Welcome back to Week 18 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 slow starts and subpar performance. This week, I’ll be breaking down three former early round selections… all extremely popular players (roster rate 90% or above) who haven’t produced up to par in the month of July.
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.
Mookie Betts, UTL, Los Angeles Dodgers
Mookie… what’s going on, man? Overall, Betts hasn’t been himself at all this year, carrying a .240/.313/.372 slash line with a 92 wRC+ into the trade deadline. His BABIP (.246) is noticeably over fifty points under his career average and nearly every category is regressing. The bad news is, he’s only gotten worse this month, turning in a 64 wRC+ with a raised K%.
Betts has never posted an OPS under .800, let alone .700, nor has finished with a negative WPA in his career… he’s on pace to have both right now.
Verdict: panic. I can’t believe I pulled the trigger, but here we are. In deeper leagues, I think you could attempt to hold onto him a little longer, but if you have better options it’s probably wise you roll with those right now. It’s been “now or never” with Betts for quite some time, and he hasn’t even shown flashes of him returning to form recently. He’s been a subpar bat without question for nearly a 100 game sample size… regardless of what the name may tell you, I think enough is enough for now.
Shota Imanaga, LHP, Chicago Cubs
Imanaga, 31, has put together such an odd season in Chicago, posting a great 3.12 ERA through 78 innings, but also sporting a 4.70 FIP/4.87 xFIP thanks to a massive regression in the strikeout department (25% K rate cut down to 17% this year).
Verdict: patience, mostly. I was kind of in between here. I looked ahead and saw that the Cubs mainly have a very easy schedule remaining, which made this decision a lot easier. The FIP increasing over a run since last year is certainly scary. This decision all hinges on the Ks… can he start to punch out more batters and get the K/9 closer to his previous year’s total (9.0) instead of being well below average (6.3).
James Wood, OF, Washington Nationals
The 22-year-old blossoming superstar has put up a 3.3 fWAR and .869 OPS prior to August, but has really struggled to put together a solid string of performances after the All-Star Break. He’s gone 4-for-35 (.114) with a diabolical 45% K rate since entering the Home Run Derby, including TEN strikeouts in his last three games. Not ideal.
Verdict: patience. I’m not worried one bit about Wood’s struggles here. The “post-derby struggle” narrative is ironic, but I don’t think that’s the case… in fact, he really hasn’t hit the ball in the air at all. He’s still making extremely hard contact, walking at a good rate, and while the K% is certainly up there, he’s been a high strikeout rate player all year. It’s not worth moving on from Wood after a few poor performances. He just needs to start elevating the ball again.
Photo courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X)
