Welcome back to Week 22 of our Patience or Panic series, where we take a look at three struggling players and provide recommendations on how you should react to their middling seasons and subpar performance. This week, I’ll be breaking down three star players who, at one point, were tearing the league apart but have fallen off quite a bit since.
As always, feel free to let us know in the comments or by tagging us on social media what players you would like to see us focus on in the future! Let’s dive right in.
Framber Valdez, LHP, Houston Astros
Valdez, 31, has enjoyed another sensational year with Houston, turning in a 3.32 ERA/3.08 FIP 157.1 innings. However, he’s been awful since the calendar flipped to August, turning in the second-worst qualified ERA over that span. His Ks are down by a significant rate, walks are up, and the WHIP has skyrocketed thanks to allowing a hit nearly every three ABs.
Verdict: patience. Valdez has been bad without a doubt, but there is some context missing. He’s faced three quality teams in the month of August that have made him pay for his mistakes — the Tigers, Yankees, and Red Sox. Notably, all of these starts have been on the road where he’s been significantly worse (3.43 FIP, 1.32 WHIP, 12% K-BB) than at home (2.72 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 19% K-BB). While damage is being done — 21 runs (19 earned) in 23.2 innings this month is absurd — his hard hit, barrel, aEV, nor walk rates have increased all that much. He’s only allowed one HR as well.
The major difference in Valdez’s August has been subpar command and pitch-ability — an 88 Location+ grade (via FanGraphs) and 97 Pitching+ is well below his season average of 103 and 113, respectively. Not to mention his curveball, his second-best offering that’s turned in a .176 xBA, .249 xwOBA, and 44% whiff rate on 33% usage in 2025, has been his least valuable offering. The sinker (.419 BAA, .422 xwOBA) hasn’t been as good either, thanks to a step back in location. These are very easy things to fix, especially for a stud veteran that may get upwards of $200 million in free agency this offseason. I have all the confidence in the world that Valdez will turn things around.
Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Chicago Cubs
“PCA” was showered with all the hype in the first half — he was a borderline NL MVP candidate, really — but has since really seen his production fall off a cliff. The youngster boasts a spectacular 5.4 fWAR season thanks to elite defense, but is now slashing just .254/.294/.508 thanks to being (literally) the worst qualified hitter in the month of August. It’s been a tough watch to say the least…
Verdict: panic. With fantasy playoffs rapidly approaching, I’m not sure you can sit there with an abundant amount of potential outfield depth available and not do something about PCA. He’s a streaky high chase / whiff bat that hasn’t been himself lately, and the underlying stuff doesn’t help his case. His inability to hit fastballs has really started to show this month (.111 AVG, .259 SLG) and he’s whiffing at a 39% clip against breaking balls. If you have the ability to bench/stash him, I’d go that route only because of how dynamic he can be when he’s on. But until he shows me something, especially with his process decaying at a rapid pace (see: image below), action needs to be taken.
OF Pete Crow-Armstrong’s Rolling Process+
Joe Ryan, RHP, Minnesota Twins
Ryan, 29, has put together yet another fabulous campaign, turning in a 3.22 ERA/3.37 FIP with a minuscule 5% BB rate and sub-1 WHIP through 148 innings. He’s elite! However, he has been getting knocked around this month.
Verdict: patience. This one’s a layup if we’re being honest. Ryan has consistently been a top 5-10 starting pitcher in baseball all year long… a little rough patch shouldn’t change that. The ERA is pretty inflated due to back-to-back starts of 5+ ER (8/1 – 8/13: 2.04 ERA, 0.92 WHIP; 8/14-on: 11.00 ERA, 1.78 WHIP)… he’s only given up 5+ ER in a start once more this entire year. Yes, he’s been a little HR-prone of late leading to the bump in ERA, but he’s still going to win you some categories, be a QS candidate, and maintain a good WHIP. He’s a good bet moving forward regardless of the intensity of your league.
Photo courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X)
