer has opponents slugging .745 against his once-elite slider.
A wave of injuries, most recently to Trey Yesavage and Jameson Taillon, is the only reason Toronto is even turning to Scherzer still, but it's time to seek out alternative solutions.
3B Eugenio Suárez, Cincinnati Reds
Eugenio Suárez was the Reds' response to Kyle Schwarber turning down a storybook hometown offer in free agency. Suárez tied his career-high with 49 home runs in 2025, but an ice-cold second half set a worrying trend. Now relegated mostly to the DH spot due to his poor defensive metrics, the 35-year-old has stumbled to a .700 OPS and 87 wRC+ on the season. He strikes out far too often and he's just not maximizing his contact as frequently as he did a year ago.
Granted, he still has 18 home runs. And granted, Suárez is finally settling into a groove this month, with nine extra-base hits (including four home runs) and an .872 OPS since the calendar flipped to August. But it's clear Cincinnati needs to prepare for life without Suárez, who will almost certainly depart in free agency. The Reds are basically out of contention at this point, so feeding more at-bats to younger players — those with a future in the organization — is the way to go.
RHP Freddy Peralta, Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa took a chance on Freddy Peralta at the trade deadline after a miserable first half in Queens. He finished top-three in NL Cy Young voting a year ago and the Rays are better than most organizations when it comes to pitching adjustments, so it made sense as a buy-low gamble.
Peralta has not rewarded their faith, however. In four starts since the deadline, the veteran righty has allowed 17 runs in 21.1 innings (7.17 ERA) with 23 hits, including five home runs. His season-long 5.33 ERA is now the worst in baseball among qualified pitchers.
Whether this is just a lost season or the beginning of the end for the 30-year-old, Tampa needs to keep a short leash on Peralta with so much at stake in a crowded AL East race.
OF Teoscar Hernández, Los Angeles Dodgers
Plenty of Dodgers fans would gladly bench Kyle Tucker, but Los Angeles is not going to pay him $60 million to toil on the bench. They could, however, justify paying Teoscar Hernández a more modest $14.7 million to take a seat — even if he wouldn't be particularly happy about it.
Hernández has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt in Los Angeles across two World Series runs, but he's barely scraping league average as a hitter these days, with a .705 OPS and 94 wRC+. He's especially poor against right-handed pitching (.662 OPS). It does not help that the 33-year-old is quite the liability in left field, with the DH route completely closed off by Shohei Ohtani.
The Dodgers have already flirted with a diminished role for Hernández, but with so much talent in the organization, there's really no excuse to keep Hernández in the lineup so often (besides optics and perhaps seniority). They needn't look far — James Tibbs III has a .986 OPS and 27 homers from the left-hand side in Triple-A — to find internal upgrades.
2B Marcus Semien, New York Mets
The Mets infamously overhauled the roster last winter, bidding farewell to beloved homegrown star Pete Alonso and trading Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien, among many other changes. The Semien trade has aged especially poorly.
Semien's offensive decline was not hard to predict, as he spent the last two years with a sub-.700 OPS, but he has really bottomed out in 2026. The 35-year-old is hitting a career-worst .215 with a .626 OPS and 75 wRC+ (also career worsts). To further fuel the disappointment of Mets fans, Semien has also fallen off a cliff defensively. A two-time Gold Glove winner, Semien generated six Outs Above Average — in the 92nd percentile at his position — a year ago. He's at -6 OAA this season.
New York has fully turned their lineup and rotation over to the youth movement at this point. Semien is under contract for two more years, so the Mets aren't going to phase him out entirely, but there's really no reason to keep him on the field regularly in the final month. Give him some time to reset and let the kids eat.
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