Who is Being Dropped & Why (Week 15)

The following players were dropped in 10 or more of the 38 NFBC Main Event leagues.

Injury

• Jordan Hicks (31): Tommy John surgery sucks.
• Willians Astudillo (17): It’s tough for teams to roster hurt catchers with near replacement level talent.
• Brendan Rodgers (16): With Trevor Story returning from the IL, Rodgers does not have a job even if healthy.
• Alex Reyes (12): He’s back on the shelf with a pectoral injury.
• Anthony Swarzak (11): He was in Atlanta’s closer mix but an inflamed shoulder put him on the IL.
• Luis Severino (10): What a cluster f___. I can’t believe the Yankees, who have more money than they know what to do with, didn’t have him get an MRI. Now, the earliest Severino will return in late August.
• Gio Gonzalez (10): On the IL with an arm injury. Seems vague and the Nats may be using the All-Star break to get him some rest.

Demotion

• Framber Valdez (20): The Astros can go with four starters, so they are going into the All-Star break.
• Travis Shaw (17): He was hitting just .164/.278/.290 before getting demoted. I don’t think he’s healthy and may have come back too early from his wrist injury.
• Erick Fedde (15): A 4.9 K/9 with a 4.2 BB/9 will quickly push him to the minors.
• Jalen Beeks (11): Demoted to the minors to stay on a normal throwing schedule.

Other

• Adam Plutko (21): A shortened two-start week for him produced a 6.23 ERA, four strikeouts, and a 1.27 WHIP.
• Vince Velasquez (17): He got another shot at being a starter and the Marlins got to him for four runs in four innings of work.
• Teoscar Hernandez (15): Even though he’s back in the majors, he’s not playing full-time and just hitting .214/.276/.443 so far in June. He’s one of many outfielders with near replacement level talent and their teams are just not playing them every day, so their fantasy value drops even more.
• Jimmy Nelson (14): He’s on the list for a second week as the rest of the owners have figured out he’s not in the bullpen.
• Pedro Strop (13): He’s lost his closer’s role to Craig Kimbrel.
• Roman Quinn (12): I didn’t fully understand why he was being added coming off the IL (groin). While he’s shown some propensity to steal bases, he’s not a major league hitter. Since his return, he’s just hitting .100/.217/.150. Don’t roster bad baseball players.
• Matt Barnes (11): While throwing great in April and May, he imploded in June with a 4.93 ERA, 6.9 BB/9, with one Save. He’s not been productive and doesn’t have the closer’s role makes him fantasy irrelevant.
• Homer Bailey (10): His owners must have held on to him after a decent two-start week. They were rewarded with five runs in five innings in Toronto.
• J.D. Davis (10): Only one start in the last seven days.
• Mike Zunino (10): He’s only hitting .182/.232/.318 and Travis d’Arnaud is taking at-bats from him.
• Matt Beaty (10): Like Teoscar Hernandez, his fantasy value is getting minimized by being a suspect talent (no power or speed) getting suspect playing time.
• Tucker Barnhart (10): Other catchers are doing more this season.