5 Hitters Who Need a Second-Half Turnaround the Most

This season has seen both remarkable breakouts and slumps from players who have looked like completely different versions of themselves, whether for better or worse. Year after year, we witness all the highs and lows that come with the game of baseball, and the 2026 season has been filled with stories of both resurgence and decline.

Several teams have certainly underperformed expectations this season, and a few star hitters are at the center of their teams’ lack of success. A batter can only represent one out of nine spots in the batting order, but if that one batter goes from being one of the league’s best run producers to a mere replacement-level hitter, that difference is monumental.

There are many players whose production at the plate may be rather insignificant or lost upon a star-studded lineup like those of the Dodgers, Braves, or Brewers, as they lead their respective divisions.

However, this piece will highlight some of the superstar talents that have regressed below the league average and haven’t looked like themselves in the slightest – harming their clubs in the process.

Here are the five hitters who desperately need to turn their seasons around in the second half. Their teams are begging that they will.

Stats updated prior to games on July 21.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays

When discussing underperforming superstar hitters in the 2026 season, the first name on everyone’s mind should be Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays.

In 2025, he led the team to Game 7 of the World Series and had one of the greatest postseason performances of all time with a .397/.494/.795 slash line, eight home runs, 15 RBI, and 29 hits, putting an ALCS MVP Award on his mantle.

So far through 95 games in 2026, Vladdy is slashing a mere .259/.342/.353 with just six home runs, 41 RBI, and a 96 wRC+ while being on pace for a season that would be head-and-shoulders worse than his career-lows.

His lack of power at the plate is seemingly unexplainable, and he hasn’t hit a home run in Toronto yet this season. It’s hard to imagine that he’s a year removed from one of the most impressive postseasons in franchise history, and Blue Jays fans are hoping he can find himself again soon before the season ends.

Toronto is 46-54 through their first 100 games, and they’ve never made the playoffs in franchise history in a season in which they went below .500 through their first 100 games. It’s looking more and more like the Jays will have to sell at the trade deadline this year, and one can only hope that this is just an unlucky performance that won’t start to become the new normal for Vladdy.

Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

As one of the most exciting young players in baseball over the last couple of years, Jackson Merrill was a standout performer for the Padres. In 2026, however, he’s completely transformed for the worse at the plate.

In each of his first two seasons in MLB, Merrill reached and/or exceeded the following marks: 115 wRC+, 25 doubles, .770 OPS, 65 RBI, and 3.0 fWAR.

This year, Merrill has recorded career-lows in all aspects of his triple-slash line (.219/.275/.359) with 12 home runs, 42 RBI, and a 76 wRC+. The Padres won at least 90 games in each of the first two seasons of Merrill’s career, but they’re on pace for just 79 as of games on July 20. Merrill’s been incredible on the bases, succeeding on 20 out of 22 stolen base opportunities, but his bat has been nearly invisible.

With many of his plate appearances coming in the second spot in San Diego’s order, they need him to return to his All-Star and Silver Slugger self from the last few seasons. The good news is that he’s incredibly young at just 23 years of age, and this could just be the first blip of adversity he’s faced at the MLB level.

In terms of the 2026 season, though, the Padres could really use his bat, especially when other stars like Fernando Tatis Jr. have had atypical seasons.

Bo Bichette, New York Mets

Nobody could’ve predicted how far the 2026 New York Mets have fallen following an offseason in which they acquired stars like Freddy Peralta, Marcus Semien, and Bo Bichette.

The Mets are 42-59 and sit 17 games back of the NL East with the second-worst record in the National League. While this could be chalked up to a lot of key players underperforming, Bichette’s three-year, $126 million deal is looking like a bust of a move at the moment.

Through 100 games, Bichette is slashing .256/.304/.375 with just 10 home runs, 51 RBI, an 89 wRC+, and just 1.0 fWAR. After he hit over .300 for the third time in his career in 2025 and posted a 134 wRC+ in a Blue Jays AL pennant-winning season, Bichette’s first season in Queens could not have gone worse. His -10 Batting Run Value ranks in the bottom ten percent of hitters, and his 39.6% chase rate and 6.5% walk rate have simply worsened from last season.

Bichette has all the talent to be one of the game’s best hitters, and the Mets know that, but with the team severely underperforming this year, there might be a lot of changes to be made going forward. Expect the Mets to be active in selling pieces at this season’s trade deadline, and although Bichette likely won’t be among the names moved, they desperately need his offensive production to return.

Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox

After three straight seasons of at least a 110 wRC+, 2.5 fWAR, 20 stolen bases, and a .750 OPS, Jarren Duran’s production has completely fallen off a cliff for the Boston Red Sox.

This seems the only apt description for this drop-off, since it’s as though he’s a completely different player this season. In 92 games, Duran has slashed .191/.254/.340 with 13 home runs, 49 RBI, a 59 wRC+, and exactly 0.0 fWAR.

Among all qualified hitters, Duran’s 0.24 walk-to-strikeout ratio is the 10th worst in baseball, and his .594 OPS is the worst in the entire American League. His +16 Batting Run Value from 2025 (77th percentile) has plummeted to -22 this season (1st percentile), which is by far the worst mark in the AL.

The Red Sox have had a difficult season, and Duran’s lack of production isn’t helping at all. He might not even be worth trading at the deadline because of how poor his performance has been.

Boston is six games back in the AL East and currently holds the final Wild Card spot in the American League thanks to their active and miraculous 14-game winning streak. Over these 14 games, Duran has a 56 wRC+ and just two extra-base hits to go along with a mediocre .167/.288/.262 slash line.

Because of this streak, it seems possible that the Red Sox might have a chance to chase a playoff spot in spite of Duran’s poor performance, but that just leaves more to be desired when it comes to the success he could bring to Boston if he figures it out at the plate.

Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles

From one AL East team to another, the Baltimore Orioles find themselves with a 49-52 record, putting them three games out of the final AL Wild Card spot.

Maintaining a record near .500 has been a testament to their ability to play without consistent production from their star shortstop, Gunnar Henderson. Henderson is certainly having a down season, following up his 120 wRC+ from last year with a mark of just 94 in 2026.

He’s already matched his 2025 home run total of 17, but it’s come at the expense of 50 fewer points of batting average, over 50 fewer points of on-base percentage, and a 2.5 mph decline in his average exit velocity.

Baltimore has performed decently this season and, at times, Henderson has shown flashes of his Rookie of the Year and MVP-vote-getting former self. However, they’ve been carried by other hitters, and Henderson has seemed overshadowed in a lineup where he should be the main attraction.

Baltimore has an interesting trade deadline ahead, and one could infer that if they could trade for Gunnar Henderson’s 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025 production, they’d do it in a heartbeat. He has the potential to help the team surge into a playoff spot for the first time since 2024, and his success at the plate is undoubtedly the key to unlocking this for them. Whether the Orioles compete down the stretch or not, Henderson will be an integral part of why either possibility becomes reality.