Welcome back to Week Eight 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. We have a returning guest this week, so let’s welcome back…
Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Detroit Tigers
May has been a downturn in a streaky season for Spencer Torkelson. He was featured in our Week Two edition in early April, which came with a recommendation to wait it out. Managers were rewarded with a .247 average and five home runs in April. However, it’s been a difficult May so far for Torkelson, hitting just .135 with one home run and a 42.6% strikeout rate. Will the back-and-forth trend continue in June with a monster offensive month?
While a bit streaky on a day-to-day basis, Torkelson has developed a fairly consistent profile throughout his career when you look at larger sample sizes. In fact, this season doesn’t look much different than what managers have seen from him in the past.
The biggest difference here is the sharp drop-off in batting average. While almost 50 points lower than last year, the xBA is much closer together, suggesting batted-ball luck is providing most of that gap. In 2025, Torkelson had a .226 xBA compared to a .215 xBA so far this season. The strikeout rate is a huge concern for managers in points leagues, where Torkelson is not worth holding in formats where strikeouts are punished. However, in category leagues, the decision to wait or drop is more nuanced. Torkelson is playing mostly to the level of his career numbers so far in 2026, about 25-30 HR and an average in the low .200s. Expect his .196 average to creep back up 20 points or so, but not to 2025 levels, which makes him a cut candidate in 10-team leagues and a matchup play in 12-team leagues.
Verdict: Panic
Brandon Nimmo, OF, Texas Rangers
It’s also been a rough May for Brandon Nimmo, hitting just .208 with no home runs and only one RBI while hitting second in the Rangers’ lineup. Expect Nimmo to retain his position near the top of the order. There have been some injury scares this month, with a hamstring injury keeping him out of two games and an ankle sprain knocking him out of a game early a week later. While the results haven’t been there, very little in Nimmo’s underlying metrics suggests a dip in form due to injury or otherwise.
Not only is there minimal decline in the last three weeks, but Nimmo’s quality of contact has been excellent to start 2026. He’s in the 80th percentile or better in several predictive and power statistics, such as xwOBA, xSLG, hard-hit rate, and average exit velocity. Best of all, his xBA is 94th percentile, a .294 average, suggesting his .267 season average could improve with some better batted-ball luck. This is a textbook “trust the process” recommendation for all Nimmo managers and an alert for all non-Nimmo managers. Buy now if you can. The Rangers play 12 of their next 15 games beginning Tuesday against pitching staffs allowing a wOBA of .331 or higher vs LHH this season, which ranks 9th-worst in MLB.
Verdict: Patience
Cam Smith, OF, Houston Astros
With Jose Altuve going to the IL with a Grade 2 oblique strain, Cam Smith will get a longer runway of starts to try to straighten out a frustrating start to the season. Smith has shown all the tools necessary to be an impact player for both the Astros and fantasy teams. His 95th percentile sprint speed has already translated into six stolen bases, and a 98th percentile bat speed has contributed to four home runs. The problem for the 23-year-old is consistency of contact.
Despite a good 13.6% barrel rate, Smith’s average exit velocity is under 90 mph, indicating a lot of weak contact as well, and an all-or-nothing profile so far. Put altogether, Smith has an xBA of .245, almost 50 points higher than the .196 he sees on the scoreboard. In fact, that gap makes Smith the 14th unluckiest qualified hitter according to Baseball Savant. His excellent glove will keep him in the lineup for the time being, granting him time for his batted ball luck to potentially catch up to the underlying metrics.
His combination of power and speed is difficult to find in deeper leagues, so it’s worth a flier on Smith to try and capture a potential breakout. If he continues to struggle, the 19-29 Astros will likely demote him, making the decision easy for fantasy managers on when to find other options. The upside is worth the gamble for what could be a .250 hitter with 15-15 potential the rest of the way.
Verdict: Patience
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X)
