The Sucks at Baseball List

A dive into the players who are hurting you and simply suck at baseball

LAB REPORTS

By: The Lab

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A dive into the players who are hurting you and simply suck at baseball

Allow me to introduce myself as I am new here at The Lab but not new to fantasy sports. My name is Charles Kangas affectionately known as The Fantasy Superhero “The KANGASMAN” and no I did not give myself that name. A fun story I was nicknamed KANGASMAN when interacting with a fantasy legend on X and his name is Howard Bender. This is for you Howard! So more about me I am 35 and have been playing fantasy sports since I was 11 years old. I was in love with it right from the start and as I transitioned into adulthood I started playing for higher stakes. I am completely self taught as over my 24 years of playing I didn’t have access to a lot of help when I started out. I had to learn, fail, and win on my own for a long time, but as I’ve gotten older I have recognized that sometimes we all need a little help. I am a die hard Cleveland fan, especially the Guardians, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. I have a fiery personality so while I may not always have the professional response, it does come from a good place, and ultimately I just want to help people like myself. That’s why I’m here now at The Lab and that’s why if you stick with me you’ll win championships.

The first article I bring you is what will be known as my “Sucks at Baseball List” a list of players who simply aren’t good at baseball and are hurting your fantasy team. How this idea came about is around 2024 my Cleveland Guardians were in a transition to a new manager and giving a bunch young guys chances to play. When some of those players were simply bad or just weren’t living up to previous hyped I labeled them as sucky players. Thus the ”Sucks at Baseball List” was born and Ive been tweeting it out specifically for my team. However, I believe that if I did this with all 30 major league teams I can help fantasy players avoid these guys before, during, and after the season. This will be a series as I take a division by division look at least one pitcher and one hitter, who in my eyes, sucks at baseball. This will be backed by research on their outlying statistics and some advanced metrics with uses of websites like fangraphs, baseball savant, and statmuse. Since it is so late in the season and fantasy playoffs are coming up soon I will look at how these players performed in July and how I see them moving foward with their overall numbers. My first division to explore will be the AL East as I started from the top of the division and worked my way down to last place. Because obviously the winning teams will be the hardest to find a player that is not doing well but it could lead to some names you didn’t expect to see.

Without further ado the 2026 Sucks at Baseball List: AL East Edition:

Our first stop brings us to the first place Tampa Bay Rays where they have played spectacular team ball this year. However there are a couple guys on their team right now who should either be benched or just avoided in your leagues. Down the stretch I don’t believe these players can help you finish the job and that takes us to our first player.

He was recently acquired at the deadline by the Rays as they looked for some more pitching to give their team more punch. The numbers for this player will reflect 5 starts he made from 7/6/2026 to his first start with the Rays on 8/4/2026. I excluded his start on 7/1/2026 as when I dove in I was only looking at his last 5 starts. The savant stats you will see will be based on his entire 2026 season and here we are:

Freddy Peralta makes the list as in his last 5 starts he has a record of 0-2 and 3 no decisions where he only went more than 5 innings once. A SP needs at least 5 to be considered for a win, an important category in most Fantasy Baseball leagues. An ERA of 7.77 he allowed 32 hits, 22 runs, 19 Earned Runs, 11 BB and 24 SO. In every start during this time frame he never went over 6 SO another important category in fantasy. A pitcher known for being able to strike out batters, not doing what he is known for is concerning, so I took a look at his page on baseball savant and fangraphs. Per fan graphs he has a FIP of 6.09 which measures a pitchers effectiveness based only on statistics that do not involve fielders. Removing human error from the equation to see how they are really pitching and Peralta’s was not good. Per baseball savant it showed an xERA of 3.92, xBA of .239, chase % of 45, whiff % of 59, and a k% of 43. All stats in the blue not in the red where you want to see it for players. Translation he’s giving up hits, letting runs cross the plate, batters are not whiffing on his pitches often nor chasing that often, and he’s not getting SOs. Freddy Peralta you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition! He should be avoided and benched the rest of the way in favor of other SP’s or streaming SP’s.

The hitter I chose, and there really wasn’t much to choose from, because the most important guys like Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz are doing what they’re supposed to be doing carrying the teams offense. Here we go… Cedric Mullins you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List in 2026: AL East Edition! Once a player who could provide you with pop and speed he has not been doing that much over the month of july. His ownership numbers are low so I’m kind of stating the obvious, but he’s not someone you want to grab for cheap speed and power down the stretch.

