It’s still early, but that doesn’t mean fantasy baseball managers can ignore the warning signs.
Every season, a handful of players stumble out of the gate, whether it’s a dip in underlying metrics, reduced playing time, or simply results that don’t match expectations. While some slow starts are just noise, others signal deeper concerns that could linger well into the season.
In this Featured Pros roundup, our experts break down 12 fantasy baseball players who are causing early concern in 2026. From struggling stars to surprising disappointments, these insights will help you decide whether to stay patient, explore trade options, or start planning an exit before it’s too late.
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Fantasy Baseball Players Experts are Worried About
Which underperforming hitter are you most worried about? Why?
Vinnie Pasquantino (1B – KC)
“Vinnie Pasquantino thinks April Fools lasts all month, not just a single day. Time for the Big Italian to hit a home run, or this may turn from a season where 30+ HRs seemed automatic to one where 20+ HRs would be considered good enough. The WBC superstar cannot hit a ball over the fence, and a 1B that has no power, hitting .153 is the easiest way to tank a fantasy baseball team.”
– Muntradamus (Beast Dome)
“Maybe it’s because I was so IN on him, but Vinnie Pasquantino has me concerned that it is more than just a slow start. He is currently slashing .136/.246/.169, with zero home runs and a 23.2% strikeout rate, which is 10% higher than his average. The bigger reason I’m worried is that his hard-hit rate is 28.9% and his barrel rate is 2.2%, both of which are extremely low after 69 plate appearances. His xSLG is a measly .272, so it’s not like he is simply unlucky. When I’m looking longingly at people who currently roster Josh Bell, I know we are in trouble.”
– Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)
Geraldo Perdomo (SS – ARI)
“I was afraid Geraldo Perdomo would have a letdown season after last year’s breakout, which could turn out to be an outlier. So far, despite incredible plate discipline (more than twice as many walks as strikeouts!), he’s not hitting for average or power. He’s always posted Barrel and Hard-Hit rates near the bottom of the league, like he’s doing now. He’ll come around to some extent and should hit closer to his 2024 mark of .273, but the 20 homers from last year were an anomaly.”
– Pierre Camus (Fantasy Endgame)
Jakob Marsee (OF – MIA)
“Things are unraveling for Jakob Marsee this season. After hitting .292, Marsee is hitting just .152 with an xBA of .178. His barrel percentage has dropped from 8% last year to just 2% this season. Though he is getting the ball in the air and pulling it, which should help some in the future, his inability to hit fastballs is a concern. Pitchers are throwing it more to him, at a 63% clip, and he’s hitting just .111. He can still be a fantasy hold, but without an upper-tier batting average, he might float as a streaming hitter for some of the year.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)
Francisco Lindor (SS – NYM)
“Francisco Lindor, as of writing this, hasn’t had an RBI since September 27th of 2025. After his hamate bone surgery, I figured the power would be slow to return, but the .176 BA and contact rates are abysmal. Lindor has always been a slow starter, but he’s 32 now, not 27. This could be the beginning of the erosion of skills. Not to say, 2026 will be a lost season, but the Lindor benchmarks we’re used to could be on the precipice of lowering for the remainder of his career when you consider his barrel %, hard hit %, and bat speed are all in decline.”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)
Julio Rodriguez (OF – SEA)
“Julio Rodriguez has been pretty concerning so far this season, especially for where he was drafted. The results are ugly — just 7 singles in 49 at-bats and almost no impact — and the underlying numbers back it up, with a wRC+ sitting near the bottom of the league. His approach has backed up, too, chasing more pitches (33%) and striking out more (28.6%), and he just isn’t doing damage when he does make contact. The ground balls are way up (52%), and the hard contact isn’t there like usual. You can even wonder if the extra WBC workload is lingering a bit, but either way, for a first-round pick, he looks more like a volatile .250 bat than a fantasy cornerstone right now.”
