10 Biggest Disappointments of MLB Season After 5 Months

Heading into the 2026 Major League Baseball season, Garrett Crochet was a top candidate for AL Cy Young, Framber Valdez was going to save the Tigers, Marcell Ozuna felt like the possible final piece of a Pittsburgh Pirates postseason puzzle and a Mets-Mariners World Series looked like a very real possibility.

Whoops.

Predictions and expectations go haywire all the time, but some disappointments are much larger than others. Ahead, we've ranked the top 10 as we slowly but surely approach the finish line of this MLB campaign.

Before we dive into the rankings, though, we need to touch on some 'honorable' mentions in order for this list to feel complete.

'Honorable' Mentions

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Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes

Athletics—The A's had a .500 record in mid-June, but they have since become a laughingstock. Every other team in the majors has won at least 21 games since June 20, but the A's are 11-42 and now have the worst record of all at 49-80.

Edward Cabrera, RHP, Chicago Cubs—Cabrera is on the IL for the third time this season, twice for blisters and once for a hamstring/adductor. And in the nine starts he has been able to make since the beginning of May, he has a 7.97 ERA. Staying healthy always has been a struggle for him, but he's usually much better than this when available.

Edwin Díaz, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers—Frankly, you could argue that Díaz and his 11.85 ERA belong at No. 1 on this list. However, we're cutting him a bit of slack, because he clearly wasn't healthy either before or after the surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow. Either way, though, the Dodgers definitely have not gotten what they paid for here.

Gunnar Henderson, SS, Baltimore Orioles—Henderson certainly hasn't been bad, but he is a shell of his former self, struggling to even keep his OPS at .700. Steamer had him projected as the third-most valuable position player in the majors in the preseason. Instead, he is only one of Baltimore's three most valuable position players because they traded away Adley Rutschman and Taylor Ward.

Tatsuya Imai, RHP, Houston Astros—In his final season in Japan, Imai had a 1.92 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and averaged just a shade under four strikeouts per walk. But he has been handing out walks left and right in the majors, recently losing his spot in the Astros rotation after failing to survive the first inning for a third time.

Kansas City Royals—The injury bug has been none too kind to the Royals, most notably in the form of another mostly lost season for former ace Cole Ragans. They also lost closer Carlos Estévez practically on Opening Day. Every team battles injury, though, and not all of them crash and burn like the Royals have.

Paul Skenes, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates—Hard to justify putting him in the top 10 when he was still an All-Star and has still been one of Pittsburgh's five most valuable players this season. But Skenes' regression from "Elite" to "Meh" over the past three months has become an inescapable narrative.

Trea Turner, SS, Philadelphia Phillies—He has 17 home runs and 17 stolen bases, but he's nowhere near the consistent hitter that he used to be. And after putting forth a great season with his glove in 2025, he has been one of the worst defensive shortstops in 2026. (Only seven years left on that contract...)

10. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays

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Seven home runs?

Seven?!?

From 2021-25, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. racked up 159 home runs in 3,463 trips to the plate. That's one for every 21.8 plate appearances—a far cry from Aaron Judge at a PA/HR ratio of 12.7, but a good deal better than the MLB-wide average of 32.5.

This year, though, Guerrero has needed nearly 70 plate appearances per home run. And though he did have a few at Rogers Centre during the 2025 postseason, it has now been more than a full calendar year since he last hit a home run at home during the regular season.

And, to be clear, it isn't just the sharp decline in home runs that have made him one of the biggest disappointments. He also has his worst batting average and on-base percentage since 2020, presently saddled with a .693 OPS after posting an .879 mark over the past half-decade.

What in the world has happened to him?

He's still roughly league average in terms of barrel rate, exit velocity, hard-hit percentage and expected slugging. But let's just say the Blue Jays didn't give Guerrero $500M because of his ability to be league average in those departments.

9. Marcell Ozuna, DH, Pittsburgh Pirates

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Over his final three seasons with Atlanta, Marcell Ozuna accumulated 100 home runs and 272 RBI with an .867 OPS. He ranked ninth in the majors in dingers, 22nd in ribbies and was 13th in OPS, one point ahead of Kyle Schwarber.

Even though his 2025 campaign was nowhere near as impressive as his 2023 and 2024, Pittsburgh hoped it was getting a steal at DH when it gave Ozuna a one-year, $12M contract in mid-February.

What it got, however, was a designated hitter who was designated for assignment earlier this month with a career-worst .612 OPS and just eight home runs in 280 trips to the plate.

They were originally playing him almost every day, but started predominantly deploying him against left-handed starters in June and July. Even that did next to nothing to spark some life in his bat, and they finally gave up the ghost right after the trade deadline.

What's wild, though, is that in spite of Ozuna's complete lack of production, the Pirates are on pace to score 228 more runs than last season. It's a remarkable turnaround, but it could have been so much better if they had spent just a little bit more for Kazuma Okamoto or Munetaka Murakami instead.

8. Ha-Seong Kim, SS, Atlanta Braves

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Late last season, the Braves scooped Ha-Seong Kim off waivers from the Rays. He wasn't anything special for them, but he was just good enough in September that they elected to re-sign him on a one-year, $20M deal, hoping he would be their everyday shortstop.

