Sports fans often have short memories. When a player has a rough month, some fans immediately jump to the conclusion that he might be completely washed. A down year changes the narrative even further. MLB fans are overreactive to a fault.
These six stars, headlined by Rafael Devers , were written off by many MLB fans but are now showing that they are still elite at what they do. They are still star-caliber players and should not have been doubted in hindsight.
San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Nobody received more disrespect at the beginning of the season than Rafael Devers, and I'm not going to lie - a lot of it was warranted. Devers ended the month of April slashing .207/.248/.289 with two home runs and a 31 percent strikeout rate. He had a 48 wRC+, which was good for 173rd out of 181 qualified position players. He was struggling to hit the ball, and when he made contact, he wasn't doing much damage. It felt as if his contract was an absolute abomination and that he'd never recapture his Red Sox heights again.
While the San Francisco Giants have struggled all year, it's safe to say Devers has flipped the script. He has a 154 wRC+ since May 1, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong and Yordan Alvarez, the two MVP favorites in their respective leagues. He has trimmed his strikeout rate to a much more manageable 24.1 percent. To put it simply, Devers has looked a lot more like the Devers of old. Say what you want about Devers' defense and Devers as a teammate, but the man can flat-out rake. MLB fans shouldn't forget that next time he struggles at the dish.
Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Steven Kwan had been one of MLB's most consistent outfielders ever since his rookie year in 2022, consistently hitting between .270 and .300 while playing Gold Glove defense. This season, though, was a different story for much of the first half. Kwan was hitting .212 by the end of June, and found himself hitting ninth consistently after leading off exclusively for the first 1.5 months.
Since the calendar flipped to July, though, Kwan has looked more like his former star self. He has slashed .355/.448/.431 with a 157 wRC+, good for ninth in the majors. He ranks second in the majors, trailing only Chandler Simpson in hits in that span, while leading the world in on-base percentage. Kwan has been a huge reason why the Cleveland Guardians hold the final Wild Card spot in the American League, and he is back to showing why teams were so eager to acquire him at last year's trade deadline.
Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Pete Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles in an offseason deal that shocked many MLB fans. Sure, Alonso had a great run in New York, but it felt as if no team was going to give Alonso, a one-dimensional first baseman on the wrong side of 30, a long-term deal. In the first month of Alonso's tenure with Baltimore, he looked completely lost, slashing .198/.306/.362 with four home runs. Much like Devers, he's completely flipped the script, even if his team hasn't played its best baseball.
Alonso has hit 29 home runs, driven in 81 runs and has a .901 OPS since May 1, ranking in the top 10 in the majors in all three of those statistics. His 153 wRC+ ranks just behind Devers for fourth in the majors. Additionally, Alonso has played some of the best defense of his career at first base, only adding to his value. Whether this deal ages well remains to be seen, but for now, Alonso is still clearly one of the game's premier run producers.
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Sandy Alcantara won the NL Cy Young award in 2022, but there was reason to believe he was never going to get close to that level again. He had a down year in 2023, missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and while his 2025 campaign finished much better than it started, his 5.36 ERA wasn't anything to get excited about. Alcantara got off to a strong start to the 2026 campaign against mostly easy competition, but he ended the month of May with a 4.66 ERA. Since then, he's looked more like the Alcantara of old.
The right-hander has a 2.84 ERA in 18 starts since June 1, completing six innings or more in all but one of those outings (and he went 5.2 innings in that one outing). Alcantara's ERA is lower than Tarik Skubal's and Cristopher Sanchez's in that span, and his 120.1 innings pitched are nearly 18 more than anybody else. It's hard to do much better than 14 quality starts in 18 appearances, and he's been a huge reason the Miami Marlins remain somewhat alive in the NL Wild Card hunt.
Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Much like Alonso, Alex Bregman signed a massive long-term deal in free agency and struggled to begin his tenure with his new team. In fact, Bregman's struggles lasted much longer than Alonso's, as he ended the first half slashing .241/.336/.359 with nine home runs. He was playing good defense at third base, but the Chicago Cubs gave him big money to provide more than good defense. Fortunately, the second half of Bregman's season has been better than anything the Cubs could've envisioned.
Bregman has slashed .304/.371/.620 with 15 home runs and 40 RBI in 45 second-half games. He leads all qualified hitters with a 170 wRC+ and trails only his teammate, Pete Crow-Armstrong, in home runs. As bad as his first half was, he can make up for it and then some by finishing strongly, helping the Cubs get to the postseason and go on a run in October. He's off to a good start in that regard.
San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Fernando Tatis Jr. established himself as an MVP-caliber player in 2021, but he missed all of 2022 due to a PED suspension and an injury, and while he was productive from 2023 through 2025, he wasn't an MVP-caliber hitter. This remained the case for much of the first half, as Tatis did not hit his first home run of the year until May 30. His season essentially took off from there.
Tatis has hit .291 with an .882 OPS since the start of June, and he's launched 18 home runs in that span. His 143 wRC+ in that time is tied with Shohei Ohtani, speaking to how well he's been hitting for a while, and it feels like he's only getting better. He hit nine home runs and had a .901 OPS in August, playing like one of the best position players in the sport. Many assumed Tatis' MVP days were behind him, but clearly, that isn't the case.
This article was originally published on www.fansided.com as Rafael Devers and 5 other written-off stars who deserve an apology .
