Who is Being Dropped and Why (Week 8)

With just a week left in the season, the drop totals are more in line with a “normal” week. I did see two trends. First, starters are not being kept if they are useless over the last two weeks. Second, many failed closer dart throws were dropped. Finally, this will be this series’s last article since next week’s won’t matter. I’ll keep the article going next season.

For this analysis, I use the NFBC Main Event because of the number of identical leagues. Additionally, the managers stay engaged longer since each spent over $1000 per team. I tried to find that sweet spot between obvious and bizarre and will focus on players dropped in six to nine leagues.

Hitters

• Austin Slater (9): He hasn’t started for six straight games.
• Eric Hosmer (9) and  Jon Berti (8): On the IL
• Ketel Marte (9): He has an empty .290 AVG (2 HR, 1 SB). His issue this season is that he’s not going for power (.117) and accepting weak contact (3% BB%, O-contact% up 10% points).
• Andrelton Simmons (7): I’m not sure what’s behind the drops. Maybe Simmons is the replacement level shortstop.
• Cole Tucker (7): I’m not sure why he was on rosters to begin with. He’s not been playing and only has a .554 OPS.
• Johan Camargo (7) and José Peraza (6): Demoted.
• Gregory Polanco (6): While the five homers and two steals are playable, the .147 AVG is not.
• Omar Narváez (6): Dreadful. A .180 AVG and just two homers. He’s giving catchers a bad name.
• Ryan O’Hearn (6): I’m amazed six teams rostered him to be able to drop him. A .202 AVG and two homers.
• Todd Frazier (6): He’s not been playing enough to matter.
• Tucker Barnhart (6): At least he has hit (.195 AVG, 3 HR) better than Narváez

Starters

• Chad Kuhl (9): The Royals lit up Kuhl for nine runs in only 2.1 IP. The six walks didn’t help.
• Chase Anderson (9): Over his last two starts he has allowed 13 H, 3 HR, 4 BB, and 10 Runs. The blowups have pushed his ERA up to 5.81.
• Adrian Houser (8): Houser has just taken a step backward in plate discipline (9.5 K/9 to 7.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 to 3.5 BB/9) that could be related to losing 1 mph off his fastball.
• Jakob Junis (8): Another case of “Why was he added?”. He’s never been a replacement-level major league pitcher.
• Mike Fiers (8): Managers got a win as Fiers beat Texas even though he allowed four runs in six innings. His managers wanted nothing to do with his Dodgers start.
• Ross Stripling (8): He just keeps allowing home runs (2.6 HR/9) that has pushed up his ERA to 5.88. He’s been pushed out of the Blue Jays rotation and maybe piggybacking games with Robbie Ray.
• David Peterson (7): His 4.17 ERA and 1.31 WHIP aren’t horrible. I think he’d be added if it was a normal week.
• Justin Dunn (7): It’s just one start against San Diego (Lamet) this week. It’s just not his week to be a streaming option.
• Luis García (7): He’s been removed from the Astros rotation and so has all of his 2020 fantasy value.
• Trevor Rogers (7): He’s not been great so far (1.50 WHIP, 6.50 ERA) and faces Boston this week.
• Elieser Hernandez (6) and Jon Gray (6): On the IL.
• Nate Pearson (6): What the hell. Did six managers just now figure out Pearson wasn’t going to make it back this season? I guess some people have more money to throw away than I do.
• MacKenzie Gore (6): It just doesn’t seem like he’ll get the MLB promotion.
• Randy Dobnak (6): I get this drop with possibly just one start against the White Sox (Dunning). The deal is that the Twins will have a six-man rotation with Jake Odorizzi returning from the IL, so Dobnak may be done starting in 2020.
• Rick Porcello (6): For those managers who had the guts to roster him, I’m surprised they passed on this week’s two-step (at PHI, vs ATL).
• Robbie Erlin (6): Released.

Relievers

• Tanner Rainey (9): He’s a good reliever but he’s not been closing (0 Saves) and has been dealing with forearm tightness.
• Josh Staumont (8): He lost out on the battle for the Royals coveted closer’s job.
• Mychal Givens (8): Daniel Bard got the nod as the Rockies closer.
• Tyler Rogers (8): An interesting drop since he seems to still be sharing the closer’s role with Tony Watson.
• Anthony Bass (7): It seems like Rafael Dolis is the current closer and Ken Giles will eventually get his job back.
• Felix Peña (7): It’s tough to know who is the Angels closer with Matt Andriese getting the last two Saves in unique situations.
• Buck Farmer (6): … is not Detroit’s closer.
• Cesar Valdez (6): He got one save so the reliever with a 86 mph fastball so managers thought he was the closer? Do better.