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With a little over a month left in the 2026 MLB season, we have a good idea of who the true standout stars were during this campaign. However, we now know which players won’t be able to turn around underwhelming starts to the year. With that in mind, we take a look at 10 MLB stars that were the biggest disappointments this season. Freddy Peralta, New York Mets & Tampa Bay Rays Freddy Peralta entered the 2026 season as a two-time All-Star, Cy Young finalist, and was considered one of the best pitchers in the National League. Boy, how things have changed in just one season. After winning 17 games last year and landing the Milwaukee Brewers a pair of top New York Mets prospects in a winter trade, Peralta went 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA before being traded again before the deadline, this time to the Tampa Bay Rays. Things haven’t been better in Florida, and he now has a 5-11 record with a 7.17 ERA between the two teams in 2026. Kyle Tucker, Los Angeles Dodgers Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs veteran Kyle Tucker was the most sought-after name on this offseason’s free agent market. When the Los Angeles Dodgers made a winning bid of four years and $240 million, it seemed like the rich got richer and the rest of the league was doomed. However, LA’s endless good luck has run out because Tucker has been terrible this season. He has a .230 AVG, .690 OPS, 11 homers, and just 55 RBIs as we near September. If he wasn’t making a yearly average of $60 million (second-highest in baseball), he would have been benched long ago. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays A case can be made that the sudden fall-off of Toronto Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been the most shocking this year. In year one of a massive 14-year, $500 million contract, the six-time All-Star has totally lost his trademark power stroke. While his average isn’t terrible compared to previous seasons, his 7 homers after 116 games is one of the most bewildering storylines this season. He went from one of the game’s most feared hitters to a major reason why the Blue Jays have been shockingly mediocre a year after being two outs away from a World Series title. Eugenio Suarez, Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds gave their fans hope this offseason by spending a little cash to improve the roster so they could get back to the playoffs in 2026. That’s why a reunion with Eugenio Suarez after smacking 49 home runs was applauded. Unfortunately, the 34-year-old has the exact opposite in 2026. After 99 games, he is barely hitting over .200 with an underwhelming 18 homers and 51 RBIs. It has been a disastrous return to Cincy for the 34-year-old. The only saving grace is that his $16 million deal for 2027 is a mutual option. Rafael Devers, San Francisco Giants When Rafael Devers struggled for the San Francisco Giants after being traded early in the 2025 season from the Boston Red Sox, many were willing to overlook it as the ramifications of a sudden mid-season trade and culture shock. However, Devers still hasn’t returned to the form he showed in Boston. While he will probably hit over 30 homers this season, his OPS, RBIs, and Rs are way down from his previous standard. For a player making $27 million in 2026, Dever has been a disappointment. Juan Soto, New York Mets Has Juan Soto been good for the Mets this season? Yes. Did it help him earn All-Star honors in the first half? Yes. However, he has also only played in 84 games due to different injuries. For a player making $51 million a year, New York really needs Soto to be on the field for most of the season. Yet even when playing, he didn’t stop the Mets from being baseball’s biggest disappointment in 2026. Also, his inability to build better relationships with teammates has haunted the clubhouse all year. The Mets needed Soto to guide them to the playoffs after their collapse last year, and they didn’t come anywhere close. Edwin Diaz, Los Angeles Dodgers Many MLB fans threw their hands up in frustration when the Dodgers signed All-Star Mets closer Edwin Diaz in free agency. Well, they have totally forgotten about that as we near the end of the regular season. Due to injuries, the three-time All-Star has been in a shell of himself in the 16 appearances he has made. Diaz has an awful 11.85 ERA and has blown four of his 11 save opportunities. He has made the Mets’ decision not to give him a fat new contract one of their few successes from the offseason. George Springer, Toronto Blue Jays At 35 years old, George Springer turned back the clock and played a key role in the Blue Jays reaching the World Series last fall. Hitting .309 with 32 homers, 84 RBIs, 106 Rs, and 18 stolen bases. This season has been a different story. It seems like the four-time All-Star was tapped on the shoulder by Father Time in 2026, and after injuries early in the year, he has come nowhere close to his numbers from a year ago. Hitting .240 with just 12 homers and 41 RBIs in 99 games. Springer is another reason why the Jays have underwhelmed this year. Devin Williams, New York Mets Even before losing Edwin Diaz in free agency, the Mets inked two-time All-Star Devin Williams to a deal with the understanding he could be their new closer. After a rough season in 2025, many around the league thought he could return to his elite form. Well, they were wrong. In 42 appearances, he has just 16 saves and a 4.66 ERA. That is only slightly better than he was last year with the New York Yankees. With Kodai Senga doing well as their closer while Williams is on the IL, the player averaging $17 million a year is no longer a lock to close games in 2027. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners The fall-off of Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh from MVP candidate to one of the worst every-day players in MLB should be studied. He was a monster last year as he led the league with 60 homers and 125 RBIs. Yet, this season he hasn’t even been as good as he was in previous years. After 96 games, the feel-good story of 2025 has an awful .158 AVG and .580 OPS, with 14 homers and 47 RBIs. There is reason to believe Raleigh may simply be broken and could be out of MLB sooner rather than later. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees After winning a third MVP award last year, 2026 has been a year to forget for Yankees superstar Aaron Judge. He has only played in 59 games due to a rib injury, but even when he was on the field, he was a different player. Judge still had his classic power, but after hitting .331 in 2025, his average plummeted to .248 as he was racking up strikeouts fast. His OPS also tumbled from 1.144 to .907. While he wasn’t bad, per se, Judge wasn’t what the Yankees expected, and who knows where they could be in the standings if he hadn’t missed two-thirds of the season. Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates After the 2025 season, there was a serious debate over whether Paul Skenes had surpassed Tarik Skubal as MLB’s best pitcher. That discourse has disappeared this year, with the Pittsburgh Pirates star having his worst season as a pro. In 2026, the reigning NL Cy Young winner is 9-11 with an ERA just under 4.00. Although he is still getting his strikeouts, he will have the most walks of his career, and his regressed velocity this year has many worried about his long-term outlook. Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles Two years ago, Gunnar Henderson earned All-Star honors for the first time and established himself as the new face of the Baltimore Orioles franchise. Things have changed a lot over the last two seasons, and 2026 has been a new low point for the 25-year-old. After signs of regression last year, when his power numbers fell, Henderson now fell from a .274 AVG and .787 OPS in 2025 to .222 and .703 this year. Like Skenes, there are now big concerns about the one-time All-Star’s long-term outlook. Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies All the talk around the Philadelphia Phillies was that not only was pitcher Andrew Painter their very best prospect in 2025, but on MLB.com he was considered the eighth-best in the sport. It’s why he was penciled in for a spot in the starting rotation this year. While the 23-year-old still has a lot of time to grow, year one in MLB has been a major disappointment. After his first 19 big-league appearances (17 starts), he is 3-8 with an ugly 6.04 ERA and 17 homers in 92.1 innings. Bo Bichette, New York Mets When the Mets gave Bo Bichette a massive three-year, $126 million deal in the offseason, expectations were increased exponentially for the two-time All-Star. Unfortunately for New York, he hasn’t lived up to being the fourth-highest annual earner in MLB. While he has played better over the last couple of months, it hasn’t been enough to avoid seeing a major decline in his numbers from last year. He posted a .311 AVG and .840 OPS with 94 RBIs last year. In his debut with the Mets, he’s got a .268 AVG, .713 OPS, and just 66 RBIs. He is another reason this has been a miserable season for the Mets fans.