Should You Drop Top-End Prospects Matt Shaw and Dylan Crews in Fantasy Baseball Leagues?

After looking at waiver wire hitters and pitchers, and then weekly projections and more waiver options, it's time to discuss some droppable fantasy baseball players.

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.

You Should Drop Justin Steele

We usually avoid pitchers in the drop stories, but this drop isn't the typical streaming pitcher. Steele is one of the top fantasy pitchers in the game and is being dropped at an alarming rate.

If you don't know by now, Steele is out for the season. He has to undergo season-ending elbow surgery.

That obviously makes him droppable in all redraft fantasy leagues, which will be a big blow to your fantasy team. Steele had a 4.76 earned run average across four starts this season, but also was 3-1 and had 21 strikeouts over 22 2/3 innings.

Javier Assad is another Cubs' starting pitcher on the injured list right now, so Chicago is hurting in its rotation. Shota Imanaga is the clear leader of the rotation now, with Matthew Boyd, Ben Brown, Colin Rea and Jameson Taillon as the other starters.

Jordan Wicks, Cade Horton, Chris Flexen, Brandon Birdsell and Jack Neely are among the pitchers in Triple-A who might be called on to cover innings as the Cubs look to get by without Steele for the remainder of the season.

But back to Steele's fantasy outlook… the only leagues he should be kept in are dynasties and keeper setups. He can be dropped in all redraft formats.

Should You Drop Hunter Goodman?

Goodman has been dropped in 4.5% of leagues today, bringing his total mark down to 33%.

He was a waiver wire pickup several days ago, but has gone hitless in his last two starts. Goodman has a .209 average and .292 OBP across 13 games and 48 plate appearances overall. He has three doubles and two homers among his nine total hits, along with five RBIs, three walks, four runs scored and 13 strikeouts.

He's the Colorado catcher you want to roster right now, but his numbers indicate he's only a decent option in deep leagues. Goodman will likely see his own percentage fluctuate throughout the season, depending on if he's on a hot or cold streak at the plate.

At this time, he's only a deep fantasy option, and probably should be benched until he heats back up.

Should You Drop Jonathan India?

India is down 2.7% - he's rostered in 67% of leagues right now. He's dealing with an injury, but it's not expected to keep him out long.

India was someone I highlighted before the season as a potential fantasy sleeper. I've been really unimpressed by his numbers early on, and he's been a bust if you spent a pick on him.

India has a .208 average, but a .333 OBP while hitting atop the Royals' lineup. He has three doubles among his 11 total knocks, along with three RBIs, nine walks, five runs scored and eight strikeouts.

He's a career .252 hitter with a .352 OBP, so some improvement in both stats should be coming at some point. As is though, it's hard to start India in fantasy leagues, let alone roster him in some.

I'd like to hold out hope on India, but if your standard league fantasy team got off to a slow start, moving on from India is probably the right move. I would not drop India in deeper leagues, at least for another couple weeks.

If you aren't hopeful in India bouncing back, he's a trade target in deeper leagues, where he has more value. If India gets dropped in your standard league, he could be worth an immediate pickup, but he's at least worth keeping tabs on.

He should heat up eventually, and then he'll be a daily starting option in all fantasy leagues again.

Should You Drop Matt Shaw?

Shaw was also dropped in 2.7% of fantasy leagues, bringing his overall mark down to 60%.

Shaw was another fantasy hitter I really liked coming into the season. The rookie hasn't started very well, which isn't all that surprising, since a lot of top-end prospects still struggle in their first taste of the big leagues.

Shaw has a .164 average and .292 OBP across his first 17 games and 65 plate appearances. He has a homer and a double among his nine total hits. Shaw also has three RBIs, 10 walks, 11 runs scored and 17 punchouts.

While things haven't gone super smoothly for Shaw, I'm not going to overreact and call him a MLB bust. Right now though, he's not performing well enough to roster and play in standard leagues, and in those leagues, I'd say he's droppable.

Like in the case with India, Shaw is one who could be scooped up in standard leagues if you have a roster spot to play with - some simply cannot afford to roster a hitter performing this poorly right now. If you don't add him now, Shaw is one to keep tabs on, because he could be a big difference maker when going well at the plate.

Shaw should be held onto in deeper leagues and dynasties and keeper leagues for now. I think he'll get things going eventually, but his high OBP right now still makes him a usable fantasy asset in some fantasy setups. I'd give it another couple weeks before seriously considering dropping Shaw in those leagues.

Should You Drop Otto Lopez?

Lopez was dropped in 2.5% of leagues today. He's rostered in 40% of leagues now.

Lopez was a hot waiver wire name early in the season, but cooled off significantly. He does have three hits over his past four games, along with three walks, so he's actually heated back up a touch.

In 14 games and 63 plate appearances overall, Lopez has a .232 average and .317 OBP. He's got three doubles and two home runs among his 13 total knocks, along with eight RBIs, a stolen base, seven walks and strikeouts and eight runs scored.

Lopez has a career .273 average and .321 OBP (most of that in 2024), so some improvement could come in both stats in time. I never thought he was a sustainable asset in standard leagues, but he's still doing enough to roster in some deeper leagues.

Until his average goes back up a bit though, Lopez is likely to keep seeing his own percentage drop. He'll be added in a bunch of leagues when he starts hitting a touch better, and he's worth watching now to see if he's going to keep getting on base as much as he has the past four games.

Should You Drop Dylan Crews?

Crews is also down 2.5%, bringing his overall mark to 63%. He's one of the top prospects in baseball, but is really struggling at the plate.

Crews has five hits across 43 at-bats for an ugly .116 batting average. He has walked twice across 45 total plate appearances for a .156 OBP. Crews has singles for all his hits, three stolen bases, five runs scored and 17 strikeouts to his name.

Crews also struggled in his 31 MLB games in 2024, so now fantasy owners are starting to worry a bit after his struggles early this season. He's simply not worth starting in any leagues right now, and he's droppable to many of you.

Crews needs to be held onto in deeper leagues and dynasty/keeper leagues for the time being. It's just too soon to bail on a top-end MLB prospect. Crews should just be benched in those fantasy leagues for now.

Crews isn't worth holding in standard leagues, unless your team is off to a great start, and you wouldn't need his roster spot to be all that helpful right now. Not many of you are probably in that situation though.

Crews is one to watch all season, as I think he's too talented to struggle for the entire year. If he heats up, he could be added in fantasy leagues in a hurry.

Four of his hits have come over the past five games, but he also has five strikeouts in that span. He'd need more consistency with his hits, along with less strikeouts to be a standard league asset again.