Ranking Jorge Polanco, Kristian Campbell and 8 MLB Players Who Should Be Benched
Voting leaders for MLB's 2025 All-Star Game were announced on Monday afternoon and, well, none of the players on this list made the cut.
With the exception of the relief pitcher who had to be included, every player on this list has made at least 200 plate appearances this season, which is close to on pace to qualify for a batting title.
The way they've been hitting, though, a batting title is already beyond the realm of possibility and getting benched for the stretch run is more likely.
8. Michael Massey, 2B, Kansas City Royals
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After trying for 10 days to play through an ankle sprain suffered in late May, Michael Massey landed on the IL a week ago.
So, in a way, he has already been benched.
Prior to the injury, though, the 27-year-old had played in 51 of Kansas City's first 56 games, still ranking sixth on the team in plate appearances at the moment in spite of a horrendous .479 OPS that ranks dead-last among the 191 players with at least 200 plate appearances.
What's maddening about that lack of production is that Massey was one of Kansas City's more valuable position players not named Bobby Witt Jr. last season. Heck, he hit leadoff for five of the Royals' six postseason games, going 7-for-23 in the process.
Massey also posted a .408 (20-for-49) batting average in spring training before spending the first 10 weeks of the regular season straddling the Mendoza Line.
While the other options presently on Kansas City's roster haven't been much better, how have the Royals not at least given Cam Devanney a shot in the bigs?
He has a .939 OPS and 12 home runs at Triple-A Omaha this season, and he can play anywhere in the infield. The 28-year-old isn't one of their premier prospects, but it's worth finding out if he could provide a temporary jolt to a lineup in which only four players have hit at least four home runs.
7. Keibert Ruiz, C, Washington Nationals
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Excluding the dead/deferred money still due to Stephen Strasburg, the Washington Nationals have more known future money tied up in Keibert Ruiz than any other player, and it's not even close.
The man they imagined would be their sure-fire franchise catcher by now is in the third season of his eight-year, $50 million deal, owed (after this season) another $35 million for the next half-decade, with club options that could push that up to $61 million through 2032. Washington's only other known salary for 2026 and beyond is Trevor Williams getting $7 million for next season.
Since homering in each of the first two games of the year, though, Ruiz has gone 230 plate appearances without a dinger, his OPS+ down in the mid-70s for a second consecutive season.
While it would be one thing if the 26-year-old was not hitting but still providing incredible value behind the dish, a la Patrick Bailey in San Francisco, StatCast has Ruiz ranked dead-last in Fielding Run Value among the 44 catchers with at least 200 innings played.
Because of that long-term commitment, because backup catcher Riley Adams is batting .096 for the year and because the team isn't exactly in the thick of a playoff race, the Nationals have mostly just let Ruiz take his lumps, hoping for a brighter tomorrow.
In what has been his third straight year with a negative fWAR, though, it might be time to try something new.
6. Raisel Iglesias, RHP, Atlanta Braves
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This list of candidates for a benching is otherwise entirely made up of position players, but Raisel Iglesias gets a special nod as a reliever whose appearances have been anything but a relief.
MLB.com's Mark Bowman reported over a week ago that the 35-year-old "won't necessarily be the Braves' primary closer" anymore. However, we've yet to find out who the primary closer is, as save chances have been preposterously scarce for Atlanta over the past month.
Since Iglesias' last save on May 16, Atlanta's entire pitching staff has tallied three holds (including one by Iglesias last week), three blown saves (one by Iglesias; two by Pierce Johnson) and nary a successful save.
Even though it was an eighth inning appearance, Iglesias did pitch in Atlanta's only save situation in more than a week. That means it does still have some faith in him in high-leverage situations.
It shouldn't.
That goes beyond the four blown saves in his first 12 chances, at which point he had a 6.75 ERA. Across his full four-pitch repertoire, Iglesias' velocity is down about one mph from what it was last season.
The slider that used to be his best whiff-inducing pitch has been relentlessly demolished, already allowing as many home runs off sliders (five) as he did in the previous five seasons combined. Opponents are also hitting his changeup more consistently than ever before.
Releasing him and his $16 million salary is probably out of the question for Atlanta, but it should start deploying him in low-leverage situations until he at least shows some signs of being ready and able to deliver the goods again. Because a blown save in a hold spot within the next week could be the final straw, both for Iglesias and the team's 2025 season.
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5. Jorge Soler, OF/DH, Los Angeles Angels
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Credit where it's due, the Angels are already taking fairly drastic measures to chase this unexpected status as a team that's not completely out of the running for a spot in the postseason.
They scooped up Chris Taylor off waivers. They traded for LaMonte Wade Jr. They even called up their first-round pick from last year's draft, Christian Moore, for his MLB debut this past Friday.
Yet, for some unknown reason, they just continue to throw Jorge Soler into the starting lineup, even with Mike Trout back in the mix as the regular DH for several weeks at this point.
Maybe it's a form of buyer's remorse, daily regretting their decision to trade Griffin Canning for Soler pretty much the instant the offseason began, and just hoping he'll eventually repay them for their faith in him.
But sticking with this $26 million sunk cost is taking its toll, especially now the 33-year-old is also adding subpar defense in right field to the equation.
He'll deliver a big blast every once in a blue moon, but dating back to April 16—a.k.a. one-third of the full season—Soler is batting .181 with a .548 OPS, racking up more strikeouts (55) than total bases (50).