Unfortunately, he suffered a torn tendon in his finger in a freak accident about a month later and ended up missing the first seven weeks of the regular season.

And since returning, he has put together one of the worst seasons in MLB history with a triple slash of .066/.165/.066.

If he stays there, Kim would be the first player to slug below .080 in a season of at least 80 plate appearances since Kevin Brown in 2000. And, well, Kevin Brown was a pitcher. Kim would be the first non-pitcher ever to slug under .080 while making at least 80 plate appearances.

At least he hasn't committed any more errors after recording three in his first seven games back, but it's hard to believe they have not yet admitted defeat by designating him for assignment.

7. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, RHPs, Arizona Diamondbacks

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The Diamondbacks are seven games above .500 and hanging around in the NL wild card race.

But, man, imagine where they might be in the standings if they were getting anything good out of the two pitchers they re-signed this past winter to salaries of at least $20M.

At least Merrill Kelly is presently healthy, second on the team in innings pitched. But in his 23 starts, the Snakes have gone 9-14, thanks to career-worst marks in ERA (5.37), WHIP (1.52) and K/9 (5.9). Of his seven quality starts, only three have come since Memorial Day.

Gallen might be done for the year, on the IL with elbow inflammation since just before the All-Star Break. It certainly was not a first half to remember, either, also saddled with career-worst marks across the board: 6.34 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 5.6 K/9. Arizona has gone 6-13 in his 19 starts, only three of which were of the quality variety.

Whether you prefer FanGraphs or Baseball-Reference as your source of WAR, both Kelly and Gallen have been worth wins below replacement.

6. San Francisco Giants

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Over the past four seasons, the Giants have been the definition of mediocre: two years at 81-81, one at 80-82 and one at 79-83. The expectation heading into 2026 was more of the same, with a preseason win total of 80.5.

Even though they weren't supposed to be a World Series threat, the Giants have managed to become one of the biggest disappointments by flirting with not only the worst record in baseball this season, but plausibly the most losses in a single season in this franchise's 144-year history.

Their current record in futility was 100 losses in 1985, and they are presently on a full-season pace for 96. However, they've lost 14 of their last 19 and have one of the toughest remaining schedules in the business. Going 9-25 (or worse) the rest of the way isn't exactly tough to envision.

The underperforming hasn't been contained to any specific player—though Rafael Devers sure drew a lot of the ire back when he finished April with a .537 OPS. The high-paid stars simply haven't been quite as valuable as expected. And with the exception of Luis Arraez blossoming into one of the most coveted players ahead of the trade deadline, there haven't been any surprise breakouts on this roster, either.

Just a widespread letdown in year No. 1 of the Tony Vitello experiment. We shall see if there ends up being a year No. 2.

5. Framber Valdez, LHP, Detroit Tigers

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When the Tigers landed Framber Valdez on a three-year, $115M deal in early February, it felt like one of the biggest turning points of the entire offseason.

After months of Tarik Skubal trade speculations, Detroit loudly announced that it was all-in on winning in 2026. Behind the strength of what FanGraphs projected as the second-best starting rotation in the majors, the Tigers immediately became the clear favorite to win the AL Central, as well as a trendy pick to crash the World Series.

However, Valdez simply never became the co-ace that they needed him to be—particularly during that six-week stretch in which Skubal was recovering from his elbow scope.

That's when it all went downhill in a hurry for the Tigers, who went 6-22 in May. They lost all five of Valdez's starts that month while he gave them a 5.93 ERA, including that infamous meltdown against the Red Sox that pretty much jump-started Detroit's fall from grace.

And then in late July—when Detroit was straddling the fence between buying and selling—Valdez opened the second half with a complete disaster against the Cubs (0.2 IP, 6 ER) and a subsequent less than ace-like outing against the last-place Royals (5.0 IP, 3 R). The Tigers lost both games and ultimately decided a few days later to sell off Skubal and Casey Mize in preparation for the future.

On the whole, Valdez's numbers haven't been terrible. But he has the highest AAV among American League pitchers, and his performance hasn't even remotely justified that status.

4. Kyle Tucker, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

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Kyle Tucker signing a four-year, $240M contract with the Dodgers was a breaking point for a lot of MLB fans.

The deal was announced on Jan. 21, which just so happened to also be the deadline for the Dodgers to make their $169M tax payment to MLB for laughably outspending everyone else in 2025. And in their quest for a three-peat, giving Tucker the highest present-day AAV contract in MLB history all but ensured they will be making an even bigger tax payment for their 2026 spending.

Tucker's luxury tax figure on their payroll is $57.195M, per Spotrac. And because they were already well above the highest tax bracket possible, the Dodgers have to pay a $1.10 tax for every dollar of that luxury tax figure, or a $62.9145M penalty. His actual cash salary for the year is $55M, so he is individually costing them a staggering $117.9145M in 2026—which is higher than the estimated tax payrolls of the Marlins, Guardians, Cardinals, Rays or White Sox.

