Catchers: September 6th

A holiday edition of “Catchers,” coming to you in three…two…one.

Ryan Hanigan | Reds | 2% Owned
Hanigan is a favorite of mine, and like Chris Iannetta, he just needs to receive added playing time to be a viable option. Hanigan walks more than strikes out, hits line drives and can hit the ball out of the park enough to make him a fantastic catcher. If I can go off script for a moment and discuss real life baseball (gasp!), there is no way Hanigan should be riding the bench. The Reds are splitting starts behind the dish right down the middle (pun intended), so Hanigan is a nice guy to have if you have room for a second catcher, or are willing to take reduced production and lowered risk.

Yadier Molina | Cardinals | 60% Owned
The BABIP Gods shined favorably on Molina during August, allowing him to produce a monster .329 average at the dish. While there’s no reason to believe he can do it again, Molina was going to get some good luck eventually. However, outside of July, his line drive rates haven’t been anything special, leading to a sub-par season at the dish. He’s capable of hitting .275 in September, which is just high enough for a roster spot. During the last month of my season, I’d rather have a catcher with more upside than Molina. I usually hype players up, but Yadier should not be owned in 50% of leagues, let alone 60%.

A.J. Pierzynski | White Sox | 29% Owned
Guess who hit less than 13% line drives with a .346 BABIP in August? Pierzynski, that’s who! Besides cutting down on the strikeouts and the occasional dinger, Pierzynski hasn’t been productive at the plate this year. He’s not going to be sought after during free agency, but someone will take a chance on him this offseason. There’s no use owning him at this point, so don’t pay him any mind.