– Dennis Sosic (Fantasy Six Pack)
Nick Kurtz (1B – ATH)
“I originally planned on highlighting Cal Raleigh and his epic early-season collapse, but that was too easy. I knew this was coming. Not to this degree, but that he was going to regress significantly as a catcher coming off a historic season was foreseeable. So, I moved on to Jazz Chisholm. His metrics are looking a wee bit scary for a guy I was relying on a 30/30 season from. Then I saw Nick Kurtz’s underlying numbers, and I had my guy. What convinced me to profile Kurtz as the guy I’m worried about isn’t necessarily how poorly he is playing, but that many of his metrics are comparable or even better than his 36-home-run breakout 2025 rookie campaign. His BB% is at 22.5%, up almost 10% from 2025, and his BaBip is also slightly higher – .370 in 2026 compared to .364 in 2025 – while his OBP and xwWoBa are basically the same, and yet, he mashed 36 home runs in 117 games in ’25 while he has only one in 23 so far in 2026. Let me get this straight. Kurtz is being more selective, the balls he does make contact with are landing in play more often in ’26 than in ’25, and yet his batting average is at the Mendoza line (.200 – down from .290 in 2025) and he is making significantly less contact with a K% of 38%, by far the worst of his professional career, both in the majors and the minors. And, his ISO is an abysmal .091, down from .329 in ’25. Usually, for hitters, if most of their metrics are good or similar to their past performance, then a lower-than-normal BABIP is a sign of hope. The guy has just been unlucky in a small sample. Kurtz hasn’t been unlucky in ’26. His BABIP is basically the same as it was in 2025, slightly better, actually. What’s scary about Kurtz is that he is making significantly less contact while slugging a distressing .291 versus a poultry .619 in ’25. Same approach. Same guy. Less contact, less power, significantly fewer homers. That’s got me concerned. Horrible has somewhere to go. Hopefully up, making THAT guy a buy-low. You being you….with worse results?? Makes Kurtz a potential sell-low. At minimum, be worried.”
– Chris Mitchell (FantasyData)
Bobby Witt Jr. (SS – KC)
“The underperforming hitter that I am most worried about is Bobby Witt Jr. He worries me the most due to his lack of power production, especially when Kansas City moved in their fences this season. He’s tied for first in stolen bases with 8, which is keeping him from even a worse ranking. But the lack of RBI ranks him outside of the top 100 hitters, and he still has no home runs to date. Let’s hope that his power heats up along with the Kansas City weather. He’s an excellent buy-low candidate if you can get him for a player that was drafted in the middle rounds that is currently outperforming his draft ranking.”
– Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire)
Jarren Duran (OF – BOS)
“Jarren Duran is one of many fantasy managers could choose from as part of an underperforming Red Sox lineup early on. The outfielder has struggled to get on-base consistently, as evidenced by a 12.8% barrel rate and .691 xOPS and 16 strikeouts through 14 games. Hopefully, Duran can return to the dynamic option manager Alex Cora relied on as recently as 2025.”
– Chris Schommer (FantasyPros)
Which underperforming pitcher are you most worried about? Why?
Logan Webb (SP – SF)
“Logan Webb thrived on Patrick Bailey‘s framing pitches and umpires ringing up batters on borderline calls. With the ABS in place, Webb has had to go over the middle more often than not, and his fastball does not have the speed to overpower any hitter in the MLB. Logan Webb was the Greg Maddux of today’s baseball, painting corners, with ABS, an artist for a pitcher is not as much of an advantage as it once was showcased by Logan and his 5.25 ERA.”
– Muntradamus (Beast Dome)
“The underperforming pitcher that I am most worried about is Logan Webb. He’s showing inflated ERA (3.22 –> 5.25) and WHIP (1.24 –> 1.38) compared to last season. Opposing hitters are making harder contact than usual with an average exit velocity of 91.5 MPH and a hard hit rate of 46%. Webb’s sinker location seems to be off, and his changeup command is not sharp yet. I would hold on to Webb, but fantasy managers may want to consider benching him in tough matchups until his ERA and WHIP stabilize.”
– Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire)
Bubba Chandler (SP – PIT)
“Bubba Chandler has the tools to be a frontline starter at some point, but it may not happen this season. His command troubles that kept him in the minors for most of last season are back, as he’s posting a 19% walk rate and 26.7% CSW that is below league average. It’s hard to believe he’s overachieving with an xBA that is 44 points higher than his actual BAA and a .368 xwOBA that is 33 points higher than his wOBA. There may be flashes of dominance, but expect more inconsistency than anything.”
