Fantasy Baseball Week 4 Drops: Luis Rengifo, Frankie Montas, Max Meyer and More
Discussing some of the most-dropped fantasy players in the fourth week of the MLB season.
For as fun as it is to find the best waiver wire pickups in fantasy leagues, it’s just as important to know when to move on from players.
In this article, let’s discuss some of the most-dropped players according to FantasySP data.
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Jeimer Candelario Fantasy Outlook
Candelario has been dealing with an illness, so he’s missed a couple games this week.
Through Candelario’s first 15 games played, he’s posted a .190 average and .250 on-base percentage, which helps fantasy owners move on from him. He doubled five times and homered twice among his 11 total hits, drove in seven runs and scored seven times. Candelario had 20 strikeouts to just four walks.
Candelario has never been one to hit for a super high average (with a career .241 mark), but a sub-.200 mark to begin the season is definitely concerning. The high strikeout total is also an issue - he had 127 strikeouts across 140 games last season, so he’s taken a step back in that department, at least to this point.
Even though we’re a couple weeks into the season now, it’s still very early to make season-long judgments on players. Candelario was picked around pick 200 according to FantasySP Average Draft Position data, which isn’t a very valuable pick regardless of how large your league’s rosters are. That makes it easier to move on from a player who is struggling, but we’re also talking about a player that popped 22 homers last season, with an additional 42 more extra-base hits. Candelario might also have position eligibility at third and first base in some leagues, which makes him even more valuable and tough to move on from.
I expect Candelario to get going at some point, but also would completely understand a fantasy owners wanting to drop Candelario for a player who is off to a hot start and playing everyday. If you drop Candelario, or he gets dropped in your league, keep a close eye on him, as he can be an everyday fantasy option when he’s right at the plate.
Max Meyer Fantasy Outlook
Meyer missed the entire 2023 season with an injury, but looked really good in his first three starts. It didn’t matter, as the 25-year-old was sent to the minor leagues.
Meyer was 2-0 with a 2.12 earned run average across 17 innings in his first three starts with Miami. He struck out 14 batters while allowing just three walks.
The demotion was a shock to many, especially with the Marlins struggling as much as they have in the early going. But coming off an entire season off, Miami was always likely to protect Meyer and limit his innings. Sending him to the minor leagues allows the MLB team to roster guys who can cover more innings and not put too much stress on a young and talented arm that looks to have a really bright future.
Meyer is obviously extremely valuable in deeper leagues and dynasties still, and should be stashed in those leagues. In redraft leagues with standard rosters, it’s hard to argue for stashing Meyer, especially because we don’t know when he might be called back up. I’d view Meyer as a strong streaming option when he’s back in the big leagues, but I wouldn’t waste a roster spot on him in the time being.
Luis Rengifo Fantasy Outlook
Rengifo is off to a bit of a slow start at the plate, but it isn’t anything too bad either.
Rengifo was hitting .244 through his first 13 games, with a .262 OBP. He had two doubles among his 10 total hits, three RBIs, four stolen bases, six runs scored, eight strikeouts and one walk.
Rengifo is actually a career .244 hitter now, but fantasy owners are disappointed in his start after back-to-back seasons at a .264 average. His 2022 and 2023 seasons were almost identical across many stats, and the slow start has fantasy owners ready to bail already.
He’s playing nearly everyday and should have position eligibility at a few spots. With those couple things in mind, and really not that bad of numbers so far, I’d do what I could to hang on to Rengifo. I expect him to put up another similar season to the past two years, and those numbers (and the position flexibility) make him either a really valuable bench option or a guy you can start most days when he’s right at the plate.
It’s hard to stash hitters that aren’t hitting all that well, but in this case, I’d try to do just that. He went right around when Candelario was drafted but has a better track record over the past couple seasons. Just be patient with Rengifo for a little while longer and it should pay off for you.
Frankie Montas Fantasy Outlook
Montas got off to a hot start this season, but things are trending downward now. He’d been a popular streaming option the first couple weeks, but his drop number now looks more like fantasy owners are moving on instead of simply dropping him after his latest start.
Across his first two starts, Montas went 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA across 11 2/3 innings, with nine strikeouts to three walks. He allowed nine hits and one earned run, with it coming on a home run.
In his last two starts, Montas is 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA across only seven innings. He allowed 10 runs (eight earned) on nine hits and six walks, while striking out only five. Montas allowed two homers in those two starts.
When discussing two-game stints for a starting pitcher, that’s obviously not a large sample size. He wasn’t viewed as a big fantasy asset coming into the season, but fantasy owners decided to try to capitalize on his fast start. He’s looking more like an afterthought now, although he’s surely going to have his strong fantasy days the rest of the season.
I’m fine with moving on from Montas in standard leagues, but keep checking back to FantasySP, where starting pitcher streaming stories are posted often, to find out when Montas might be worth a spot in your lineup again.
Abner Uribe Fantasy Outlook
The last guy I want to discuss today is Uribe, the 23-year-old flamethrower out of the Brewers’ bullpen.
With Devin Williams sidelined to kick off the season, Uribe got the first crack at closing games, and earned a couple saves. Much like Montas though, he struggled a couple times after the fast start, and now appears to have lost the closer role.
Uribe earned saves in his first three appearances of the season, allowing a solo homer and one walk over three innings in that span, while striking out two.
Uribe blew a save in his fourth outing of the season, but picked up the win after Milwaukee rallied in the bottom of the inning. He didn’t allow a run in his next outing, while picking up three strikeouts in a non-save situation, but that looked more like a case of getting some work after not pitching in three days than him losing the closer role.
Uribe pitched in the seventh inning in his next appearance, blowing a save and taking the loss after giving up two runs on three hits in an inning.
Uribe pitched on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Padres, and maybe at least got his confidence back. He got five outs on Tuesday, working around three hits and a walk to post a zero. Uribe allowed a leadoff triple on Wednesday, but got out of the inning unscathed and got the win after Milwaukee scored in the bottom of the frame - Joel Payamps got the save in the contest.
So I think it’s safe to say Uribe lost the closer role, at least for the time being. That might make him droppable in a bunch of fantasy leagues. In some deeper leagues, or ones that reward top-end relievers, Uribe still has some value though, and of course, there’s always the chance he pitches himself back into the closer role again. React accordingly in your league, but if he reaches the waiver wire, keep a close eye on him and scoop him up if he earns another save or two soon.
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