Welcome back to Week Six 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. Are these slumps out of character for these players or is it part of their normal pattern we’ve come to expect?
Willy Adames, SS, San Francisco Giants
It’s his second year playing in San Francisco and the second straight year Willy Adames has gotten off to a slow start to begin the season. Only 9 of his 30 HR last year came before July 1, and only 2 of those were hit in March or April. Currently, Adames has just 3 HR and has been pushed down the lineup from 1st to 6th in the past week, hurting his chances of racking up counting stats. However, last season still ended up a success, so let’s see how the numbers compare at this time last year in some more categories.
The strikeout and walk rates have both gone in the wrong direction, which is likely why he’s fallen down the batting order in favor of better options to get on base, but when Adames makes contact the results are a slight improvement on last season. The entire Giants lineup has struggled to begin 2026, last as a team in both wRC+ (81) and xwOBA (.294). But, for Adames specifically, he’s not far away from where he was a year ago, and could be an excellent buy-low candidate with a long stretch of road games coming up. Beginning May 11, the Giants will be away from home for 20 of their next 26, including some very HR-friendly ballparks for Adames to take advantage of.
Verdict: Patience
Royce Lewis, 3B, Minnesota Twins
How many years removed from a successful run of form can you still consider a player to be a “bounce-back” candidate? This is the second straight season of hopeful Royce Lewis managers betting on him to turn back the clock, but he has been derailed by injuries throughout his career, and we largely haven’t seen that difference-making potential since 2024. Is it time to officially consider this the new normal? And if so, what does “normal” look like now?
The last 700-800 plate appearances have shown that Lewis is a league-average hitter at best, likely falling in that 15 HR, 10 SB range in most seasons, similar to his final tallies last year. Even at a thin 3B position, we’re so far removed from the upside Lewis was once capable of showing that it’s a better investment at this point to try and find that either a more consistent floor or higher upside somewhere else. Miguel Vargas and Isaac Paredes are more interesting options in shallower leagues, while Nolan Arenado or Casey Schmitt are better options more widely available in 12-team leagues.
Verdict: Panic
Ramón Laureano, OF, San Diego Padres
The year-to-date numbers for Ramón Laureano don’t look too bad, with 4 HR and 4 SB to go with a solid .710 OPS, but the last three series have been so ugly as to warrant some concern. He’s 4-for-27 during this stretch with 13 strikeouts, for a 40.6% strikeout rate. This is of course a small sample, just 8 games. However, coming into play on May 4, Laureano was the 4th biggest faller in xwOBA over his last 50 PA, per Statcast.
This should be a blip on the radar when we look back later in the season due to one strange trend that’s emerged for Laureano so far. He has reverse platoon splits. For his career, Laureano has a 123 wRC+ vs LHP and a 109 wRC+ against RHP, but this year the opposite is happening. In 30 PA against lefties in 2026, he has just a 38 wRC+, a trend unlikely to continue and reason enough to believe Laureano will recover from this sudden slump. Don’t let the small sample sizes fool you. This is still a good hitter worth rostering in one of your outfield spots.
Verdict: Patience
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Aaron Polcare (@abeardoesart on Bluesky and X)
