We’re about one week into the 2026 Major League Baseball season and it already has been a fun one.
There are a handful rookies tearing up right now already in the big leagues, including St. Louis Cardinals phenom JJ Wetherholt, Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle, New York Mets starter Nolan McLean and Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami, among others. There haven’t been a lot of surprises yet in the standings. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’ve looked good so far as they look to win their third straight World Series title. The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have been really good so far as well. Also, despite another offseason without a ton of additions — and after trading another key piece away in Freddy Peralta — the Milwaukee Brewers have picked up right where they left off.
It’s been a fun season in general. It’s obviously very early. Again, we’re not even one full week into the new season. But there have been a few stars who have uncharacteristically struggled to kick off the season.
Here are five Major League Baseball stars who would’ve preferred a better start to the 2026 campaign.
Aaron Judge — New York Yankees
Games: 4
Home Runs: 2
RBIs: 3
Doubles: 0
Slash Line: .188/.235/.563 with a .798 OPS
Breakdown: Judge has hit the ball out of the ballpark, but he’s just 3-for-16 on the season so far with eight strikeouts. The two home runs are good, but the strikeouts are high and he hasn’t been getting on base at the same rate. Last year, he finished the season with a .457 on-base percentage. In 2026 so far, his on-base percentage is .235.
Shohei Ohtani — Los Angeles Dodgers
Games: 4
Home Runs: 0
RBIs: 0
Doubles: 0
Slash Line: .167/.412/.167 with a .578 OPS
Breakdown: Ohtani has been getting on base thanks to his four walks, but he’s 2-for-12 so far on the season without an extra-base hit. That’s almost shocking to right, even though it’s a small sample size.
Josh Naylor — Seattle Mariners
Games: 5
Home Runs: 0
RBIs: 0
Doubles: 0
Slash Line: .000/.136/.000 with a .136 OPS
Breakdown: Now, this isn’t what you expect to see from the one-time All-Star. Naylor is 0-for-19 on the season so far after landing a long-term deal with the Mariners this past offseason. Pretty surprising, to say the least.
Julio RodrÃguez — Seattle Mariners
Games: 5
Home Runs: 0
RBIs: 1
Doubles: 0
Slash Line: .053/.182/.053 with a .234 OPS.