How bad can an MLB player hit in 2026 and stay in the lineup? - ESPN

With the MLB batting average sitting at .239, the lowest since 1968, and home runs falling to their lowest per-game rate since 2015, managers across baseball are facing this question: How bad can an excellent defensive player hit and remain in the lineup?

Consider Patrick Bailey, who is widely regarded as the best defensive catcher in baseball and is a two-time Gold Glove winner in 2024 and 2025, and is a pitch-framing master. His San Francisco Giants had a big problem in early May, as they weren't scoring runs and Bailey was hitting .146 with one home run in 30 games.

Needing to improve the offense, and with two rookie catchers ready for more playing time, the Giants traded Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians on May 9.

«I think it's more the confidence that we have in Jesus Rodriguez and Daniel Susac, and just the strides that we feel like as an organization they've made defensively,» Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey told reporters after the trade. «Just as a whole, we're trying to find ways to get more runs on the board.»

Though the Giants had an in-house solution at catcher, and the Guardians were willing to trade for Bailey given the offensive struggles of their own primary catcher, Bo Naylor, the trade illustrates how San Francisco decided Bailey's lack of offense was no longer tolerable, no matter how valuable his defense.

He is hardly the only elite defensive player struggling big-time at the plate in 2026:

Bailey, C, Guardians (.140/.207/.206, 20 OPS+): With Naylor hitting just .143 with a .200 OBP at the time of the trade, after hitting just .195 as the regular Cleveland catcher in 2025, the Guardians figured if they weren't going to get much offense from their catcher, they might as well go