The numbers: In the month of July, where he couldnt even hit above the Mendoza line, as he hit .190, 15 H, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 11 R, 3 SB, and only 9 XBH. The top two OF’s in the month of July hit 16 XBH, and those were Pete Crow-Armstrong , a fantasy staple, and Heriberto Hernandez who has turned it up this year. On fangraphs it showed a BABIP of only .189 for Mullins and an xwOBA of .212. BABIP measures the hitters batting average strictly on balls in play while xwOBA measures the quality of a hitter‘s contact or pitcher’s allowed contact. Translation he’s not making contact very often thus he is not hitting which is of no help to you and your teams AVG, HR, R, or SB’s ratios. Reminders these are just July’s stats. So I took a deeper dive into his overall numbers on baseball savant during the 2026 season and it showed: an xwOBA of .251, xBA of .190, xSLG of .297, Barrel % of 3.8, Hard-Hit % of 31.3, and LA Sweet-Spot % of 25.8. He’s not hitting, hitting hard, not barreling up the ball, and does not do a thing when it’s in his sweet spot often enough. Cedric Mullins sucks at baseball and you should avoid him at all costs down the stretch!

Now we head up north to New York City and the Bronx Bombers who have not been bombing anything much since they lost Aaron Judge. Admittedly the pitching was the more difficult spot to find a player simply because they have 4 starters who are all aces or ace level in their own right. Particularly with the emergence of Cam Schlittler this season and the return of a Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. Without further ado your Yankee pitcher and hitter that suck at baseball are Will Warren and Jazz Chisholm:

Will Warren in July made 6 starts where he went 1-2 with 3 of those starts under 6 innings pitched. Posting a 5.47 ERA, 25 SO, 7 BB, allowing 27 H, 15 R, 6 HR, and a FIP of 5.20. Savant showed some concerning spots in his game so far in 2026: an xERA of 4.51, xBA of .267, a Chase % of 28.3, Whiff % of 22.3, and K % of 23. He’s not pitching well and pitching to a lot of contact without true SO stuff and July just further proved this point. Do not start Will Warren down the stretch as he seems to have run out of luck and gone cold at the exact wrong time for fantasy owners. Will Warren you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition!

Jazz Chisholm for a guy who talked about hitting 50 HRs and stealing 50 vases before the season he has surely underperformed. Furthermore, he has not even given us his usual production all season and July was no different: A .234/.286/.442 slash line, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 18 H, 6 SB, and only 8 XBH. Per fangraphs in the month of July he had a K % of 38.1, a BB% of 7.1, and BABIP of .333 so he’s striking out a lot and not hitting. Savant showed some concerning 2026 numbers in that he has a xwOBA of .288, xBA of .209, xSLG of .366, Barrel % of 9.2, Hard-Hit % of 42.2, and his LA Sweet-Spot % of 27.9 for 2026. Drop him now it is safe to do so because he has shown no signs of coming out of a massively down season. Jazz Chisholm you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition!

Now let’s head to their rivals over in Boston who have been on absolute heater and pushed themselves into playoff position. This was very hard as this team has been so good of late it was hard to find someone on the team who could qualify for this list. Pitching injuries and just consistent pitching from the healthy guys made me unable to find someone who deserved to be on this list. Maybe there is someone in the bullpen that does but outside of Saves, or if your leagues tracks Holds or S/H does not make much of impact to your fantasy teams. However, there was one hitter who has been so frustrating that when offered Otto Lopez for him, my 1st and 3rd picks for 2027, and him I took the deal so fast. That team is finally competing after some tough rebuilding and retooling and Jarren Duran was initially apart of that but I could no longer tolerate his under performanice. It also helped that I had recently picked up some good young OF to go with my top guys of Julio Rodriquez, Fernando Tatis, Yordan Alvarez, and an injured Ryan O’hearn.

That’s neither here nor there though and without wasting anymore of your time here are Duran‘s numbers in July: a .210/.277/.284 slash line with 1 HR, 17 RBI, 8 R, 17 H, 3 SB, and only 3 XBH. Fangraphs showed a BABIP of .262, K % of 24.2, and BB % of 8.4 for the month of July. His 2026 Savant was not much better as he has an xwOBA OF .297, xBA of .233, xSLG of .383, Barrel % of 10.2, Hard-Hit % of 38.5, and LA Sweet-Spot % of 31.4

Translation if you can move him like I did or find someone better move up because he’s not making Fetch happen! It’s never gonna happen! Jarren Duran you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition!

