Catchers Stock Watch

Things are starting to level off amongst the catchers these days, but there are still a few that are gaining and losing value as the season progresses.  Here’s a look at a few names you might want to keep in mind…

 

Risers

A.J. Ellis, LAD — With Rod Barajas heading to the DL, the Dodgers brought up Ellis on Sunday to take his spot on the roster, and possibly his starting job behind the dish.  A few things still need to go right for that to really happen, but so far, things seem headed in the right direction.  First of all, the fact that Dioner Navarro looks completely lost at the plate makes it easy to bypass the back-up on the depth chart, so that’s step one.  Step two is to maintain that delicious BB% that we’ve seen throughout his minor league career.  If he can keep it between 10 and 15 %, then the Dodgers will be loving on him and his OBP.  He seems to make good contact at the plate and does not appear to be too much of a free swinger – a very reasonable 16.9 K% for his career – so while you might not see much in the way of power (ISO has never been higher than .135 on any level), you could find your way into a solid average, good runs scored, and possibly even decent RBI.  If you’re hurting at catcher, then he may be worth a look soon.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, BOS —  Salty’s month to month growth so far this season is somewhat inspiring for those that have been waiting to see if he’ll ever break out.  With the exception of his K% which has taken a bit of a spike this month, Salty has steadily increased his BB%, his OBP/SLG/OPS slash line, as well as his wOBA and wRC.  He has also picked up his LD% while simultaneously lowering his GB%.  Throw all of that into a big pot, stir it up, and you’ve got yourself an improving ballplayer.  A little bad luck in the BABIP department seems to have suppressed the totals for the month of June, but if he continues the trends that he is on, then you should start to see his run production on an upswing.

Fallers

Jonathan Lucroy, MIL — Could the honeymoon be over for this early season sleeper?  After finishing the month of May with a batting average north of .300 and half a dozen home runs, Lucroy has seemingly gone into the tank as his .154 June has dropped his overall average to .264.  He’s also stuck on 6 HR and has only added 4 RBI to his total.  The hard-luck June .202 BABIP isn’t helping and neither is the gradually rising K%.  But before you go throwing him onto the scrap heap, take notice of his batted ball numbers.  Everything from an increasing LD% to a decreasing GB% looks good, but the major disruption is the outlandish 25.0 IFFB%.  Once that ships rights itself and the balls start dropping his way again, Lucroy could be in for a nice rebound.  He makes the Fallers list though because there’s really no telling exactly how long this drought will last, so you might want to think about a temporary fix until it’s over.

Josh Thole, NYM — It just seems to be going from bad to worse for the Mets backstop, and unless you’re sitting in a real deep league that starts two catchers, Thole probably shouldn’t even be rostered.  He coulda been a contendah with his double digit walk percentage and low strikeout rate, but Thole really didn’t do much to solidify himself as the Mets go-to guy.  In fact, April and May were such disappointments that the team was ecstatic to get Ronny Paulino back from his PEDs suspension.  Now Paulino is playing so well (relatively speaking) that he’s getting more looks against lefties and Thole’s playing time is slowly disappearing.  Depending on how long it takes for the Mets to realize they have no hope for the playoffs, Thole could get another opportunity if the Mets work out a deal for Paulino.  Not really something you want to wait around for though, so act accordingly and expeditiously if needed.