Is Otto Lopez Worth Holding Onto in Fantasy Baseball Leagues?

After looking at some waiver wire hitters and pitchers to possibly add, let's take a look at some possible drop candidates.

More droppable player data can be located on the waiver wire trends most dropped tab, which can be found on any fantasy baseball page here at FantasySP. 

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Should You Drop Jake McCarthy?

McCarthy has started the season incredibly cold at the plate, so it makes sense to keep seeing him being dropped.

He's not posted a hit across 25 plate appearances so far. McCarthy has two walks, a stolen base, two RBIs, no runs scored and four strikeouts to his name so far.

McCarthy was pretty good in 2024, hitting .285 with a .349 on-base percentage. He's got a career .265 average and .333 OBP, so a little regression was what I expected. McCarthy is in a funk right now, and has only started two of the past five games.

There's not too many leagues out there in which McCarthy should be rostered right now. He was a pretty solid deep-league option to begin the season, and a hot start would have put him on the standard league radar.

Until he heats up, McCarthy should not be started, at the very least. I'd only want to roster him in the deepest of fantasy leagues right now, and then I'd be hoping he gets going at the dish soon.

Should You Drop Luis Severino?

Severino hasn't looked good in his past two starts, and is being dropped as a result.

In his first start of the season against the Mariners, Severino was great, not allowing a run on three hits and four walks over six innings - he struck out six batters.

Severino struck out six White Sox in his next start, but also allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and three walks. He allowed two homers in that outing, and he gave up two more against the Padres in his most recent start. Severino allowed five runs on eight hits in that outing, while walking none and striking out just three.

He was always a better deep-league fantasy asset, but I thought he could excel as the Athletics' lead starter in 2025. After his past two starts, he looks like just a standard league streaming option, and probably not one to utilize in the near future.

He's got another tough probable start against the Mets next before a bit more favorable clash against the Brewers. I'd only consider Severino for a start against the Mets in deep leagues, and depending on how that goes, we'll see about the matchup with the Brewers.

Should You Drop Connor Wong?

Wong was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left finger. He's likely going to be out longer than 10 days as well, but no timetable is in place yet.

Wong was struggling at the plate before the injury, collecting just two hits across 26 plate appearances. He had no extra-base hits, RBIs or runs scored, and just one stolen base and three walks, along with seven punchouts.

I thought Wong was a bit of a fantasy sleeper for 2025, but his slow start mixed with the injury is not encouraging. In leagues where no IR spot is available to stash him in, I don't see a lot of reason to hold on to Wong.

He's definitely droppable in standard redraft leagues, and he can also be let go in some deeper redraft setups. It really comes down to whether or not your team can get by without Wong – some might need to replace him with another fantasy catcher, while others can simply stash him on the bench until he's back.

Hopefully his absence isn't too long, and I think Wong will perform better when he gets back on the field. In the meantime, Carlos Narvaez is likely to get a bunch of starts, and Blake Sabol will also get some work behind the dish.

Should You Drop Reynaldo Lopez?

Lopez is already on the 60-day injured list, but now we have an update on his return timetable.

He's going to be shut down for at least 12 weeks, but there's a chance he returns late in the season. Based on where the Braves are at that point, Lopez might be shut down until 2026.

Lopez should already have been dropped in standard redraft leagues where no IR spot is available. If you have him on IR and those spots are limited, I'd drop him when you need to put a player with a short-term injury there instead.

Only in deep fantasy leagues should Lopez be held onto now. I'd really only want to keep him around if I had unlimited IR spots to take advantage of.

Should You Drop Otto Lopez?

This Lopez started the season hot at the plate for the Marlins, but he's cooled off of late.

He's got a .250 average and .327 OBP across 49 plate appearances so far. Lopez has two homers and a double among his 11 total hits, along with seven RBIs, a stolen base, five walks and strikeouts and seven runs scored.

Lopez is a career .276 hitter with a .322 OBP, so while his OBP is pretty much in line, there's room for improvement in the average department. He wasn't going to stay as hot as he was at the start of the season, but one hit in his last 17 plate appearances turned him from a waiver wire add to a droppable player.

I think he's going to have hot and cold streaks over the course of the season, and his own percentage will rise and fall accordingly. That makes him a better deep-league fantasy asset, but worthy of standard league consideration when he's hot at the plate.

Right now, he's only worth rostering in deeper leagues, and you might not even start him based on your available options. He's a player to keep tabs on throughout the season, utilizing him during his hot stretches and looking elsewhere when he's cold.

Should You Drop Taylor Ward?

Ward was owned in most fantasy leagues at the start of the regular season, but he's close to becoming a deep-league option only after his slow start.

In 45 plate appearances, Ward has a .190 average and .222 OBP. He's got a double among his eight total hits, along with two RBIs, no stolen bases, three runs scored, two walks and eight strikeouts.

He's still hitting atop the lineup, which helps his fantasy cause. Ward isn't producing though, and with plenty of fantasy outfielders available, Ward should be dropped in most standard leagues.

I'd keep rostering Ward in deeper leagues and hope he heats up here soon, otherwise he'll become droppable in those leagues too. In deeper setups, that makes now a time to buy low on Ward, if you believe he will get things turned around.

He's got a career .251 average and .328 OBP, with some pop and run production in the past. Ward is coming off a career season, but is on the wrong side of 30 now and is probably going to start declining.

Ward won't struggle this mightily all season, but right now, it's hard to justify having him in any fantasy lineups. Keep tabs on his numbers, but avoid him if you can right now.