Hello Fantasy friends and foes. Welcome back to the Fantasy Six Pack's weekly Drop List.
Hope everyone had a good July 4th holiday! As we head into the All-Star break, teams will be figuring out if they are contenders or pretenders. Who should they trade for? What player(s) should they trade away? While baseball fans are watching a meaningless exhibition game, each front office is planning out the strategy for the remainder of this season and beyond.
As I starting to write this article for Week 15, I started to jam to the song "5:15" by The Who. The song is part of the band's second rock opera Quadrophenia, which was released in 1973. The term "Quadrophenia" was coined by Pete Townshend, referring to schizophrenia, times two. The song itself is about the main character Jimmy taking the 5:15 train back to the city of Brighton, and how he remembers various experiences of himself and the cultural movement to which he belongs.
To celebrate the song and the band, I came up with five players to drop in Week 15. Find out who and why in the 2018 Fantasy Baseball Week 15 Drop List.
2018 Fantasy Baseball Week 15 Drop List
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Hitters
Jonathan Lucroy, C, Oakland A's
Jonathan Lucroy was not a hot commodity in free agency coming into this season. He lingered in free agency until the middle of March, finally signing a one-year deal with the Oakland A's. Lucroy produced one of his worst seasons in 2017 when he posted a .265/.345/.371 slash line last season with six homers in Colorado.
It was just two summers ago that Lucroy was trending everywhere. The anticipation on where he would land was dominating the rumor mill. He was a fantasy mainstay at the catcher position and a player that you wanted to draft early to give you an advantage at the catcher position.
Unfortunately, his decline as continued from last season, he is hitting .249/.304.325 with only one homer and 25 RBI. In his seven full seasons in the bigs, he has produced double-digit homers in five of his seven seasons. Lucroy, a right-handed batter, slashed a healthy .316/.364/.523 against lefties over his first five big league seasons, but just .243/.310/.388 over the last three seasons. This season in 68 games, he is hitting .217/.289/.275 versus southpaws.
Here we go again with Jonathan Lucroy. He is a coveted player at this year's trade deadline. Teams desperate for a veteran catcher will look to get him since he will not cost them much to acquire. His days as a top-tier catcher are over. In one-catcher leagues, I would only own and start him in the deepest of the deepest leagues. In two-catcher formats, he is a low-end option that won't hurt you. I would rather grab a catcher with upside that can and will project more points.
Jose Pirela, 2B, San Diego Padres
Jose Pirela started 65 of the Padres’ first 67 games but has only appeared 15 times in the past 34 games. Before Saturday's appearance at second base, his last start at second base was June 30.
He is batting only .194 with a .239 on-base percentage during that span. In 344 plate appearances last season, Pirela hit .288/.347/.490 with a .837 OPS while smacking 10 homers and knocking in 40 runs. This season in 350 plate appearances, he is hitting .265/.314/.361 while only homering twice and has 25 RBI.
There is currently a player crunch at second base in San Diego with recently promoted Carlos Asuaje seeing increased playing time, especially against right-handed pitching. Asuaje has been with Triple-A El-Paso for much of the season, where he was slashing .270/.334/.362. Since his call-up on July 1, Asuaje is 6-for-20 with a triple and five walks and four runs scored.
In addition to Carlos Asuaje, the Padres have prized prospect Luis Urias who is hitting .375 over his last ten games and has raised his batting average from .254 (on June 8th) to .279 in 25 games. Urias is only 21 and is the youngest player in the Pacific Coast League. With a .388 on-base percentage, Padres fans can't wait to see him in the big leagues. For now, they can watch him in the Triple-A All-Star Game and the Future's Game coming up this weekend.
Pirela's days in San Diego look like they are numbered. It is very likely that we will see Pirela traded to a playoff contender at the end of July. He can multiple positions and will add depth to a contending team, but is no longer valuable for your fantasy roster.
Looking for hitting advice, let's see what Jonathan Chan has to say in his 2018 Fantasy Baseball Week 15 Hitting Planner: Oh No, Oakland!
