Catcher Tiers Update: July 2013

Before everyone runs off for the weekend to enjoy the summer sun, the barbecues and the fireworks, it’s time to take a look at the updated catcher tiers for the the month of July. Not surprisingly there hasn’t been a whole lot of movement from tier to tier and there really hasn’t been much shuffling within either. Everyone seems to be doing what we expected. That’s right, they are who we thought they were. So let’s take a look.

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

Buster Posey

Yadier Molina

Joe Mauer

The tier and the order within remain unchanged from last month thanks to a strong June from Posey who re-establishes himself as the clear number one. Maybe that’s just in my eyes and in those of Giants fans, but with his ability to hit for power and average and the consistency with which he plays, I would take him over any other catcher and not think twice about it. Yaddy has great skills and offers great porduction as well, particularly with some work on the bases, but Posey still gets my vote.

Naga Viper Pepper

Wilin Rosario

Carlos Santana

Mike Napoli

Brian McCann

With a June where he hit .305 and continued to hit for power, Rosario moves to the top of the tier for me. He’s young, he’s a power hitter and his average, though not where you’d like it in an ideal world, isn’t killing you. Napoli and McCann both barely hand on in this tier after mediocre months, but in actuality, both could be at the top of the next tier and it would be tough for anyone to complain. They get the edge due to their power track record.

Red Savina Habanero

Matt Wieters

Jason Castro

Jonathan Lucroy

Salvador Perez

A.J. Pierzynski

Victor Martinez

Miguel Montero

Overall, still some great options here. Lucroy has finally come around, Castro has surprisingly maintained the work he’s done, we’ve seen a spark in Perez lately and even a glimmer of hope for Montero owners. V-Mart stays in this tier again until we see another month of growth from him. He put forth a solid month of June and even flashed a bit of power with four home runs. I won’t move him though unless he really does something to warrant it.

Scotch Bonnet

J.P. Arencibia

Russell Martin

Ryan Doumit

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Carlos Ruiz

Decent power, lousy average is the main theme to this tier, although Chooch did a nice job of batting .297 in June. He’s shown no power which makes me wonder if he shouldn’t be in the tier below, but we’ve seen some growth from him after battling injuries, so we’ll cut him a bit of slack. Not much, but a little.

Piri Piri

Evan Gattis

John Jaso

John Buck

Welington Castillo

A.J. Ellis

Alex Avila

Yasmani Grandal

Much to the chagrin of the Gattis lovers from last month’s tiers, he doesn’t move an inch since he’s been out with this oblique injury. He has no business being moved up since he hasn;t played but I won’t bump him down because of it. Let’s just see what happens when he eventually returns. The big mover here is obviously Grandal who is now playing. He’s not playing particularly well,  stats-wise, right now, but added playing time, a strong walk rate and improved strikeout rate move him up.

Serrano

Wilson Ramos

Chris Iannetta

Tyler Flowers

Kurt Suzuki

Jordan Pacheco

Mike Zunino

Rob Brantly

The only addition to this tier is Zunino who is the first Seattle catcher not to lose his job this season. He hasn’t been particularly impressive, but he’s had his moments. I consider him a work in progress with excellent potential. Everyone else in this tier is, well, everyone else.

Jalapeno

Ryan Hanigan

Jose Lobaton

Derek Norris

Devin Mesoraco

Carlos Corporan

Martin Maldonado

David Ross

Yan Gomes

Nick Hundley

Platoon partners, back-ups, spare parts, whatever you’d like to call it. These are the guys who may have some value in deep, AL or NL-only leagues, but even then, that’s pushing it.

Pimento

Michael McKenry

Dioner Navarro

Travis d’Arnaud

Josh Thole

Navarro seems to be loving this steady interleague thing and that keeps him alive here, d’Arnaud still has keeper potential down the road, and I think I saw Thole play a game once….maybe twice.

Bell

Ryan Lavarnway

Ramon Hernandez

Jesus Montero

Kelly Shoppach

Cast off, cast aside, ignored, and rightfully so. Montero hits rock-bottom with word coming out of Seattle that he will never catch for their organization again.