We move on to the state and city known for its Blue Crab and boy is it delicious! Side note if you can ever catch a game at Camden Yards in Baltimore you have to try the Crab Mac & Cheese Dog. A phenomenal hot dog that was recommended to me and it did not disappoint. Onward we go to the players in Orioles uniforms who suck at baseball as we pick on the injured Chris Bassitt and Superstar young SS Gunnar Henderson. Yeah that’s right I said it Gunnar Henderson sucks at baseball… at least he does in 2026 he does!

So with that glowing profile let’s explore Gunnar Henderson first, his month of July, and his 2026 savant numbers: In July Gunnar posted a slash line of .189/..264/.326, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 15 R, 18 H, 2 SB, and 7 XBH as fangraphs also showed a BABIP of .235, K % of 24.5, and BB % 6.6… NOT GOOD BOB NOT GOOD! His savant in 2026 left little to be desired with an xwOBA of .309, xBA of .239, xSLG .386, a Barrel % of 7.1, Hard-Hit % of 45.2, and LA Sweet-Spot % of 30.1 WOOF! For a guy that was a top pick at the SS position in drafts he’s just simply not performing. If you‘re in Dynasty and competing try to flip him for another productive young cat and maybe to the last place teams in your redraft leagues who haven’t quit and will bank on his upside. Gunnar Henderson you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition!

Let’s move on to Chris Bassitt who should already be off your teams but just in case you are holding him, once he returns from the IL, and hoping to get a few good starts by him down the stretch. You won’t and here’s why starting with his 6 start stretch from May 5 to June 3 before he went on the IL: 6 starts, 5.08 ERA, a 2-2 record, 28.1 IP, 20 SO, 8 BB, giving up 32 H, 16 R, 3 HR, had 3 starts under 5 IP, and a 4.43 FIP. His savant showed an xERA of 5.05, xBA of .284, Whiff % of 21.2, K % of 19.2, and BB % of 8.4 for 2026. He was not pitching well before he was hurt and there’s no reason to target him if and when he comes back for a team that will not make the playoffs. Chris Bassitt you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition!

Finally we head north of the border to the defending AL Champs the Toronto Blue Jays and our friends in Canada are not having fun. Two players stood out and they are both young guys who have been productive fantasy assets. SP Trey Yesavage and 1B and son to a hall of fame OF Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who have both just not been up to snuff and/or dealing with injuries this season. It certainly has not been a Viva La Razza kind of year for Geurrero Jr as we dive into his July and savant stats of 2026:

Slash line of .256/.333/.395 2 HR, 10 RBI, 10 R, 22 H, 1 SB, and 8 XBH in the month of July with fangraphs showing a BABIP of .290, K % of 20.8, and BB % of 10.4… um yikes! He has not been the same player since he hit 48 HR’s in a season but this year it’s definite new low. His savant for 2026 showed an xwOBA .338, xBA of .285, xSLG of .405, Barrel % of 6.9, Hard-Hit % of 43.7, and LA Sweet-Spot % of 29.6… thinking maybe he should lay-off the poutine for awhile. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition!

Trey Yesavage not much of a savage this year like he was in the 2025 playoffs and maybe that’s just young growing pains with his first full season and all. He has looked good at times but multiple trips to the IL and his month of July tell a different story: 5 starts, 24.1 IP, 2 starts under 5 IP, a 4.81 ERA, 1-2 w/l, 30 SO, 15 BB, 17 H, 14 R, 13 ER, 4 HR, and a 4.61 FIP. His savant in 2026 was nothing to write home about with an xERA of 3.35, xBA of .200, Whiff % 30, K% of 23.6, and BB % of 23.6... not the pitcher we all thought we were drafting in March. Trey Yesavage you sir have made the Sucks at Baseball List 2026: AL East Edition!

Best advice for these 2 players in a dynasty league maybe trade them for some more productive Vets with some upside to your league mates who aren’t competing and need some high upside young plays. In redraft well I wish you good luck because injuries at SP have been horrendous this year and 1B is probably mostly dry.

There you have it my Sucks at Baseball List 2026 for the AL East. Watch out for this new series, as I will dive into every division and all 30 MLB teams, and give you my Sucks at Baseball List 2026. You’ll be able to find all my content on getinsidethelab.com and can follow me on X at KANGASMAN_FS where I’m happy to answer any question you may have.

By: KANGASMAN

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