Fantasy Baseball Early-Season Drop Candidates You Should Consider

We've already published four fantasy baseball waiver wire/streaming-related articles today, so we are now going to turn our attention to drop candidates.

Here is Monday's waiver wire article, plus today's starting pitcher streaming story. We also did a waiver wire article where we identified players by weekly projections, and a story on the early-season fantasy hitters who have excelled and could be pickups too.

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.

Brandon Sproat - Milwaukee Brewers

Sproat is rostered in 38% of fantasy baseball leagues today. He topped out at about 41% for his start on Sunday.

He had a favorable matchup against the White Sox, but was tagged for seven runs over three innings. Sproat was taken off the hook after the Brewers rallied late, but that only slightly improved a really poor fantasy showing for the young hurler.

Sproat threw 86 pitches in his three innings, with just 50 being strikes. He allowed six hits and four walks, while striking out three.

He got some MLB experience with the Mets last year, posting a 4.79 earned run average over four starts and 20 2/3 innings. Milwaukee has been known to get the best out of pitchers, so his first start in a favorable matchup was tabbed as a good one for fantasy purposes.

Sproat didn't deliver, but that doesn't mean you should give up on him for good. If he sticks in the rotation, or on the big league roster, he won't be as good of a fantasy option for his next appearance. He could turn things around later in the season, so don't let this one bad showing affect your thoughts on him forever.

Carlos Estevez - Kansas City Royals

Estevez is owned in 83% of leagues right now. He was near 95% rostered at the start of the season.

Estevez was the team's preferred closer coming into the season, but that's maybe already changed. He was tagged for six runs in just 1/3 of an inning in his lone appearance so far. Estevez allowed six earned runs on four hits and two walks. He faced seven batters and has an ugly 162 ERA right now.

To make matters worse, he was hit by a comebacker, and could be placed on the injured list with an ankle injury. If that happens, his own percentage will really fall off. 

Lucas Erceg earned the team's save the next night, and is on the rise as a fantasy asset. He could skyrocket if the Royals take the closer role away from Estevez, or place him on the IL.

Don't bail on Estevez in all leagues, but he's definitely droppable in some standard leagues, especially if you need some relief pitching help. Estevez has been a good fantasy reliever over the past couple years, but things can change in a hurry for those guys.

We'll keep tabs on the situation and update you when we know more. At the latest, we'll cover things in a closer breakdown later in the week.

Noelvi Marte - Cincinnati Reds

Marte has dropped to 64% owned already. He was over 80% at the start of the season.

Marte had a rough start to his regular season, and is dropping rapidly already. He made two starts across three games, and hit eighth and ninth in those contests.

Across six plate appearances, Marte failed to record a hit or walk. He also struck out four times. In his first start, he was pulled for a pinch-hitter, so that's also a concern.

Marte had some success in a 35-game campaign in 2023, but hasn't been able to replicate those numbers since. He's still just 24 years old, but until he's actually delivering better, he's not worth fantasy ownership in a lot of leagues.

Another slow week could mean he's dropped in all standard leagues. It might not even take a full week to get to that point.

He might even be dropped in deeper leagues if he doesn't get things going this week. As long as he's playing enough, he still has upside in those deeper leagues.

Something else to note is that he's only started against left-handed starting pitchers so far, while sitting against the one righty. If that continues, Marte will only be a deep-league fantasy asset. Don't be afraid to drop Marte today, especially if there's a waiver wire target you really like out there.

Brenton Doyle - Colorado Rockies

Doyle is rostered in 58% of leagues today. He was up at 70% for a time last week.

Doyle was a bounceback candidate coming into the season coming off a poor 2025 showing. In three games and 12 plate appearances, things don't look any better.

He's yet to post a hit yet, although he does have a walk and stolen base. Doyle has struck out twice so far.

Doyle has started each game, but hit seventh in each contest. That's not a favorable fantasy spot, especially in a lackluster lineup. Hitting in Colorado is a boost, but doesn't make up for batting that late in the order.

Doyle could move up the order in time, but after a down 2025 and slow start to 2026, I don't love the idea of rostering him in standard leagues. I'd be moving off him if there were waiver wire targets out there that I really liked.

He's still worth rostering in deeper leagues, but he's still not a must-start guy, especially when all other teams are in play that day. I'm still holding out hope that Doyle turns things around this season, but he's not off to a good start.

We'll keep tabs on him and let you know if he's addable in the future, or should be dropped in even more leagues.

Lawrence Butler - Athletics

Butler is owned in 73% of leagues today. He was up near 85% to open the year.

Butler has appeared in two games so far. He started Opening Day, but was benched the past two contests.

In the first game, he got three plate appearances from the No. 6 spot in the order. He didn't reach base and struck out once. Butler came on in the eighth inning of the team's third game, and made an out in his only at-bat.

Butler was another bounceback fantasy candidate after a down 2025 showing. He was pretty good in 2024. Like Doyle, Butler hasn't gotten off to a good start in 2026, and Butler might be even worse off given that he's failed to crack the lineup in back-to-back days.

There's a lot of up-and-coming hitting talent in the Athletics' lineup, and it might squeeze Butler out of the mix. He's still only 25 years old, so the team probably isn't ready to fully move on yet.

It will be worth watching to see how often Butler is in the lineup moving forward. He can be a good fantasy asset at times, but obviously he needs to be playing regularly for that to happen.

Butler is already droppable in a bunch of standard leagues, especially if you really like a waiver wire option out there. There's plenty of outfielders to go around, which makes moving on from Butler (or Doyle) a bit easier.

Don't write him off for good and be ready to maybe add him back if he starts playing and producing regularly. For now though, he's not a fantasy asset to start, even if he's back in the starting lineup.