Is it Time for Fantasy Baseball Owners to Bail on Kyren Paris?
Looking at several fantasy baseball drop candidates at the start of the week.
We've looked at a ton of fantasy baseball waiver wire options already (waiver adds from projections, hitters and pitchers) today, and now it's time to check out 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 Kyren Paris?
Paris is down 6.6% (the highest mark of any player at FantasySP at the time of publication) and is now rostered in 71% of leagues. He was at about 90% less than a week ago.
Paris has two hits over his past seven games, which covers 23 plate appearances. He singled for both of those knocks, while failing to draw a walk. Paris was hit by two pitches, stole a base, failed to score a run and struck out 12 times in that span.
It's easy to see why he's being dropped, but overall, his stats still look great. He's hitting .288 and getting on base at a .383 clip across 19 games and 61 plate appearances. Paris has five homers and a double and triple among his 15 total knocks, along with eight RBIs, five stolen bases and walks, 13 runs scored and 19 strikeouts.
He's starting to look more like the hitter he was in his first 36 MLB games between 2023-24. Paris had a .110 average and .214 OBP across 105 plate appearances in those seasons.
I don't think Paris is going to perform that poorly the rest of the season, and he's definitely going to improve on his recent marks. He's also not going to hit as well as he did early on.
He'll probably settle in as a fantasy asset for those of you in deeper leagues, while being a standard league streaming option when he's on hot streaks at the plate. Paris can be started in all leagues when he's hot at the plate, but should be dropped or benched when he's cold.
Right now, he's cold, and I think he will continue to be dropped until he falls into that deep-league territory (60 or so percent). He's one to keep an eye on all season, but his time as a top-end fantasy asset might have already come to an end.
Should You Drop Michael Conforto?
Conforto is owned in 21% of fantasy leagues after a 2.8% dropoff.
I had high hopes for him in a loaded Dodgers' lineup, but he's underperformed early on. He's hitting .194, but still getting on base at a .341 clip.
Conforto has four doubles and two home runs among his 13 total knocks, along with five RBIs, 13 walks, 12 runs scored and 22 strikeouts. He's played in 21 games, getting 82 plate appearances.
He's in the starting lineup whenever there's a right-handed pitcher on the opposing mound, and in that stacked lineup, Conforto is a really good fantasy asset, or at least he has that potential.
He's started the season cold at the plate, and it's seen his own percentage drop instead of rise, which is what I expected to see. I still think Conforto is going to be a good fantasy asset at times this season, but he's not worthy of fantasy starts in most setups right now.
He's a career .250 hitter, but hasn't hit over .240 in his past three seasons. Conforto's bat should heat up in time, and with an already good OBP, he'll be a good fantasy asset at that point.
For now though, he should be stashed on the bench of fantasy owners who want to keep him rostered. He's one to keep tabs on for whenever he heats up, and would be a big deep-league waiver asset at that point.
Should You Drop Victor Scott II?
Scott is down to 45% rostered after he was let go in 2.8% of leagues.
In 20 games and 77 plate appearances so far, Scott has a .235 average and .303 OBP, so not terrible numbers, but they are also lacking. He has two doubles and a triple and home run among his 16 total knocks, along with seven RBIs, walks and stolen bases, nine runs scored and 19 strikeouts.
He doesn't have a hit over the past three games though, and has scored negative points with two punchouts. Scott has a .118 average and .211 OBP across his past six games, which covers 19 plate appearances.
Scott has been replaced late in each of the team's past two games, which is not a trend you want to see, because he's usually batting ninth in the lineup.
There's still some fantasy value there because of his stolen base totals, but if he's not getting on base, there can't be any stolen bases. Scott is just a deep-league asset, and until he heats up and starts playing full games again, he's benchable.
I think Scott is going to top out as a deep-league option most times in 2025. He'll have hotter stretches at the plate, but should only be viewed as a short-term fantasy option in standard leagues, at least for now.
Should You Drop Joc Pederson?
Pederson is down to 9% rostered - he was around 30% on the first day of the regular season.
Pederson has simply been terrible at the plate in the early going. He's 3-for-55 across 18 games and 62 plate appearances. Pederson has a .055 average and .148 OBP, with a double among his hits, no RBIs or stolen bases, two runs scored, five walks and 15 strikeouts.
He doesn't have a hit over his past 39 plate appearances - he's walked three times and struck out on 12 occasions over that span. You rarely see bad stretches this bad, especially from players who have delivered in the past.
He's a career .238 hitter with a .339 OBP, and hit .275 with a .393 OBP across 132 games with Arizona last season. Pederson isn't going to continue to be this bad of a hitter, but he's absolutely unusable in fantasy right now.
He's never started much against left-handed pitchers, and even lost a start against a righty on Sunday. If his cold streak continues for much longer, I wouldn't be surprised to see Pederson designated for assignment.
As a fantasy asset right now, he should only be rostered in really deep leagues, and he shouldn't be starting in those leagues. He's a player to keep tabs on for when/if he gets going, but he's likely to top out as a deep-league fantasy asset in 2025. He's had stretches where he was a standard league option (even in a platoon) in the past, so don't completely write him off.
Should You Drop Zac Veen?
Veen made his MLB debut a couple weeks back, but hasn't been able to get going at the plate. He got to around 40% owned, but is all the way down to 8% now.
Veen has four knocks over 37 plate appearances in 11 games played. He's doubled and homered once, while driving in two runs, stealing a base, scoring once and walking twice. Veen has 14 punchouts as well.
He had three hits in his first five games played, but has just one in the six games and 17 plate appearances since. It was a homer, but a .067 average and .176 OBP in that span is simply not going to cut it.
He's still playing most games in full, but that could change with more struggles. Veen could also be sent back down to the minor leagues if his struggles persist.
He was a good dynasty/keeper asset when he was called up, and then was worthy of stashing in deeper redraft leagues. Enough time has passed to get an idea on his long-term outlook, and right now, it's not great.
He's still worth watching with so few games under his belt, but it'd take several good fantasy outings in a row before fantasy owners could start believing in him. Keep rostering him in deeper dynasty/keeper leagues, but bench or drop him in almost every redraft league until his numbers improve.