– Pierre Camus (Fantasy Endgame)
“Technically, Bubba Chandler has a 3.68 ERA. However, it’s the 1.57 WHIP and 12 BB in 14 IP that have me concerned. This is nothing new for Chandler, who struggled most of last summer in AAA with control issues. Chandler’s inefficiencies haven’t cratered him yet, but I want to emphasize the “yet”. His xERA is 5.60 and a stark reminder that velo isn’t everything. I’d be looking to unload Chandler in redraft leagues. ”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)
Eury Perez (SP – MIA)
“In a coin flip between Garrett Crochet and Eury Perez, the latter won because I think he is much further away from what we expected him to be. The 23-year-old has an ERA of 5.40 and a WHIP of 1.55, which are basically a must-bench in 12-team, H2H leagues. His expected numbers don’t show much hope, with an xERA of 5.12 and an xFIP of 5.04. His K-BB% is a disastrous 9.9%. Outside of a 7-inning QS against Colorado to open the season, he has gone only 4 innings in two of his last three starts. His Location+ metrics are all below average, and he is struggling mightily with locating his fastball. I am attempting to sell low for almost any return because he will be on the drop list come May if this doesn’t improve.”
– Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)
“Eury Perez – Part of the worry is from the sky-high expectations with minimal results, but beyond short sample sizes, there are some trends that are a concern. Perez’s command is tanking. He currently has an 85 Location+ on FanGraphs, which is awful. That has manifested into an over 12% walk rate. When he is throwing it in the zone, it’s getting hammered. He is giving up a 17% barrel percentage, which is awful, and he has a 95% meatball swing %, which is essentially the metric that shows he is getting hammered when he throws in the zone. His stuff is still there, luckily, and I am not entertaining drops or anything, but these trends are very worrisome and have recalibrated expectations for the near future.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)
Yusei Kikuchi (SP – LAA)
“Yusei Kikuchi looks like a problem through four starts, sitting at a 7.50 ERA and 1.89 WHIP while averaging just 4.5 innings per outing. The underlying numbers are just as shaky — a .404 BABIP suggests some bad luck, but a 45.8% hard-hit rate and consistently loud contact point to hitters really squaring him up. The strikeouts and FIP still hint at some buy-low appeal, but it’s hard to ignore how quickly innings can unravel when the command isn’t there. He’s not a full panic drop yet, but the profile absolutely demands caution.”
– Dennis Sosic (Fantasy Six Pack)
Nathan Eovaldi (SP – TEX)
“Outside of Garrett Crochet, I’m not overly concerned about many starting pitchers this early in the season. My expectations for the SP class were low, and early on, most have overperformed. However, Nathan Eovaldi has me worried. Eovaldi is a pitcher that owners drafted late with hopes that he could be a guy who made a decent Fantasy rotation a better one, at a cheap draft-night cost. So far, he has been a starter who has cost you early-season wins in head-to-head formats due to a bloated 5.40 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. Eovaldi has always been a bit of an enigma. A hard-throwing righty who, early in his career with the Miami Marlins, had K/9’s in the sixes and sevens. Eovaldi has only had one season in which he pitched over 100 innings and struck out a batter per. For an upper 90’s/100+ MPH flame thrower, that’s always struck me as odd. In 2026, he’s on pace for the best K/9 of his career, currently sitting impressively at 10.80. And yet, many of his underlying metrics are the worst of his career. His HR/9 (1.66), BB/9 (2.91), GroundBall% (50.8%), and HR/FlyBall% (19%) are all career worsts in ’26. Add up all those metrics, and you have an ERA of 5.84, an xERA of 3.84, a FIP of 4.27, and an xFIP of 3.20. A pitcher that is getting more swings and misses than he ever has is also allowing more hard contact, more home runs, subsequently more earned runs allowed, and he’s also walking more batters too. Feels to me like he’s overthrowing and struggling with command. An easy fix? Maybe… but concerning for a guy aging with a cannon still attached to his right shoulder. Owners weren’t relying on Eovaldi to be their ace, but he could have been a back-of-the-rotation guy who was their MVP. So far, not so good.”
– Chris Mitchell (FantasyData)
Tatsuya Imai (SP – HOU)
“Tatsuya Imai has failed to live up to the pre-season hype as the prized free-agent signing to fix an underwhelming Houston rotation. The right-hander posted an 11.42 BB/9 and 7.27 H/9 ratio while also posting a .368 BABIP prior to being placed on the injured list due to a tired arm. Fantasy managers can only hope the rookie can turn things around and work out his command issues to return to their good graces moving forward.”
– Chris Schommer (FantasyPros)
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