Is it just me, or do you think of the former American Idol contestant when you hear the name Jason Castro as well? Now that the cat is out of the bag and I have admitted to previously watching the popular singing competition, let’s talk about the Astros catcher.
Expectations weren’t sky-high for Jonathan Lucroy coming into 2013. For many, Lucroy represented a solid fallback option once some of the bigger names came off the board, with an ADP somewhere in the 120’s. His projections looked something akin to .270/.330/.400 with double digit home runs and 50/50 runs and RBI. Not thrilling, but nice. You could check off that pesky catcher position and move on to other issues.
Last year when we did our position-by-position post-season recaps, I wrote a piece touting Miguel Montero for his consistent performance and exceptional draft value. His numbers between 2009 and 2012, save for the one injury-riddled year he played just 85 games, were very consistent as he posted an average in the .280’s with 15 to 18 home runs each season while also maintaining that relative consistency in both his walk and strikeout rates and other batted ball data. That consistency, coupled with his always reasonable price tag, made him a pleasure to own and someone I felt confident in recommending as your fantasy catcher. But this past season, that consistency was replaced with struggle and because Montero didn’t cost you much on draft day, he became the poster boy for “you get what you pay for.” The decline is in full-swing and it’s time to move on from him. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a long road to relevance for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The former two-time Baseball America top-100 prospect was touted with the Braves, but failed to develop with the Rangers. By the time he was shipped to the Red Sox, Saltalamacchia was an after-thought. There was little reason to be excited about a 26-year-old former prospect who had shown little in the majors. Despite that, the Red Sox decided to give him a more substantial role than his previous teams. The move paid off, as Salty turned in the finest seasons of his career and a useful fantasy catcher. After the finest season of his career, Saltalamacchia will have to prove his new-found usefulness will last.
If you had been told during the preseason that a lad named Evan Gattis would outearn his teammate Brian McCann and tie for third in home runs among catchers, you would have laughed out loud. Who the heck is Evan Gattis? I’m a Braves fan and even I had limited knowledge of Gattis’ existence (though I admit I’m not much of a prospect follower). Gattis finished 14th among catchers in fantasy value this year, despite recording just 354 at-bats. It might even be an understatement to claim that Gattis rose from obscurity.
It can be tough to look at a tasty home run total and not what-if yourself into picking the player who owns it up.
In the case of J.P. Arencibia, it’s time to give it up. He finished the year owned in 18 percent of ESPN leagues and 38 percent of Yahoo leagues. Hopefully that accounts for 20-teamers, AL-only and two-catcher leagues, because the idea of him as a starting fantasy catcher should have long since been buried. In deeper leagues, sure, because he was still a top-20 guy, but he won’t be again.
In order to rank only those that played a significant amount, we only looked at players that put in more than 400 plate appearances of work last season. For most positions, that should be fine. For the catcher position, it was a little more iffy. The top 30 catchers by plate appearances only averaged 451 plate appearances, and seven catchers played enough to hit double-digit homers without crossing the 400 PA threshold. Mike Podhorzer will look into Wilson Ramos and Evan Gattis, the most prominent catchers that failed to hit that mark, but there are some other interesting names further down the list.
He didn’t accumulate enough plate appearances to qualify for the end of season rankings, but Wilson Ramos still finished 16th in overall fantasy value according to CBS, despite just 287 at-bats. Because of time spent on the disabled list once again, it’s easy to miss the fact that he hit 16 home runs with a 27.6% HR/FB rate. That mark would have ranked second in baseball behind Chris Davis if he had qualified and easily led all catchers.
Look backwards at the catchers this year, and you’ll notice that two of the top catchers will lose their catching eligibility this offseason. So move everyone up two slots before you even begin to project next year’s crop. Down in the teens, you’ll find a couple that are approaching 40, and a couple that struggle to hit at the Mendoza Line in a good year. And then, at number twenty despite only 428 plate appearances, you’ll find the Cubs’ catcher: Welington Castillo. He’s on the fringe, but he’s capable of moving up and the table is set for him.
Back in the preseason, my crystal ball was put to work nonstop. Aside from sharing with me what wacky events might occur and who may league the league in the various fantasy categories, it also suggested which players were undervalued and overvalued heading into the season. I published Pod’s Picks articles for every position, comparing my rank within the position to the RotoGraphs consensus. Let’s see how I did, starting with the catchers. Actual rank will be based on Zach Sanders’ value calculator; if the player did not meet the minimum plate appearance requirement (400) to be included in his values, then I will reference the player’s CBS rank.
