Who Is Being Dropped & Why (Week 4)

It’s that time to dive into the 38 NFBC Main Events to see who is being dropped in 10 or more leagues and why.

Injury

• Dellin Betances (13): He’s out until late May with a shoulder injury.
• Ronald Guzman (13): He’ll be on the IL for two to three weeks with an injured hamstring. For teams in need of hitting, he might be worth a stash.
• Franchy Cordero (12): Cordero was due for some regression with his .300 AVG fuel up by a .556 BABIP and down by a 35% K%. It’s just tough to place a finger on his true talent with on the time on the IL.

Demoted

• Kyle Wright (28): At least his 7.07 strikeout rate matched his 7.07 ERA. He almost raised his walk rate (6.43 BB/9) up into the 7’s. He earned the demotion.
• Sean Newcomb (19): When your walk rate (5.8 BB/9) is nearly double your strikeout rate (3.6 K/9), you probably don’t belong in the majors.
• Jonathan Loaisiga (16): While the strikeouts were fine, a 6.4 BB/9 moved him to the minors with CC Sabathia returning from the IL. I expect him to return to the majors at some point.
• Kyle Zimmer (13): It’s tough to stay in the majors with a 9.00 ERA and even higher ERA estimators.
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (12): There are worse hitters than him in the majors. I’m wondering if Toronto sent him down to work on something.

Other

• Jordan Zimmermann (20): Owners picked up Zimmermann for a two-start week against Minnesota and Cleveland. He rewarded them with an 11.05 ERA and 2.05 WHIP. At least the owners got the five strikeouts.
• Ian Kinsler (19): Hitting just .163/.268/.265 led to Luis Urias being promoted and taking time away from Kinsler.
• Greg Allen (16): He’s hitting .045/.120/.091. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten demoted. He another example who why it’s important to draft productive baseball players instead of chasing stats.
• Adam Conley (15): A 7.94 K/9 might work for a closer. A 7.94 ERA won’t.
• Brad Boxberger (14): Another instance of the strikeouts being fine (10.8 K/9) but the walks (4.3 BB/9) and homers (3.2 HR/9) have led to a 9.72 ERA. I ended up dropping him in my 12-team AL-only team because his ratios were killing me.
• Robbie Grossman (14): It’s tough to roster someone of Grossman’s low talent especially when he’s in a platoon. I’m a little surprised he was owned in 14 leagues.
• Brandon Drury (13): A 42% K%, .140/.183/.211 triple slash line, and impending Vlad Jr. promotion means owners are moving on past Drury.
• Daniel Palka (13): In a platoon and hasn’t gotten a hit in 36 PA.
• Marco Estrada (13): He’s always teetered on the edge of relevancy but with a fastball down at 87.6 mph, he may be done. His 65% flyball rate used to lead to easy to catch popups. Now, he’s just giving up homers (2.2 HR/9). I could see a few games where he could be a streamable option.
• Drew Steckenrider (12): He’s just serving a homer every other inning (4.5 HR/9). Sergio Romo is solidifying himself as the team’s closer as the rest of Miami’s bullpen has fallen flat.
• Mark Reynolds (12): He’s still the Rockies full-time first baseman with two homers while hitting .194/.333/.419. Maybe Reynolds doesn’t fit on a third of the rosters but he on someones in each league.
• Russell Martin (12): He was still owned?
• Tyler White (12): He’s lost his DH job while hitting for no power (.037 ISO). Since he’s out of options so he’s stuck on the MLB club.
• Albert Almora Jr.(11): He just doesn’t have enough hitting talent to help a fantasy team. It is nice to see him with two steals so far (just one last season) and could be valuable if his batting average gets closer to his career .286 rate.
• Brett Anderson (11): It was a two-start week for him. Not worth keeping when it’s not a two-step.
• Greg Bird (11): These drops happened before he went on the IL. Bird was being a drag with a 39% K% and a just .086 ISO. Additionally, he was sitting once or twice a week.
• Raimel Tapia (11): He’s not hitting yet (.235/.257/.353) and maybe won’t. I like his potential if he or any of the others Rockies get hitting.