Taking a different approach to the Sunday edition to see if it sticks. I want to write one larger piece rather than a sectioned off style most of the others have been. Here we go.

We are quickly approaching the point of the season where it stops being “Slow Start” territory, and enters into a real cause for concern

I saw a great post highlighting the worst players so far as we’ve past the 2 week mark:

I wanted to pick the 5 on here that I think are not just speed bumps, but are showing legitimate signs that this is going to be a LONG year

HM: Marcell Ozuna

So look. I fucking hate this guy. He’s a dirtbag of a human —a woman beater and a drunk — he’s washed up physically… there’s very little in the “redeeming qualities” category for Ozuna.

But dammit I don’t really have a lot on his profile that says he terrifies me long term. His approach is more or less fine. He’s not chasing, pretty average in the whiff and walks category. 70th Percentile bat speed. He’s just starting slow.

On the Pirates broadcast it was mentioned in his 2024, 39 HR season, he started 5-59… so at least Pirates fans have SOMETHING to hope on.

Pick #5 — Jose Caballero

If Yankees fans were told before the season that they’d be BEGGING for the return of Anthony Volpe, they’d either call you a liar or tell you that there’s no possible way it’s that bad… but it is.

Caballero is putting up a special level of ineffective right now.

He is one of the worst 15 qualifiers in Hard Hit % powered by his 12th Percentile Bat speed. But he’s compounding that by not driving the ball → he had one of the 5 worst Squared-Up% in all of baseball.

Not only all of that, but he is struggling in the field with his 13th percentile OAA (Outs Above Average) too.

To boot, the left side of the Yankees infield is also dealing with Ryan McMahon who just missed this list. He’s repping the 7th worst strikeout rate in baseball right now, as well as a bottom 5 xSLG in the sport.

This team needs Volpe back and soon.

Pick #4 — Isaac Collins

Sometimes in these early lists you have to feature luck.

Take KeBryan Hayes. He stinks and likely should have made this top 5. But his approach has been more or less fine and luck just isn’t going his way. He has a .132 wOBA but compared to his xwOBA of .309, he’s one of the 3 most unlucky hitters in the sport at the moment.

Isaac Collins is the opposite of that. He’s in the 25 most lucky hitters in the sport his already mediocre .289 wOBA is actually 44 points higher than his xwOBA of .255!

He’s not giving bad at bats necessarily. He doesn’t chase, he commands the zone quite well. But he just WHIFFS. 25th Percentile leading to 11th Percentile strikeout rate.

He’s also putting up one of the 8 worst defensive performances by OAA in all of baseball and has an inaccurate wet noodle for an arm (13th Percentile Arm value)

The Royals are fighting for the AL Central this year — but THIS is what your only offensive addition of the offseason was?

Brutal.

Pick #3 — Caleb Durbin

I’ve piled on Red Sox fans a lot for this brutal start. But I have to continue kicking while you’re down right now.

Durbin is a microcosm of everything wrong with what the Red Sox front office has done for the last couple seasons.

He is an undersized player with awful bat speed (4th Percentile) who got quite lucky while pulling in plenty of Brew Crew Voodoo in 2025.

He is bottom 5 Perentile in all of xwOBA, xSLG, Barrel Rate, and Exit Velocity — and he also isn’t generating walks.

It’s been brutal process. Directly in the Durbin trade you arguably gave up the best player in the deal in Harrison, and the infielder you moved for Durbin — David Hamilton — is outperforming him right now.

But probably worse than that, the position has gone from Rafael Devers to Alex Bregman (skipped over Nick Yorke, who is playing quite well for the Pirates, by trading him for one start of Quinn Priester) now to Durbin.

A disaster by just about every metric

Pick #2 — Josh Jung

The Rangers are deep in the battle for what is bound to be a wild wild AL West division race.

But they are getting NO help from Josh Jung at the moment.

The 3B doesn’t have a single barrel in the 2026 season. He’s only scored twice, and he’s been a liability in the field (6th Percentile OAA) and on the base paths (23rd Percentile Speed).

He has one of the 15 worst chase rates in the sport which is driving his 16th Percentile Walk Rate. His bat speed is still low, and hasn’t bounced back from his pre-injury 2024 season speeds. All but one of his hits have been infield singles and he’s continuing to be a bottom quartile player at lifting the baseball to the pull side.

The Rangers should have moved on from him this offseason while they had the chance.

Pick #1 — Nolan Arenado

Look what they’ve done to my boy… Arenado is one of the all time greats, but father time always wins eventually.

The man has been on a downward trend for some time but I think it has officially hit the bottom.

The athleticism is just gone.

The Platinum Glove mainstay is down to a 21st Percentile OAA, he has a 12th Percentile Sprint Speed, and the bat speed is all the way down into the 39th Percentile.

He is one of a few players without a single ‘Barrel’ this season. He’s Bottom 10 Percentile in all of: Hard Hit%, Exit Velo, xSLG, and xwOBA.

His approach isn’t even good right now. He’s 4th Percentile in walks drawn on top of mostly 30th Percentiles in all K/Whiff/Chase related categories

Statcast has him with the 3rd longest swing in the sport, and Cup of Coffee has him as longest in the tooth.

Hope to see you in Cooperstown buddy… ‘there goes my hero’ plays us out