2023 Fantasy Baseball Week 12 Droppables: Lourdes Gurriel Jr, Nolan Gorman, and More!
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Droppables. This is a spot where we look at players you should (or shouldn’t) cut bait with – due to either underperformance, injury, or otherwise.
I already covered players to add in this week’s waiver column so I won’t spend the time doing so here. But in order to pick up someone, you have to drop someone. And that isn’t a decision you should take lightly. We’ve all made drops we’ve come to regret, so let’s take a look at some of the most-dropped players this week and dig in to see if they are (or aren’t) drop-worthy.
As always, check out the fantasy assistant for personalized waiver wire recommendations and team analysis. Make moves based on projections, strengths and weaknesses, waiver alerts, and lots more.
The Droppables
Bryan De La Cruz, OF, Miami Marlins
This one stings a bit because I recommended De La Cruz as a waiver add last week, but he’s currently being dropped en masse, and I think that’s the right move. Hey, you win some, you lose some. And I’m smart enough to admit when I’m wrong. De La Cruz still has solid season-long totals, but he’s trending in the wrong direction after going 3-for-27 last week (did I curse him?). While he’s currently riding a three-game RBI streak, De La Cruz is hitting .203 in June and is making his strong May look like more of an outlier than anything. Time to move on.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
I was driving the Gurriel train for a while, but I think I’m ready to get off. The guy was an absolute stud in May, hitting .352 with eight home runs, but he’s been equally as bad in June where he’s hit .163 with two home runs thus far. Gurriel was 4-for-30 last week and looks to have come back down to Earth, sadly. He’s topped 20 home runs twice in his career so we could see another power surge later in the summer, but I think it’s time to move on from Gurriel Jr.
Luis Severino, P, New York Yankees
Forget about Severino’s history or upside for a second. If I told you that you could have a player on your fantasy team that has pitched 30 innings and has zero wins, a 6.30 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP, and 28 strikeouts, what would you say? You’d move on to the next option, right? Thought so. I realize Severino is tempting because of what he’s done in the past, but I don’t think 2023 is the year where he’s going to put everything back together. Move to other pitching options.
Give him another chance
Nolan Gorman, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals
You don’t usually see people dropping players with 15 home runs halfway through the season, but I understand why fantasy managers are jumping ship with Gorman. The 23-year-old is struggling with a capital S right now. He’s hitting just .107 in 56 June at-bats and has hit just two home runs this month. Gorman began the year in a platoon role and grew out of it, but there’s a good chance he’s going to head back into that platoon if he can’t fix his .192 average against lefties. That said, he’s only 23 and has put up really good numbers this season, so I think it’s worth holding onto him in all but the shallowest leagues to see if there’s a bounceback in store.
Michael Kopech, P, Chicago White Sox
Kopech is on the top-dropped list right now and I’m not really sure why. I think it’s because he’s only made it past the fifth inning in one of his last four starts, but he’s still been pretty good lately. After a rough start to the year, The 27-year-old has turned things around with a 2.75 ERA in May and a 1.65 ERA in June. Sure, it would be great if he could stretch things out a bit and go deeper into games, but he’s also striking out 10.3 batters per nine innings, so I’ll happily take shorter outings if he’s going to keep up that ERA and strikeout rate. Don’t drop Kopech unless he starts putting up stinkers.
Josh Lowe, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
Lowe has had a rough go of it lately (hence the reason he’s being dropped), but don’t jump ship just yet. The 25-year-old still has a ton of promise and doesn’t belong on waivers. Yes, I realize he’s seen his average drop from .342 in April to .271 in May to .217 in June. And yes, I realize his OBP, OPS, and slugging percentage have all taken a hit since April. However, the guy is still hitting .285 on the season with 11 home runs and 18 steals. And the speed hasn’t gone anywhere as he has five steals this month. I get he’s been a little frustrating lately, but don’t drop Lowe just yet.
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