Since the start of 2018, Panik has a 75 wRC+ in 902 PA, hitting .247/.309/.330. He's not old at 29, but aside from making a lot of (weak) contact, he doesn't really provide anything of value as an offensive player, and if he's not playing 2B, then his defensive value is equally bad. I think we are being fair to Panik here. He's pretty bad. 2015 was a long time ago. He's not that guy anymore. This is likely a case of hoping for Eric Sogard 2.0, but that happening again is unlikely.
Playing him over Drury/Tellez is fine with me, and the club seems to have no intention of trying to give Alford at bats (probably for the better if they want to win games), so the options are pretty scarce. If he's playing over Tellez, and only Tellez, then I can live with it. When Fisher comes back, he should be getting those AB's.