Pitchers
Shelby Miller, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
Shelby Miller was reinstated from the 60-day disabled list after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery in April. This seems to be a fairly quick recovery, maybe too quick.
Miller is 0-3 and an ERA of 9.00 in his first trio of starts. Through 14 innings pitched in those starts he has allowed fourteen earned runs. In addition, he has allowed 20 hits and five walks. He’s surrendered four homers in the three starts, with a HR/FB ratio over 28%. Each of the three starts featuring a Diamondbacks loss.
On the positive side, his strikeout numbers look fairly solid. He has struck out 18 hitters in the 14 innings pitched. Miller is throwing strikes, but when they get hit, they are getting hit hard. Miller is giving up hard contact 61% of the time.
It normally takes as long as 16-18 months for pitchers to return to full strength after Tommy John surgery. With Miller pitching well in advance of that threshold, it tends to make you believe he came back too soon. Miller has not produced much in any of his three seasons with the Diamondbacks. In 27 starts, he is 5-17 with a 6.11 ERA and a 4.71 FIP. This season looks like another one of poor production, and not worth holding on to on your fantasy roster. Maybe with more time to recover, 2019 season will generate results somewhat similar to his promising 15-game winning 2013 season with the Cardinals.
Looking for pitchers to pick up in good matchups? Get some advice from Tyler Thompson, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Week 15 Pitching Planner: Change Is Gonna Come.
Tanner Roark, SP, Washington Nationals
“We’re going to have to sit down and figure this whole thing out with him..." - #Nats' skipper Davey Martinez on #Nationals' starter Tanner Roark: https://t.co/RZVt53pYhi
— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) July 9, 2018
After Tanner Roark's latest outing Sunday, his record fell to 3-11. The last time Roark won for the Nationals this season was June 6. It has left him winless in five starts, over which he had a 7.57 ERA and a .336/.408/.558 line against in 27 1⁄3 IP. Also, in those five starts, he has allowed 60 base runners while recording only 76 total outs.
Roark now has a 4.76 ERA and 4.58 FIP while also giving up a whopping 3.4 BB/9 on the season. He is a pitch-to-contact pitcher who has allowed more than 30 percent hard contact, which is by far a career high.
The Nationals starting rotation has been affected by injuries this season. Stephen Strasburg is recovering from shoulder inflammation but is scheduled to start Tuesday for Class A-Advanced Potomac after throwing 60 pitches in a simulated game. Jeremy Hellickson has made just one start since returning from the disabled list. Erick Fedde, who took Strasburg's spot in the rotation, was just placed on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation.
It appears the Nationals may be in the market for a starting pitcher. Jon Heyman recently reported that they are seeking a starter and have checked in on Matt Harvey. It would seem that Tanner Roark's spot in Washington's rotation is not secure for good reason. He is definitely not a dependable option for your fantasy team as well.
Chris Stratton, SP, San Francisco Giants
Chris Stratton currently leads the Giants in wins with eight and games started with 18, but has struggled of late, including conceding eight runs on 11 hits and two homers in 5.2 innings pitched in his most recent start against Colorado. In his last three starts, he allowed a combined 28 hits and 15 earned runs without a win. Additionally, his ERA, which was 2.22 after four starts, has continually risen since then and currently sits at 4.93.
Stratton was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento after he became the odd man out of the starting rotation with veteran Jeff Samardzija being activated from the disabled list.
The Giants have a good problem with surprising pitching depth. The rookies Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez will remain in the rotation. They will join Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and Samardzija to represent a level of pitching depth that could propel the Giants to be highly competitive in the very winnable NL West.
Stratton will get to work on some things in Triple-A and possibly return to the Giants this season. However, even if he does, he is not worth keeping on your roster, then or now.
Now you know who to drop, let Tyler Gettmann tell you who to pick up in his 2018 Fantasy Baseball Week 15 Waiver Wire: 4th of July Edition.
Check out the rest of our great 2018 Fantasy Baseball content.
3 comments
You mean Luis Urias, not Luis Arias.
Hey Ryan,
Thanks for visiting our site and reading the article. Nice catch! Not sure how I missed that.
Dennis
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