Is Dropping Yainer Diaz and Alec Bohm a Mistake in Fantasy Baseball Leagues?

After looking at fantasy baseball waiver adds for hitters and pitchers, let's now go over some drop candidates.

I'll stick more to hitters than pitchers who were streamed and then dropped. 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. 

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant.

Should You Drop Alec Bohm?

Bohm was drafted around pick 100 this season, so to see him being dropped in some leagues already should give you an indication on how his season is going.

He's got a .160 average and .176 on-base percentage across 11 games and 51 plate appearances so far. Bohm has a double among his eight total hits, along with three RBIs, one walk, three runs scored and 10 strikeouts.

Bohm started the 2024 season hot before fading in the latter portion of the year. He's a career .274 hitter with a .324 OBP though, and he's not likely to keep struggling this much all season.

Right now though, it's very hard to justify starting Bohm, and some have begun to drop him completely.

If your standard redraft league team is off to a tough start, that's when I'd consider moving on from Bohm. Before I dropped him though, I'd throw his name on the trade block to see if anyone would consider buying him low. He's got enough success in his past to still have fantasy value, and someone already set at third base might be willing to take a flier on Bohm.

His fantasy value is down from the start of the season, and you won't get as much value back as where you drafted him, but at the same time, you might land a better player in return than is available on your league's waiver wire.

If his struggles continue another week, or more, Bohm can definitely be dropped in standard leagues. It will be another few weeks before it'd be time to drop him in deeper setups.

Should You Drop Lars Nootbaar?

Nootbaar opened the season as one of the top waiver wire hitter pickups, but after just one hit over his past four games, he's now being dropped.

In 11 games and 57 plate appearances overall, Nootbaar has a .271 average and .386 OBP. He's got a double and two home runs among his 13 total hits, along with six RBIs, eight walks, 10 runs scored and eight strikeouts.

He's a career .247 hitter with a .350 OBP, so he was bound to regress after his extremely hot start. Nootbaar is trending toward being just a deep-league fantasy asset, and that's where he should remain rostered most of the season.

When he's in his hot streaks at the plate, they can last weeks at a time, which makes him a standard league option. Overall though, Nootbaar is just a short-term pickup in standard leagues, never someone who is a must add. 

Should You Drop Jordan Romano?

Romano was viewed as the Phillies' top closing option going into this season, but he's got just one over his first six appearances.

Romano has no wins or losses, his one save and a 12.6 earned run average over five innings. He's allowed seven runs on six hits and four walks, while striking out six batters.

Over his six games, he's worked in the ninth inning just twice. In the game he earned a save, Romano also allowed two runs. He's allowed runs in three of his appearances, and he's simply lost a ton of fantasy value since the season opened.

He's gone from over 70% rostered at the start of the season to just 40% owned now. Romano needs to be dropped in standard leagues, if you haven't already made that move. It'd need to be a pretty deep league for me to want to continue rostering Romano too.

Jose Alvarado is the late-inning reliever from the Phillies that you want. Until Romano starts delivering better results, he shouldn't be starting, and I don't see much reason to roster him outside of really deep leagues.

He could earn back his late-inning role and maybe earn some saves later this season, but you can simply add Romano if that happens. Look elsewhere for fantasy bullpen help for now.

Should You Drop Yainer Diaz?

Diaz was a top-75 draft pick on average for 2025. He's one of the better hitters in the game, not just among catchers, but a slow start has fantasy owners bailing on him now.

Diaz has two hits over 33 at-bats for an ugly .061 average so far. He's walked three times among his 36 total plate appearances for a still terrible .136 OBP. He has singles for both his hits, along with an RBI and a run scored.

This is a .283 career hitter with a .311 OBP we're talking about, so his extremely cold start is definitely a shock for fantasy owners. At the same time though, he's only played in nine games, and has a history of success, so I wouldn't bail on the catcher just yet.

If anything, I'd throw him on the trade block. You won't get good value in return, and at a weak position, it's simply not a wise move to sell low on Diaz, unless you truly believe his results over the past two seasons were unsustainable.

I'd simply bench Diaz until he got heated up a bit. That time should come here shortly. I'm definitely a bit concerned about Diaz, but this early, I'm not ready to pull the plug yet.

Should You Drop Chris Martin?

Martin was a closing candidate to start the season for Texas, but it's been Luke Jackson who has been the go-to closer early on.

Martin has pitched pretty well in a high-leverage role. He's allowed four unearned runs on five hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings. Martin has 11 strikeouts and an 0-1 record. He has one save and four holds on the year and has pitched in the seventh or eighth innings in all but one of his appearances.

He started the season around 55% rostered and has actually gone up to about 60% owned now. I'm not sure I understand why he has been added more than dropped since the season began, but that's what the numbers say.

Even without saves, he's been a pretty strong fantasy asset so far. But at the same time, he's not a borderline standard league option, which is what a 60% own percentage equates to.

He's a fine fantasy reliever to hold onto in deeper setups, but he's definitely droppable in standard leagues and other leagues that are only slightly larger than standard ones.

Should You Drop Christian Encarnacion-Strand?

Encarnacion-Strand has started slow at the plate, so it makes sense to drop him in some leagues.

He's got a .174 average and .204 OBP across 12 games and 49 plate appearances so far. CES has two home runs and a double among his eight total knocks, along with three RBIs, a walk, three runs scored and 11 strikeouts.

Encarnacion-Strand has a .234 average and .281 OBP for his career, so big things weren't expected from most fantasy owners. He'd also played in just 92 career games over the past two seasons, so some were excited to see a full season of him.

He's gone from about 40% rostered down to 29% as of time of publication for this article. CES is just a deep-league fantasy asset for now, but probably should be benched until further notice. Continued struggles will make Encarnacion-Strand more and more droppable by the day.

Should You Drop Maikel Garcia?

Garcia was a late-round draft option for this season. He started the season well and went from under 60% rostered to over 80%. Garcia is at 80% owned right now.

He's got a .279 average and .311 OBP across 13 games and 45 plate appearances so far. Garcia has three doubles and two home runs among his 12 total knocks. He also has six RBIs, a stolen base, two walks, six runs scored and 10 strikeouts.

He's a career .252 hitter with a .301 OBP, so some regression was expected over time. Garcia is also just 25 and now is in his fourth MLB season, so improvement wouldn't be a massive shock to anyone, especially after he regressed from 2023 to 2024.

With just one hit over the past three games, his own percentage is starting to fall. He's worth a roster spot in some standard leagues, but is likely going to be a better deep-league asset most of the season.

In hot stretches, he can be utilized in standard leagues, and he might remain a bench option for some standard leaguers if he has fantasy position versatility. Garcia also might have enough fantasy value to trade away, so that's a possibility if you don't really want to drop him.