Can these struggling stars rebound for the stretch run?

We’ve entered the stretch run of the 2026 regular season and there are plenty of players that teams are counting on to get going.

Whether they are reigning MVP finalists, multi-time All-Stars or young stars not playing up to their career norms, there is no shortage of rebound candidates on contenders across the sport.

Here are 10 rebound candidates that contenders need to get going in the rest of the regular season.

The following numbers are entering Friday’s games.

Cal Raleigh, Mariners
2025 stats: .948 OPS, 60 HR, 9.1 WAR (per FanGraphs) in 159 G
2026 stats: .564 OPS, 12 HR, 0.6 WAR in 88 G

Stunningly, the Mariners rank last in the Majors in runs scored and their chances of making the playoffs seemingly diminish by the day. While it’s been a collective struggle for many Mariners hitters, no drop-off has been more dramatic than Raleigh’s. After slugging 60 homers and finishing second in AL MVP voting last year, Raleigh has experienced one of the largest year-to-year declines in MLB history and found himself batting eighth in Seattle’s lineup on Wednesday. If the Mariners want to turn their season around, they’ll need their star catcher to change course.

Kyle Tucker, Dodgers
2025 stats: .841 OPS, 22 HR, 4.5 WAR in 136 G
2026 stats: .712 OPS, 11 HR, 0.8 WAR in 116 G

Tucker was the Dodgers’ big offseason acquisition and it’s been a struggle for much of the year compared to his career norms. Through the end of July, Tucker was running a .702 OPS, a far cry compared to his career .847 OPS. The good news is Tucker has shown signs of life in August with an .808 OPS with six walks and just four strikeouts. Part of Tucker’s appeal was his youth (he’s 29) in an aging Dodgers lineup and Los Angeles certainly hopes he’ll perform closer to his career marks as the season continues.

Ketel Marte, D-backs
2025 stats: .893 OPS, 28 HR, 4.6 WAR in 126 G
2026 stats: .765 OPS, 21 HR, 2.1 WAR in 115 G

Marte has been one of the best position players in baseball since a breakout 2019 season and showed no signs of slowing down heading into this season. After posting an .893 OPS last season, though, that figure has dropped to .765 this season. Marte’s struggles, compared to his lofty norms, make it all the more impressive that the D-backs are smack in the middle of the Wild Card race and are tied for 11th in runs scored. If Marte gets going -- though he did exit Friday night's game with left-knee soreness -- Arizona could be a formidable playoff team.

José Ramírez, Guardians
2025 stats: .863 OPS, 30 HR, 6.3 WAR in 158 G
2026 stats: .715 OPS, 10 HR, 2.2 WAR in 90 G

Ramírez is one of the best players of his generation, an incredibly consistent star on a surefire Hall of Fame track. For the first time in seemingly forever, Ramírez hasn’t been one of the best players in the sport. Part of that was missing time on the injured list due to a hamate fracture, but even when he’s been on the field, he hasn’t looked like the dynamic star in all areas of the game. The good news is Ramírez’s skills are still intact and he’s been fairly unlucky this year -- his .352 expected wOBA is the highest it’s been since 2023.

Corey Seager, Rangers
2025 stats: .860 OPS, 21 HR, 4.0 WAR in 102 G
2026 stats: .692 OPS, 12 HR, 0.9 WAR in 63 G

The Rangers find themselves in position to potentially make the playoffs despite little production from their star shortstop. Even when Seager has dealt with injuries in the past, he’s still been one of the best players in baseball thanks to his excellent offense from a premium position. This year, though, Seager is running the worst OPS of his career and is striking out more than ever. It’s unclear if there are lingering injury issues -- he’s been on the injured/concussion list three times this season -- but his drop-off makes a Rangers playoff appearance much tougher to pull off.

Trea Turner, Phillies
2025 stats: .812 OPS, 15 HR, 6.7 WAR in 141 G
2026 stats: .695 OPS, 17 HR, 1.3 WAR in 119 G

Turner’s Phillies’ tenure has featured many ups-and-downs and it’s been no different this season. The Phillies’ shortstop has seen his OPS drop over 100 points and he’s also had defensive struggles that were not there last season -- Turner had a career-best defensive season across the board last year but has struggled at shortstop this year. We’ve seen Turner turn things around in a hurry in Philly, so it’d surprise nobody if he went on a tear to finish the season.

Hunter Brown, Astros
2025 stats: 2.43 ERA, 3.14 xERA, 4.6 WAR in 185 1/3 innings
2026 stats: 3.68 ERA, 3.65 xERA, 0.7 WAR in 63 2/3 innings

Brown established himself as one of the best pitchers in the sport last year, resulting in a third-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting. Brown spent roughly three months on the injured list earlier this year with a right shoulder strain and while he’s still been plenty good this year, he hasn’t quite been at last season’s ace level. Brown’s strikeout rate has dropped but most concerning has been his walk rate jumping to 13.0 percent. Given Houston’s position in the playoff picture, a return to Brown’s 2025 version could determine the fate of the Astros' season.

Christian Yelich, Brewers
2025 stats: .795 OPS, 29 HR, 2.4 WAR in 150 G
2026 stats: .684 OPS, 8 HR, -0.1 WAR in 84 G

Yelich has struggled to get going for much of the season and it’s been an especially tough stretch in the second half, as he has a .617 OPS since the All-Star break. After crushing 29 home runs in 150 games last season, Yelich hasn’t reached double-digit homers through 83 games. While the Brewers are one of baseball’s top offenses, they rank last in the Majors in home runs, an issue that could create problems in October. If Yelich can find his power stroke, that could be a huge development for the Brewers in the postseason.

Luis Castillo, White Sox
2025 stats: 3.54 ERA, 4.04 xERA, 2.6 WAR in 180 2/3 innings
2026 stats: 4.96 ERA, 4.63 xERA, 1.0 WAR in 110 2/3 innings

Here’s the good news about a Castillo bounceback: he just had his best start of the season his last time around. The recently-acquired Castillo dominated the Reds in seven scoreless innings on Wednesday, striking out 10 batters, walking three and allowing just one hit. It was his first double-digit strikeout game of the season and Castillo generated 22 whiffs, the most by a White Sox pitcher since Garrett Crochet in June 2024. The first-place White Sox are lacking a true No. 1 starter and Castillo bouncing back to previous levels would give them something close to that.

Freddy Peralta, Rays
2025 stats: 2.70 ERA, 3.43 xERA, 3.6 WAR in 176 2/3 innings
2026 stats: 5.33 ERA, 4.03 xERA, 1.1 WAR in 123 1/3 innings

The Mets acquired Peralta as their potential ace over the offseason and that didn’t come to fruition in Queens, which prompted a trade from a struggling Mets club at the Deadline. Peralta struggled in his Rays debut but he followed up with a solid second outing, hopefully a sign of things to come for him. The biggest issue plaguing Peralta has been the drop in strikeouts, as the right-hander went from a 28.2 percent strikeout rate last year to 21.8 percent this season. If those whiffs come back, it’ll go a long way towards a rebound.