4. Angel Martinez, 2B/CF, Cleveland Guardians
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Though he opened the season at Triple-A Columbus, Ángel Martínez spent all of eight games there, batting .344 before getting called back up to the big leagues and immediately thriving.
The 23-year-old had multi-hit performances in three of his first four games back, and he was still sitting on a .372 batting average and .852 OPS after a dozen games.
Since then, though, it has been a slow but steady fall from grace.
Over the course of Cleveland's next 41 games, Martínez played in 40 and started in 35, but he had just a .187 batting average and .529 OPS to show for it.
The Guardians have bounced him all over the lineup, trying anything to rekindle some of that April magic. It hasn't helped, though, as he has been mired in a funk, providing negative WAR to a team whose limited offense and negative run differential has become a debilitating problem.
Granted, the other center field options presently on the roster haven't been any better. Lane Thomas is batting .162 for the year. And not only is Nolan Jones (.222 AVG) batting worse than Martínez, but when he starts in center, it also means an even worse option is getting the nod in right.
What about all those top prospects, though?
No, 2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana isn't an option, presently on the IL. But C.J. Kayfus has an OPS north of 1.000 in 57 games played in the minors this season and can play corner outfield. First-round pick in 2022 and center fielder Chase DeLauter is also starting to hit well at Triple-A Columbus after an injury delayed his start to the year.
Maybe neither immediately pans out, but isn't it worth a shot for a team that has used eight outfielders this season, only one of whom has a positive fWAR?
3. Nick Allen, SS, Atlanta Braves
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When Atlanta traded for Nick Allen last November, it knew it wasn't acquiring any sort of middle-of-the-lineup thumper. Among the 323 players who made at least 700 plate appearances from 2022-24, his .537 OPS while with the Athletics was the worst in baseball.
Knowing to expect that lack of offensive production doesn't make it any more acceptable to just continue living with it, though.
Allen has played substantially above average defense for the Braves. There's no denying that. As far as the advanced defensive metrics are concerned, he is probably the National League's Gold Glove shortstop at this point.
But since the beginning of May, the 26-year-old is 19-for-104 with a .478 OPS. He is almost exclusively batting ninth in the order, with no home runs and just 13 RBI for the year—for a team that notably isn't getting much out of the second base, left field or center field spots in its lineup, either.
At what point is Allen's value added on defense no longer offsetting the value subtracted on offense?
Complicating Atlanta's answer to that question so far has been the complete lack of a Plan B. It already cut Orlando Arcia, and current backup Luke Williams has a .444 OPS in his extremely limited playing time with the Braves dating back to 2023.
But Nacho Alvarez Jr. is coming.
Atlanta's top position player prospect made his Triple-A debut on Friday after being out of commission with a wrist injury since February. As soon as he is physically fit for the job, it should hand him the reins at shortstop and hope his roughly .800 OPS in his minor league career can solve some of the team's woes.
2. Kristian Campbell, 2B, Boston Red Sox
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Initially, Boston's decision to break camp with Kristian Campbell on the roster seemed like a brilliant move. Through eight games, he was batting .423 with a 1.323 OPS, looking like the early front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year.
Since that Aaron Judge-like start, however, the 22-year-old has been one of the least valuable position players in all of baseball, barely batting .200 and playing the worst defense among qualified second basemen, per StatCast.
On the one hand, you'd love to let the rookie work through those growing pains. He was one of MLB's top prospects heading into the season, and the Red Sox showed a ton of faith in putting him in the Opening Day lineup despite a .576 OPS during spring training. Undoing that faith with a benching or even a demotion back to Worcester would be a tough pill to swallow.
On the other hand, can this underperforming team really afford to keep running one of its biggest underperformers out there over and over again?
Maybe Boston is just waiting for Alex Bregman to return from his quad strain, at which point there would be more infield flexibility, possibly with Marcelo Mayer going to shortstop and Trevor Story moving to second.
Rather than wait for Bregman, though, the Red Sox could put Roman Anthony in center and shift Ceddanne Rafaela to second base—though, he isn't much of an offensive improvement over Campbell.
1. Jorge Polanco, DH/IF, Seattle Mariners
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Leody Taveras would have featured prominently on this list a week ago, but the Mariners mercifully pulled the plug and designated him for assignment, almost one month after the Texas Rangers did the same.
Seattle does still have a gaping hole in its lineup, though, with a designated hitter who hasn't been hitting anything lately.
Jorge Polanco was sensational out of the gates. Through 32 team games, he had nine home runs in just 84 plate appearances, batting .395 with a 1.250 OPS. At that point, only Aaron Judge (1.312) had a better OPS, and no one was even within 100 points in Polanco's rearview mirror.
Change the ol' custom date range from "through May 3" to "from May 4 through June 12," however, and Polanco goes from the second-best OPS in the majors to the second-worst, his .434 mark only narrowly ahead of Santiago Espinal at .431.
That's even with a recent seven-game hitting streak boosting his numbers a bit. From May 4 through June 4, the 31-year-old went 9-for-78 with a .335 OPS and more strikeouts (14) than total bases (13).
Now, the problem for Seattle is that Polanco isn't exactly getting the nod ahead of any promising bats. Benching him would presumably mean more playing time for Mitch Garver, whose lone home run of the season came in the seventh inning of a 14-0 win over Miami in late April.
Maybe the Mariners could call up Harry Ford, who has a .922 OPS at Triple-A Tacoma this season? Or start aggressively pursuing trades for a bat before they fall too far behind Houston to even bother at the deadline?
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