But if you're among the throngs who have been up in arms about the Dodgers' payroll/deferral practices, you've at least been able to enjoy a chuckle at the fact that for nearly $120M, Tucker has been worth precisely 0.0 wins above replacement for them.

From 2021-25, Tucker had an OPS of .878, good for 10th-best among players with at least 2,000 plate appearances. He averaged 32.8 home runs and 25.7 stolen bases per 162 games played. This year, though, he has a .690 OPS, operating at a 162-game pace of 14.7 home runs and 9.4 stolen bases.

Of course, it hasn't done anything to slow them down. While the Dodgers haven't been as dominant as anticipated, they entered play on Saturday just two games behind the Brewers for the best record in baseball, well on their way to a first-round bye in spite of Tucker's mediocrity.

3. Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox

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Shortly before Opening Day, MLB.com asked its 57 experts to predict who would win the various major awards for 2026.

Boston's Garrett Crochet was their pick for AL Cy Young, edging out twice-reigning Tarik Skubal by a margin of one vote. Crochet led the majors with 255 strikeouts in 2025, this after he averaged 12.9 K/9 in 2024, which had been the eighth-highest mark in MLB history for a season with at least 140 innings pitched.

And though Bobby Witt Jr. was the pick for AL MVP, Boston's Roman Anthony placed fifth in that vote, fresh on the heels of his impressive showing in the World Baseball Classic.

No other Red Sox player received a vote for MVP, Cy Young or ROY. Needless to say, that duo was supposed to anchor Boston's quest for the AL No. 1 seed.

But Crochet has been on the IL since late April; Anthony since early May. The former was shelled in three of his six starts and has a 6.30 ERA. The latter looked nothing like he did last season, hitting just one home run and posting a .675 OPS in his 30 games played.

Instead of carrying the team, their combined shortcomings were perhaps the biggest reason Boston had a 13-21 record the last time we saw either of them in action.

Both are hoping to return in September, with Crochet likely to inhabit a spot in the bullpen if he does make it back. But will they help or hurt the Red Sox in October?

2. Cal Raleigh, C (and the Seattle Mariners in General)

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Cal Raleigh clubbed a crucial three-run home run in Seattle's victory over the Cubs on Friday night. The Mariners have now won each of the last seven times Raleigh has homered, five of them by a single run.

Conversely, the Big Dumper entered that game triple-slashing .104/.283/.229 in the month of August and with a .569 OPS for the season, so you'll have to forgive us for not being willing to believe that this is finally where Raleigh and Mariners start to turn things around.

The first runner-up for AL MVP in 2025 hasn't had a three-game hitting streak since July 4-8, nor have the M's put together a three-game winning streak more recently than July 18-20.

In fact, since winning eight in a row from May into June, Seattle has gone 28-39 overall, averaging 3.58 runs per game. While Raleigh's historic regression is most to blame for that, neither Julio Rodríguez nor Josh Naylor has done much to help matters. Luke Raley and Colt Emerson had also been dreadful, each with an OPS in the .400s from June 3 onward prior to both landing on the IL.

Worse yet, since the aforementioned winning streak in mid-July, even Seattle's once-elite pitching staff has been a hot mess, allowing nearly six runs per game.

Granted, the recent 22-0 shellacking at the hands of Milwaukee drove up that average by about 0.5 runs. But even if that game hadn't happened, the Mariners would have still allowed more runs over the past five weeks than every team except the A's and Rockies.

It's almost hard to believe this is the same team that entered the year as basically co-favorites with the Yankees to represent the AL in the World Series.

1. New York Mets

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For as poorly as things have gone for the Seattle Mariners, at least they still have a tangible playoff pulse, entering play on Saturday four games back in the AL West and three games back for the AL's final wild card spot. With the benefit of 17 games remaining against the A's, Angels and Rockies, PECOTA even had the M's at a 50.5 percent chance of making the postseason.

But the New York Mets—who entered the season with a 90.5 win total and a $375M tax payroll, both good for highest among all teams not named the Dodgers—are as good as dead for postseason purposes (and have been for a while) at 11 games back.

Their six most noteworthy offseason moves were (in no particular order) trading for Freddy Peralta, signing Bo Bichette, trading for Luis Robert Jr., signing Devin Williams, trading for Marcus Semien and signing Jorge Polanco.

Baseball-Reference puts that sextet's cumulative value "added" at a minus-1.1 wins above replacement.

On top of that, Francisco Lindor missed two months with a calf injury and hasn't made his usual impact when healthy, Mark Vientos regressed even further from last year's fall from grace, Brett Baty vanished after last year's breakout and both David Peterson and Kodai Senga pitched their way out of the starting rotation in a hurry.

Throw in Juan Soto's multiple trips to the IL and this season has gone about as sideways as it possibly could have for the Mets.

The only redeeming silver lining is that rookies Nolan McLean, A.J. Ewing, Carson Benge and Zac Thornton have all made a positive impact. So, too, has Christian Scott in his return from Tommy John surgery.

However, five twenty-somethings breaking out while making less than $800,000 apiece should have been the cherry on a World Series sundae for the Mets, not the only thing about this season that wasn't a disaster.