By the middle of June, it’s safe to say that what we’re seeing from MLB teams and players is real. Aaron Judge hitting .400 is a real conversation, as is the Chicago Cubs having the best offense in baseball. Of course, the other side of that is that the bad starts to the season that haven’t leveled out are now officially at the point of concern.
Here are five players I’m worried about.
Luis Robert Jr., CF, Chicago White Sox
In a perfect world, Luis Robert Jr. would be crushing the ball for a young, rebuilding Chicago White Sox team that would have the best position player available at this year’s trade deadline. But this isn’t a perfect world, and pretty much the exact opposite has happened for Robert and the White Sox.
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Robert was supposed to be one of the biggest trade pieces at this year’s deadline, and with two reasonable club options in his contract after this season, Chicago would’ve had the makings of another big trade haul. But at this point, the chances of that happening this season seem pretty remote. Robert has looked lost at the plate thus far, slashing .185/.269/.303 in 61 games with a 31.1% strikeout rate. The 2023 All-Star’s power, which saw him hit 38 homers just two seasons ago, has vanished, as the center fielder has hit just six homers this year — and just one in his past 30 games. Things have been so bad that even he has talked about how unlikely it seems that he will be moved.
The White Sox’s center fielder is still above average defensively, but if that’s all a team is getting, it won’t make much sense to trade for this version of him. The Sox might be better served hoping for a bounce-back next season at a reasonable $20 million club option and trying to move Robert at the 2026 trade deadline.
Zac Gallen, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Zac Gallen has been one of baseball’s best pitchers since he was traded to the D-backs in 2019, but so far this season, he looks like a shell of his former self. Arizona’s ace has the fifth-highest ERA among qualified starting pitchers (5.14) and the fourth-most earned runs allowed (46). And it’s not just the numbers on the surface; Gallen’s peripherals have also been concerning. He has the lowest strikeout rate of his career, at 21.7%, and the highest walk rate since his rookie season in 2019 (10.4%).
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And of all the players on this list, Gallen has the most to lose. The Arizona right-hander will be a free agent at the end of 2025, and while he was…