Wednesday's Fantasy Baseball Drop Candidates: Javier Baez and Royce Lewis are the Biggest Names

After checking out some fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters and pitchers, let's now go over some more drop candidates.

We won't cover anyone who appeared in Tuesday's drop article.

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 Javier Baez?

Baez was let go in 2.5% of leagues, bringing his overall mark down to 69%.

Baez has played in 46 games and gotten 165 plate appearances so far this season. He's got a .280 average and .315 on-base percentage, along with 44 total hits, 29 RBIs, a stolen base, 23 runs scored, five walks and 39 strikeouts. He has six homers and 10 doubles among his hits.

He has just one hit (a double) over his past four games. Baez has two runs scored, no walks or RBIs and five strikeouts in that span.

Baez is still posting some of the best numbers in his career. In his first three seasons with Detroit, Baez had a .221 average and .262 OBP, so it always seemed unlikely that he was going to keep up with his hot start at the plate.

Something working in Baez's favor is that he's likely eligible to play at several fantasy positions now. He's played center field most often this season, but has shortstop eligibility from past seasons. Baez has also played some second base and shortstop, so it's worth seeing how many positions he's eligible at.

Baez is out of the team's lineup on Wednesday, which marks the second time in the past six games that he's not been in the starting lineup. He continues to bat ninth, so his fantasy outlook is hampered a bit by that too.

Baez was a fun story for a couple weeks, but he's starting to trend toward being just a deep-league fantasy option. He can still be rostered and utilized in those leagues, especially if he's eligible at several spots. He can sit the bench when he's cold at the plate, or not starting in real life.

Baez can start in deeper fantasy leagues when he's part of the Tigers' lineup, and he could work his way back into standard leagues with more hot hitting in the days and weeks to come. 

I think he's going to top out as a deep-league option most often, but he's worth keeping tabs on all year.

Should You Drop Ryan Pressly?

Pressly is down to 46% after being let go in 2.2% of leagues.

Pressly opened the season as the Cubs' closer, but he's lost that role. He still is pitching high-leverage innings, mostly in wins (or close/tie games), but if he's not closing games, his fantasy value dries up significantly.

Pressly lost the closer role after allowing nine runs (eight earned) on five hits and a walk and hit batter on May 6. He's been stellar since, not allowing a run over seven innings. Pressly has allowed seven hits and three walks in that span, while striking out five.

He's appeared in 22 games this season, 15 of which the Cubs have won. Pressly is 2-2 with four saves and three holds. All of his holds have come since May 18 and he hasn't had a save since April 13, showing his bullpen role has changed.

Pressly has allowed 13 runs (11 earned) on 24 hits and 11 walks this season. He's struck out just 10 batters over 20 innings.

His ERA is inflated by his blowup outing earlier this month. Pressly really has been pretty good otherwise, he just lacks in the strikeout department.

Because he's lost the closer role though, there's no point in rostering Pressly in standard leagues anymore. He's worth keeping an eye on in case he lands the closer role again this season, but until then, you can do better for a fantasy relief option.

Pressly can be dropped in a lot of deeper redraft leagues too. His low strikeout numbers hold him back from having a ton of fantasy value, and holds can only get a fantasy reliever so far. 

Keep rostering Pressly in really deep redraft leagues, but otherwise, I'd be looking for another reliever for the foreseeable future.

Should You Drop Royce Lewis?

Lewis is at 57% rostered - he was near 75% when he made his season debut earlier this month.

Lewis has played in 18 games since he made his season debut on May 6. The Twins are 14-4 in those games, but Lewis hasn't helped out much.

He has a .148 average and .212 OBP across 66 plate appearances so far. Lewis has a homer and two doubles among his nine total knocks. He also has three RBIs, four runs scored, five walks and 10 strikeouts.

Lewis has started five of the team's past six contests. He has batted seventh in his past two starts, and had an off day between those outings. 

Lewis can be one of the better fantasy hitters in the league when he's going well at the plate. Injuries have held his career back, and his slow start this year has fantasy owners bailing on him.

I'd drop Lewis in all standard redraft leagues. He's one to keep a close eye on in case he ever heats up. Add him and utilize him immediately, because as I said before, he can be an elite fantasy hitter when he's hot.

I'd do my best to keep rostering Lewis in deeper redraft leagues. I'd just bench him until he heats up. If his struggles continue for another week or more, then I'd be fine dropping him in a few more leagues.

I'd personally look to trade him in deeper redraft leagues. He's got enough value and upside to land you a decent asset in return. It's a buy-low trade situation, so you won't get great value back, but it might be better than what's available on the waiver wire.

Should You Drop Will Benson?

Benson is down to 27% rostered. He was at about 45% on May 21, so his falloff has been drastic.

He's hitting .260 and getting on base at a .328 clip across 16 games and 58 plate appearances this season. Benson has five homers and three doubles among his 13 total knocks, along with 14 RBIs, a stolen base, seven runs scored, five walks and 14 strikeouts.

Benson was hitting .353 and had a .421 OBP on May 21. He has one hit, three RBIs, no runs scored, two walks and four strikeouts in the five games and 20 plate appearances he's gotten since then, so his numbers have drastically fallen off.

He has started four games in a row for the Reds, but is typically sitting when a lefty is on the mound for the opponent. That already limits his fantasy value plenty, and because he hits near the bottom of the order, his fantasy ceiling is rather low.

I think his surge in own percentage was a bit overblown. He was always a better deep-league option and was simply going through a hot stretch at the plate.

It's fine to roster and utilize a player like Benson in those stretches, but his play since that stretch is why he should top out as a deep-league option, never getting into standard leagues.

Benson is still fine to roster in some deeper redraft leagues, but he's just a bench option for now. If your team needs immediate help, Benson is definitely droppable. Assess your team and react with your team's best short- and long-term goals in mind.