Catcher Tier Rankings Update — August 2012
Not sure if the other writers are updating the tiers for their positions, but there seems to be enough significant movement among the catchers, that I though a post with an updated set of tiers was worthwhile. Taking into consideration past performance, ROS expectations and even a bit of keeper value, here’s a look at how the catching tiers look for the month of August and possibly even the remainder of the season.
| U.S. Prime |
| Buster Posey |
If there was any doubt about ranking Posey up here by himself last month, the fact that he’s batting .458 with seven home runs and 27 RBI since the All Star break should put that to rest, right?
| U.S. Choice |
| Yadier Molina |
| Joe Mauer |
| Miguel Montero |
| Brian McCann |
| A.J. Pierzynski |
| Jarrod Saltalamacchia |
| Carlos Santana |
The fact that Pierzynski hasn’t faded here in the second half is extremely impressive, especially for a 35-year old backstop with so much mileage on him. He’s definitely earned the right to be up in this tier for the 2012 season. Santana moves up because he’s turning it up here at the end just as he did last year when his 12 home runs over the final two months turned so many heads.
| U.S. Select |
| Mike Napoli |
| Matt Wieters |
| Jesus Montero |
| Carlos Ruiz |
Napoli drops another tier as his average remains under .230, but the power, walk rate and OBP keep him from falling too far. Wieters also drops as his overall performance remains stagnant rather than improves. And, of course, Ruiz drops with the plantar fascitis and the uncertainty of his ability to come back at all this season.
| U.S. Standard |
| Ryan Doumit |
| Salvador Perez |
| Jonathan Lucroy |
| Wilin Rosario |
| A.J. Ellis |
Lucroy makes a jump into this tier based mostly on his expected performance the rest of the way while the rest stay in the same tier as last month, but they shuffle around based on performance.
| U.S. Commerical |
| Yasmani Grandal |
| Alex Avila |
| Kurt Suzuki |
| J.P. Arencibia |
Suzuki makes the jump with the trade to Washington and some expected increased plying time. Avila drops due to a lackluster performance while Grandal stays right where he’s at until we see how he comes back from the oblique injury. Arencibia drops with the rest of his season in doubt.
| U.S. Utility |
| Josh Thole |
| Steve Clevenger |
| John Buck |
| Michael McKenry |
| Russell Martin |
| Tyler Flowers |
| Geovany Soto |
| Jesus Flores |
| Chris Iannetta |
Clevenger and McKenry debut here with the potential to move up a tier next month, while Soto and Flores drop with playing time questions moving forward.
| U.S. Cutter |
| Ryan Hanigan |
| Miguel Olivo |
| John Jaso |
| Wellington Castillo |
| Rod Barajas |
| Chris Snyder |
| Jeff Mathis |
| Ramon Hernandez |
| Devin Mesoraco |
Some overall disappointments here and barely worth the start in a deep two-catcher league even. Castillo has potential to move up if the Cubs are committed to him long term, but we won;t know about that until later on down the road.
| U.S. Canner |
| Yorvit Torrealba |
| Nick Hundley |
| Wilson Ramos |
Ewww!
Howard Bender has been covering fantasy sports for over 10 years on a variety of websites. In addition to his work here, you can also find him at his site, RotobuzzGuy.com, Fantasy Alarm, RotoWire and Mock Draft Central. Follow him on Twitter at @rotobuzzguy or for more direct questions or comments, email him at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com
Doumit continues to be undervalued.
Agreed, especially since his health concerns should be alleviated by his primary role as a DH.
He should be tier 2, IMO. 7th or 8th best catcher in fantasy this season.
Keeper value is the only reason I could see him dropping a bit.
Since Doumit is one of the worst defensively, I can understand his placement at…wait…U.S. Standard? And you say he’s undervalued? You think he’s one of the top five catchers in the game? Stop baseballin’ for your own good.
Um, defense is not really applicable in fantasy rankings… and who claimed he was a top 5? Anyone? He’s ranked 9th here. You see, in math, there’s a few numbers between 9th and 5th. And since I’m running away with my fantasy league this season, I think I’ll continue to keep “baseballin’ for my own good,” thanks.
Napoli is 9th, Doumit is 13th. Tier 2 has him ranked between 2nd and 8th best. Doumit doesn’t really have the upside/proven history of anyone in that tier.
As a Jesus Montero owner, I really don’t understand the continued love. Can anyone explain?
it isn’t that montero is ranked highly, so much as that catcher is a really crappy fantasy position this year
No Norris?
No Norris.
Not sure what happened. Had him listed under U.S. Commercial in my draft. Apologies to the Norris-lovers out there.
Montero is overvalued.
