Fantasy Baseball Drop Watch: Closers, Veterans and Surprises Trending Down

After checking out some more fantasy baseball waiver wire/streaming options for Wednesday (pitchers and hitters), let's now focus on some possible drop candidates.

Here's the last drop article we did here at FantasySP.

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.

Riley O'Brien - St. Louis Cardinals

O'Brien is down to 84% rostered right now. He was above 90% for a good portion of May, but is trending down of late.

He was tagged with a loss on Tuesday after allowing three runs on three hits and a walk in an inning of work. It's the fourth straight game in which he's allowed at least one run.

Across 26 appearances this season, O'Brien is 3-3 with 14 saves, one hold and four blown saves. He now has a 4.10 earned run average, having allowed 14 runs (12 earned) on 24 hits and five walks over 26 1/3 innings. O'Brien has 29 strikeouts to his name so far.

O'Brien started the season hot, but has faded since, and especially of late. He's not worth owning in all standard leagues any longer, and more struggles could make him just a deep-league asset.

Hold him in deeper leagues, and some standard leagues for now, but be watching him closely. Move off O'Brien if he doesn't improve soon, or loses the closer role.

Ildemaro Vargas - Arizona Diamondbacks

Vargas sits near 74% owned at this time. He was at nearly 90% on May 25, so it's been a pretty quick and steady drop off for him.

He started the season on a long hitting streak and still has a .290 average and .318 on-base percentage for the season. Vargas has nine doubles, seven homers and two triples among his 60 total hits, plus has 37 RBIs, 30 runs scored, a stolen base, eight walks and 21 strikeouts.

The versatile defender was a fantasy surprise early on, but he's regressing hard now. Vargas is still a decent fantasy asset because of his position versatility, but he's no longer a must-hold hitter in standard leagues.

Keep holding him in deeper leagues, but more struggles could mean less playing time, and that could eventually make him droppable in those leagues too. It was a fun start to the year for Vargas, but he's losing fantasy value fast since.

Davis Martin - Chicago White Sox

Martin has been one of the biggest fantasy surprises this season. He's below 98% rostered right now and is being let go after a rough start on Tuesday.

He gave up six runs on 10 hits and three walks in just 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday. He took the loss and saw his ERA jump 0.61.

Martin still has a strong 2.61 ERA over 12 starts, and his 8-2 record is still stellar. Fantasy owners knew regression was coming, and maybe it began on Tuesday. He's allowed 21 runs on 63 hits and 17 walks over 72 1/3 innings, while striking out 73 batters along the way.

Martin has been a fun fantasy story early on, but there is a chance that Tuesday was the start of him regressing closer to his career marks. Instead of dropping him though, I'd look to sell him in a trade.

He's pitched well enough this season that another fantasy owner might be intrigued enough to go after him, and Martin could land you a better return than you'd find on the waiver wire. He's definitely not one to drop in deeper leagues.

Eugenio Suarez - Cincinnati Reds

Suarez sits at about 80% owned at this time. He was rostered in all leagues early in the season, but between time on the injured list and some struggles at the plate, he's down as a fantasy asset.

He has struggled over the past couple weeks, with poor stats over his past seven and 15 games. Suarez has just nine knocks over his past 15 games, and he's struck out 20 times in that span.

Suarez has a .221 average and .304 OBP, which are lower than his career marks. Add in less power (five doubles and four homers) and he's not nearly as good a fantasy asset.

Suarez has 27 total hits, along with 15 RBIs and walks, 13 runs scored and 42 strikeouts. He has played in 35 games so far, getting 138 plate appearances.

There's time for Suarez to turn things on, but he's struggled so far and isn't worth as much fantasy ownership as he has now. He's a big enough name where you could maybe still trade him away in standard leagues. Keep holding out hope for him in deeper leagues, but more struggles at the plate could eventually make him droppable in those leagues too.

Bo Bichette - New York Mets

Bichette is rostered in about 89% of leagues right now. He too was owned in all leagues to kick off the season, but he's fallen after not producing a ton in his first season with the Mets.

He's really struggled over his past seven games, posting just two hits. Bichette has a .213 average this season, which is way below his career .288 mark. His .271 OBP is also way below his career .332 mark.

Bichette has six doubles and five homers among his 52 total hits. He has 28 RBIs and runs scored, plus 19 walks, a stolen base and 44 strikeouts. He's played in 61 games, getting 266 plate appearances so far.

Bichette should be eligible at shortstop and third base, which helps his cause. Most are expecting him to get going eventually, but right now, it's hard to start him in standard leagues, because he's simply not producing enough. 

Look to trade him away before outright dropping him. The return won't be anything special, but it should be better than what you could find on the waiver wire. Hopefully Bichette gets rolling soon, otherwise fantasy owners are going to be faced with some tough decisions.