Fantasy Baseball Drop Candidates: 4 Players You Can Cut Before the Weekend

Let's turn our attention to some fantasy baseball drop candidates as we hit the weekend.

Here's the first drop article we did this week - we won't cover players from that 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.

Jake McCarthy - Colorado Rockies

McCarthy is currently rostered in 84.26% of fantasy baseball leagues. He was closer to 90% earlier this week.

He has one hit over his past three games. McCarthy has just one RBI and run scored in that span, plus three strikeouts. Over his past seven games, he has six hits, plus 10 strikeouts.

McCarthy is enjoying a career year in his first go round with the Rockies. Over 94 games and 357 plate appearances, McCarthy has a .293 average and .334 on-base percentage.

He has 21 doubles, 10 home runs and seven triples among his 96 total hits. McCarthy also has 59 RBIs, 46 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, 18 walks and 65 strikeouts.

The outfielder has been a pleasant fantasy surprise in hitter-friendly Colorado, but he has to be consistently hitting to be worth holding in all leagues. Right now, he's a better deep-league fantasy asset, so he's droppable in standard leagues.

Be watching his stats, and be ready to add him back if he starts heating up again eventually.

Shane McClanahan - Tampa Bay Rays

McClanahan is sitting at 91.49% owned right now, but is likely to trend down after his last start was shortened by an injury.

He exited after three innings because of back tightness. McClanahan isn't expecting the injury to affect him going forward, but it's at least a bit concerning, especially considering McClanahan's injury history.

When healthy, McClanahan can be a high-end starting pitcher, and he has been again in 2026. Over 20 starts, he's 9-6, but with a 3.09 earned run average.

He has worked 99 innings so far, striking out 91 batters along the way. This is his first big league action since 2023, and he's topped out at 166 1/3 innings over his career, which began back in 2021.

Some fantasy owners are deciding to drop McClanahan after the shorter start, but I think that's a mistake. He's pitched well this season, and unless he actually misses starts or hits the IL, I'm more than happy to stash him on the end of my bench until he's back.

I'd jump at the opportunity to add McClanahan if he became available in my league, especially if you need some pitching help.

Jarren Duran - Boston Red Sox

Duran is owned in 77.87% of fantasy leagues right now. He started the year at 100%, and had been over 80% for most of this month.

He has no hits over his past two contests, but had two multi-hit efforts over the three games before that. Duran has struggled most of the season already, so it's probably well past time to be dropping him.

Across 101 games and 429 plate appearances, Duran has a .195 average (that's not a typo) and a .252 OBP. He has 54 RBIs, 46 runs scored, 15 stolen bases, 28 walks and 125 strikeouts. Among his 76 hits, Duran has 13 homers, 10 doubles and three triples.

He's been a major draft bust in 2026, and I really have no clue why he's owned in so many fantasy leagues yet. Duran isn't producing enough, or doing it nearly consistently enough to be held and utilized in most standard leagues.

I see him as a better deep-league fantasy asset right now, so you should have no issues dropping Duran, especially if you need more out of that roster spot right now.

Tanner Scott - Los Angeles Dodgers

Scott sits at 74.46% rostered right now. That's likely to go way down after Edwin Diaz returned from a long stint on the injured list.

In Diaz's first game back on Wednesday, he pitched and got the save, so he appears to have the close role back immediately. Scott pitched each of the past two days, but didn't earn a save or hold in either contest. It's also worth noting that Diaz pitched both games, so he's not even being eased back into things.

Scott has pitched well this season, sporting a 2.42 ERA and 16 saves over 47 appearances, but with Diaz back, his fantasy value is way lower. Scott has a win and three losses, plus seven holds and two blown saves. He has 57 strikeouts over 44 2/3 innings.

Scott could still be worth rostering/utilizing in deeper leagues, but he can safely be dropped in standard leagues if he's not earning saves any longer.