At least a grade too high, at least for this year. There are four guys in the next level below that I would take first.
Yeah, 4th in WAR, tied for 5th in Runs, 2nd in RBI among catchers. Yeah, he sucks. Napoli, Wieters & Montero are garbage compared to him.
Obviously a very minor complaint, but Russell Martin needs to drop down. Rosario OPS is over .800, which is pretty impressive for a 23 year old catcher. I’d suggest switching those guys until Martin gets his BA over the Mendoza line.
As much as I love me some Rosario, his playing time since Hernandez has come back is a bit more limited, add in that he doesn’t walk much and these rankings tend to place a good bit of emphasis on OBP leagues rather than standard 5×5 and OPS leagues, I can see the lack of love. Dude is getting on base at a slower rate than Doumit is getting on by contact alone.
Gotta adjust these rankings slightly for the leagues you’re in.
I think Wellington Castillo has a chance to play a lot. The cubs know clevenger isn’t their catcher of the future so I see absolutely no reason to play him more than 1-2 games per week….catcher platoons don’t really ever work in terms of lefty/righty
Montero isn’t overrated. Pretty sure he’s top 10 in the NL in RBIs amongst all players…he jut struggles against lefties…
And doumit sent underrated IMO…he may not get quite the love he deserves, but he’s also just not all that great…his run totals are low, his HR totals are average at best, and he doesn’t steal bases,,,in standard 5×5 leagues that leaves average and RBI where he’s at best above average
On another note, when is someone gonna knock some sense into Jim Tracy?….how does this guy still have a job?…4-man rotation?…and worst of all, he keeps benching Rosario for Ramon “I’ve been on 19 teams in 11 seasons” Hernandez…his defense isn’t ever gonna get better unless he’s allowed to play more than twice a week…Rosario could be close to 28-30 HR with regular playing time…and he’s what, 23?….I really can’t for the life of me understand why people in keeper leagues aren’t doing everything to try and get him…my catcher can hit .240 all day if he’s giving me 25+ HR and 75-85 RBI
Isn’t that kid Kratz from Philly getting regular playing time now? Where does he project?
I’d put Kratz at the top end of U.S. Utility, close to moving up one tier
Salty should move down a tier and Doumit should move up a tier.
A.J. Ellis: 130 wRC+ making him much better than everyone in the tier above him except Ruiz who is only there because he’s hurt. Probably the most disrespected great hitting player in the game today
Unless it’s an OBP league Ellis’ counting stats aren’t as good as some of the guys ranked ahead of him in fantasy. If this wasn’t just a pure roto article your argument would definitely be justified.
in standard yahoo 5×5, aj ellis is currently ranked 439
If Napoli’s poor average dropped him a tier, bow come Salty’s .227 average didn’t? Or maybe it did? I don’t remember which tier he was listed on last time…
Your comment is along the lines of what I was thinking. Should not Napoli and Salty be switched? Especially given OBP leagues where Salty is at apparently an abysmal 0.285…
I now realize that these are rankings GOING FORWARD, and I am not buying Salty as the 7th best C ROS.
He did say that keeper potential was factored in slightly. Salty at 27 looks a bit better than Napoli at 31.
yeah, I missed that keeper potential stuff. Thank you for pointing that out.
I would use Martin Maldonado as my second catcher any time. Definitely, US Utility material.
How has Posey outperformed Molina to the point of deserving his own tier? If you want an exclusive tier at the top, fine, but it should be a two player tier consisting of Posey and Molina.
Well this is for August rankings and as pointed out in the article, Posey has been producing at a dominant level since the all-star break.
Tier 1 Since All-Star
Posey: 92AB .446/.509/.783 8HR 30RBI .1292OPS
Tier 2 Since All-Star
Molina: 91AB .341/.375/.505 3HR 9RBI .880 OPS
Mauer: 92AB .283/.405/.402 2HR 15RBI .808 OPS
Montero: 84AB .310/.408/.548 5HR 21RBI .956 OPS
Their production is not even close as Posey is, as the numbers show, in a tier of his own.
Uh, John Jaso has an 147 wRC+ and is hitting in the four slot for the Mariners every time they face an RHP, which is 75% of the time. What’s he doing below Miguel Olivo?
still no norris with every new update? what are you folks afraid of?
Norris was an accidental oversight as explained a little further up in the comments section.
But I’m not really sure what you’re clamoring for here. The guy is hitting .220 with a .303 OBP and a 34.8% strikeout rate for the month of August. Is it the two home runs you love so much? The two stolen bases? Help me understand what is apparently so great about having Norris on your roster…
Where does Grandal rank for 2013? I’m pretty interested to see what he does ROS.