Welcome to the 2023 Fantasy Baseball Week 21 Drop List!
Another week has passed as we continue running full speed into the Fantasy Baseball playoffs.
I won't bore you with the same old intros of "it's time to make some changes" or "there's no more room for error" because you know exactly what time it is. It's time to batten down the hatches and get that roster of yours primed for playoff performance.
No more giving guys time to figure things out or waiting for slumps to be broken. That time has come and gone.
In the 21st edition of our 2023 Fantasy Baseball Drop List, I bring to you, yet again, three more players who are certain drops before any more damage is done.
Our three drops this week include a power-struggling top 150 pick, a starting pitcher who entered August with a sub-3.00 ERA, and a reliever who has pitched his way out of a closing job.
Read on to discover the players who you should cut ties with before it is too late!
2023 Fantasy Baseball Week 21 Drop List
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Hunter Renfroe, 1B/OF, Los Angeles Angels
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Renfroe's 2023 projections saw him batting .246 with 28 homers and 78 RBIs. This projection was good enough for fantasy managers to draft Renfroe in the top 150 overall (139) and as OF37.
Unfortunately, Renfroe has underperformed in almost all his statistical projections this year.
At the moment, Renfroe is slashing .241/.301/.429 with only 18 homers and 52 RBIs. The power struggle for Renfroe this year is quite evident as his home run total from 2021 and 2022 finished at 31 and 29, respectively.
Not only is Renfroe's home run total down year over year but his OBP and SLG have declined each year since 2021.
Taking a peek at Renfroe's Statcast numbers, there's not a whole lot to get excited about. Let's list some here -
xwOBA -13th percentile
xBA - 16th percentile
xSLG - 23rd percentile
Barrel % - 29th percentile
Chase Rate - 17th percentile
As you can see above, Renfroe is having a season to forget for the Angels in 2023.
Most recently, in August, Renfroe is batting .182/.241/.286 with a 5:24 BB:K.
If Renfroe wasn't negatively gaining your attention up until August, he should surely catch your eye now.
Renfroe is a drop.
Alex Cobb, SP, San Francisco Giants
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As far as preseason projections go, Cobb is falling right in line with his forecast. These projections had Cobb starting 28 games while maintaining a 3.54 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP, good enough for an ADP of 218 overall SP64.
Surprisingly, through July of this season, Cobb was outperforming nearly all expectations. Excluding August, Cobb had a 2.97 ERA through 19 starts. I was guilty of thinking we had the old Alex Cobb back from his 2013-2014 Tampa Bay days and well, regression strikes again.
In August, Cobb has started five games and given up 20 earned runs. His ERA in August alone is 6.84 to go along with a 1.48 WHIP. Reverting to the mean happens all the time in the marathon MLB season, but it has been shocking to see just how hard Cobb has crashed back down to Earth.
As stated above, Cobb had a 2.97 ERA through July, but his ERA now sits at 3.74. That is a 0.77 point increase in just five starts and his last start on August 23rd wasn't even bad.
In my eyes, Cobb has always been a streamer who is picked up and dropped many times throughout the seasons, but this year was one to hang on to up until the very end.
Cobb certainly outperformed for owners all year, but it's time to let him go.
Don't forget to thank Alex Cobb for all he did for you this year, but it is now time to let go.
David Robertson, RP, Miami Marlins
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Filling in for Edwin Diaz in 2023 was no small task for any closer, but Robertson did his best. Moreover, he filled in for Diaz in an extremely disappointing year for the Mets.
To be honest, Robertson did pretty dang good for the limited Mets. Through his 40 appearances in New York, Robertson finished his time in New York with a 2.05 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP to go along with 14 saves and a 9.8 SO9. All in all, you really can't complain about that.
As the Mets continued their struggle, they decided it was time to cut Robertson loose for a couple of prospects. Clearly, the Mets didn't think a solid closer was helping them (it wasn't).
Consequently, on July 27th, Robertson was shipped to Miami. This is where things went south for the right-handed closer.
Since the trade, Robertson tallied a 7.20 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP over 10 innings while blowing three of his seven save opportunities. He blew three saves in his 17 opportunities with New York.
Robertson has been so bad in Miami that his time as closer is all but over.
The manager for the Marlins, Skip Schumaker, is unhappy with Robertson's performance as Miami's closer and is more than likely going to shift to a committee approach. That, or he'll completely demote Robertson to a set-up role to keep him out of the 9th inning.
Regardless of Robertson's positional status for the rest of the season, he is not someone you can afford to blow up any longer. His time in 2023 is over and it's time to figure something else out.
Look for a combination of Tanner Scott, Andrew Nardi, and A.J. Puk to take over Robertson's closing duties for the immediate future. Robertson will surely be involved in that committee somewhere, but his job as Miami's full-time closer has come to an end.
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