Should You be Dropping Agustin Ramirez and Jose Berrios in Fantasy Baseball Leagues?

After checking out some fantasy baseball waiver wire targets on Thursday, let's now look at some drop candidates.

We won't cover anyone who appeared in our drop story from earlier in the week. Also be sure to check out today's streaming article - many of those players will be the drop candidates on Friday.

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 Jose Berrios?

Berrios was one of my favorite pitchers for this week of fantasy play because of starts against the Rays and Tigers. He didn't fare well against Tampa Bay, and now he's being dropped.

He's down 2.2% today, bringing his overall mark to 81%.

Berrios worked 5 1/3 innings on Tuesday, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks against Tampa Bay. He struck out four batters.

It wasn't the big fantasy outing I, or many others, were expecting, and now he's not as good of an option against the Tigers, who are a worse matchup.

Berrios should still be rostered in all deeper redraft leagues, and that's unlikely to change this season. I think Berrios is still worth a roster spot in some standard leagues, but if your pitching is lacking and you need to stream to remain competitive, it might make sense to drop Berrios.

Across nine starts this season, Berrios has a 1-1 record and 4.33 earned run average. He's allowed 25 runs on 50 hits and 24 walks over 52 innings, while striking out 49 batters.

His career ERA is 4.08, and has been at or under 3.65 the past two years, so a little improvement should come in that stat eventually. Berrios' WHIP is 1.42 this season, which is way above his career 1.24 mark, and the 1.19 and 1.15 marks he had the past two seasons.

Berrios is right on line with his career mark for strikeouts per nine innings, but he's 1.5 walks higher. There's several stats where Berrios could improve in, and that's why I'd do my best to keep him rostered in standard leagues too.

I'd look into trading him away instead of dropping him. You'd be selling low, but at least you'd have the chance to add a decent player in return, and not have to hope your waiver addition can keep putting up big numbers.

Should You Drop Agustin Ramirez?

Ramirez is owned in 39% of fantasy leagues after a 2% drop today.

Ramirez was called up a couple weeks ago, and has turned in solid results at the plate so far. In 20 games and 82 plate appearances so far, Ramirez has a .260 average and .305 on-base percentage.

He has five homers and nine doubles among his 20 total knocks. Ramirez also has 10 RBIs, a stolen base, eight runs scored, five walks and 17 strikeouts to his name.

Ramirez has appeared at catcher in 11 games, while serving as the team's designated hitter for nine contests. He's batting third or fourth and is starting every game because he's not always catching.

Ramirez is not in a good lineup, but he's in a favorable fantasy spot in the lineup. I honestly don't know why he's trending down. He has four hits over his past four games, and homered and doubled on Wednesday. 

I actually think Ramirez should be rostered in more leagues, not be dropped right now. I think he's a good deep-league asset in redraft leagues, and should be bordering on standard league pickups with his power numbers.

Ramirez is a better asset in dynasty/keeper leagues, but he's definitely producing enough to have redraft value in at least deeper setups right now. Don't look down on him just because he's on a bad team - Ramirez can be a good fantasy asset.

Should You Drop Austin Hays?

Hays' season has been a rollercoaster ride. He opened the year on the injured list before returning and being one of the hottest hitters in the game for a stretch. He got injured again and missed more time, and this time, he's come back cold at the plate.

Hays is down 1.8% today and sits at 34% overall. He topped out around 65% near the end of April.

Overall, Hays' numbers still look very good. He has a .304 average and .360 OBP across 18 games and 75 plate appearances. Hays has four doubles and five homers among his 21 total knocks, along with 14 RBIs, a stolen base, 15 runs scored, six walks and 22 punchouts.

Since returning from the injured list a second time, Hays has just two hits over five games and 17 plate appearances. He has no walks or runs scored, one RBI and nine strikeouts in that span.

He's hitting cleanup when he's in the lineup, but if he's not producing at the plate, his fantasy value definitely isn't all that high. Unlike in the case with Ramirez, Hays is in a funk at the plate, so dropping him actually makes sense.

Hays is still a solid deep-league asset in my eyes, but I'd definitely bench him until he heats back up at the plate. He might have a hot hitting stretch that puts him in standard league streaming territory again, but he'll top out as a deep-league option most often this season.

Should You Drop Brayan Bello?

Bello is down 2.5% today and sits at 46% overall.

I'm a bit surprised to see his own percentage where it is after looking at his season-long numbers. In five starts, Bello is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA. He's allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 24 hits and 14 walks over 27 innings, while striking out 17 batters.

Those are strong numbers, but regression is likely coming for Bello. He has a career 4.28 ERA, but his career WHIP (1.42) lines up with this season's mark (1.41). His strikeouts are down and walks are up, so improvements in each of those areas will help offset a drop in ERA over time.

His next starts could come against the Braves and Orioles, who have talented rosters, but have underwhelmed this season. I'd say Bello will be a pretty confident deep-league option for each of those starts, at least at this point. I'd even consider Bello in some standard leagues.

I think Bello should be owned in just about every deeper redraft league right now, then be streamed in standard leagues when the matchups are right. More strong results will make him a keeper option in standard leagues.

Should You Drop Josh Smith?

Smith was let go in 1.6% of leagues today and now sits at 40% overall.

Over 37 games and 137 plate appearances this season, Smith has a .314 average and .390 OBP. He's homered and doubled four times and tripled once over his 38 total knocks. Smith has 10 RBIs, four stolen bases, 19 runs scored, 14 walks and 23 strikeouts as well.

His overall numbers are pretty solid, even without a ton of RBIs. Smith is a career .239 hitter with a .331 OBP, so regression is also likely coming.

Smith is in the lineup against most right-handed pitchers, and bats leadoff, so he's in a good fantasy spot there. His fantasy ceiling is capped by his lack of RBIs and only starting against righties, but he's undervalued and overlooked as a fantasy asset to me.

He deserves to be rostered in most deeper redraft leagues, even if it's until he cools off at the plate. Throw in that Smith might be eligible to start at first, second or third base, shortstop or any of the outfield spots and I think Smith is really underrated as a fantasy asset.

Pick him up and utilize him in some deeper leagues before it's too late.