Getting top player out of the deep freeze

[rink23]

In the midst of the latter portion of the 2026 as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Been a decent year, we seem headed to the playoffs with an 80-67 record, putting us in second place in the NL Central, two games behind the Cubs, and third in the wild card with 25 games to go.
But if we want to anything in the postseason, our best player in the first half, Lawrence Butler, needs to start swinging the bat.
At the All-Star break, Butler, who acquired from Oakland at the 2025 trade deadline, ranked among the top players in the National League.
After 90 games, he was batting .295 with 21 home runs, 74 RBIs and boasted a .376 OBP, .562 slug and a .938 OPS.
He had a WAR of 4.1, fourth-best in the NL.
Since that time, in 46 games, his batting average has dipped to .260, his OBP to .343, slug to .469 and OPS to .811.
His WAR also has dropped to 4.0.
He has hit just three home runs and drove in just 15 runs in that span.
I've tried everything -- moving him around the batting order, consecutive days off -- except sending him to the minors.
Nothing has worked. He has had a cold symbol since early August.
There are no indicators in his personality or morale which would indicate that he is upset.
The only thing I have done off the field is offer him a contract extension. He didn't want anything more than a one-year extension, whose value was barely more than what he is expected to receive in arbitration so I just let it go.
I know the best thing to do is just let him keep playing until he gets his head straight.
But does anyone have any suggestions on how to hasten that.

[Bobfather]

I usually rest him for 2games 3 if a day. Off in involved. I then do one day on one off. Platoon and move him to a different like up spot.

[Brad K]

The devs have consistently stated that each AB is a separate random event. That means the cold icon is merely reporting some bad dice rolls. This means past performance isn't an indicator of future results.

However the commitment to randomness is modified but I've seen it two ways. One way is that when the cold icon is on, the players effective ratings are slightly reduced to realistically simulate real life slumps which are not complete random. The other way is the effective ratings are only reduced if psychology is set to On. Since different devs have posted different answers I'm not clear which is correct.

However if there is no reduction in output due to the slump icon, then continue to play the player normally. The next five rolls could produce five hits and they are unaffected by the cold icon.

If there is a reduction in output then put the player in situations where he has a better chance of success, such as against opposite hand pitchers, or drop him down in the batting order. In no situation except him being tired does benching have any effect.

If scouting is not set to 100%, then the possibility that he is over rated should be considered.

[ExpansionManager]

What I like to do with slumping players is sit them out of the starting lineup and pinch hit them against either a tiring starter or a back of the bullpen guy.
But this is really for starters who aren't stars, MVP types play normally unless injured or I lock in a playoff slot.

[BBGiovanni]

"Regression to the mean". I've never figured out an OOTP answer to the dread snowflake and I understand it's more descriptive of the past than generative (there's supposedly no "cold streak" generator in the game engine like I think EA games have/had). Butler doesn't look like a superstar in terms of ratings... Randy Winn hit .359 over the last couple of months in 2005 when the Giants got him from Seattle so anyone can look great for a couple of months.

Sending him to the minors will not fix it, at least in the versions I've played. UNLESS, and I assume you would have said, he was injured in there somewhere and didn't get a rehab assignment.

I do like Bobfather does, more for distraction while I wait out the cold streak. A couple days off, bat lower in the order, maybe some platooning, but doing that too long risks missing the inevitable "hot streak" that will come as he regresses back to the mean from the deep slump.

[Pelican]

For younger, unestablished players, I tend to react to a prolonged slump by returning them to the minors to "find their swing" or "find their pitch". If, of course, they have options remaining. It makes no sense for them to ride the bench in the majors for long. They need to play. This sometimes works, sometime does not work. [I have no understanding how - or if - the game engine looks at their AAA performance, and it that drives their play upon their return to the majors.]

For veterans, it's harder. Maybe a day off against a tough same-handed SP. Maybe move them down (or up) in the lineup. Or let them DH for the day, to concentrate on just hitting. Switch positions. [This approach is - admittedly - more standard baseball than attempting to trick the game engine into removing the snowflake. I doubt that OOTP would reward a guy for a day off - unless he was tired.]

One other comment. I play with relatively high TCR. The risk there is that a prolonged slump is actually a random change in talent. In other words, I have chosen to take the risk that players lose or gain skills, considerably more than IRL. With that risk in the back of my mind, I have to consider that what looks like a prolonged slump is in fact that guy losing ability. Ideally this happens both ways, and some other guy will go on a tear. But the key to the setting is that pesky "R". These changes are random.