Unlike intriguing waiver-wire additions, sometimes there are players that are simply rostered too much in fantasy baseball.
We are nearly two months into the season, so we've been given enough of a sample size to safely decide whether to drop players with high preseason expectations or keep them in hopes of a breakout.
Below are four players with promising preseason predictions or who started the season strong but can be safely replaced heading into June.
4 fantasy baseball stars that can be dropped
Sandy Alcántara, SP, Miami Marlins
The 2022 Cy Young Award winner has been atrocious this season after missing all of the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Through 41 2/3 innings, he's posted a 7.99 ERA with a 34:23 strikeout:walk ratio.
According to BaseballSavant, Alcántara's stats from 2022 and 2025 show vast differences. Below are the relative percentiles the 29-year-old falls into.
Fastball Velocity | Chase Percentage | Walk Percentage | Groundball Percentage | Pitching Run Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | 96 | 94 | 83 | 90 | 100 |
2025 | 93 | 8 | 15 | 80 | 19 |
His stuff is not missing bats, as hitters have a .280 batting average against the righty. There are still chances that Alcántara will return to form the more he throws after the injury, but for smaller leagues, he can be safely dropped.
Max Meyer, SP, Marlins
Alcántara's fellow Marlin, Meyer, started his second full season on fire, posting a 3.18 ERA in March and April, combined with 47 strikeouts and only 11 walks over 34 innings. May has been a completely different story for Meyer, though, with a 5.64 ERA, 16 strikeouts, and six walks over 22 1/3 innings.
He's also struggled on the road all season. In 22 2/3 innings away from LoanDepot Park, the righty has a 5.16 ERA, struck out 23 batters, and walked 11. Meyer has also struggled the deeper he's gone in games. According to FanGraphs, he has been outstanding the first time through the lineup, but progressively gets worse the more times he sees batters.
Time through the order | Innings pitched | Earned run average | Strikeouts | Opponent's batting average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 22 2/3 | 3.18 | 32 | .193 |
2nd | 21 | 4.71 | 22 | .247 |
3rd | 12 | 4.50 | 9 | .367 |
Meyer has the stuff to be successful in the big leagues, but he will need to figure out how to navigate lineups more than once. For now, he's droppable in all formats unless you're in a dynasty league. If he were striking out more batters, he'd be useful in standard leagues, but he's too volatile for a four-strikeout reward, especially in road starts.
Matt McLain, 2B, Cincinnati Reds
McLain had high hopes in spring training after his promising rookie season in 2023, when he finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He was one of my preseason favorites for a fantasy breakout, after he missed all of 2024 recovering from a surgically repaired left shoulder.
However, the 25-year-old has been brutal at the plate this season. He's posted a hitting line of .172/.284/.311 with a 65 wRC+ and .595 OPS. It's been so bad that on May 13 (and ever since), manager Terry Francona has moved McLain out of the two-hole and into the eighth or ninth position in the lineup. A trip to Triple-A Louisville may be what the youngster needs to get his head and swing corrected.
It's surprising that he's 88 percent owned in Yahoo leagues, but until he gets back to his 2023 form, he's not useful in any fantasy formats. Only keep him in dynasty formats where you could rely on McLain in the future.
Ryan Mountcastle, 1B, Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles have been hard to watch for fans lately, with the third-worst record in MLB. Mountcastle isn't helping the cause on offense, having the worst production over his six-year career. In 165 at-bats this season, the first baseman has only two home runs.
He has a batting line of .230/.263/.327 and a measly 67 wRC+. His weighted on-base percentage (WOBA) is .260, the only time in his career that it's been under .316. Until the first baseman can start producing better power numbers, he can safely be dropped in all standard formats.