I didn’t start this series until January last year (which was already this year!) but I wanted to get out a bit earlier in 2023 (which is still 2022) as trade season is well underway. This comes with some risk – a number of players are still unsigned, trades are still to come, not all projections are available, etc. – but I think the risk is worth the reward, don’t you?
As in past years, before I share the list, I want to share some notes on my process.
My goodness, what times we are a-livin’ in! Not only can huckster frauds manage to make billions of dollars go up in smoke on any given day but we actually have multiple fantasy options at catchers that are really good. Well, at least ones that won’t make us want to go cry in a corner like we just lost all of our savings to a huckster fraud. What a world!
Whether one catcher or two, 12 teams, or more, catcher has mostly been a wretched den of iniquity, forcing us to generally hold our noses and hope for the best. But not this year, my friends; not this year. By my count, we have five (count ’em, five!) catchers, who if they were to finish as the Top Guy, wouldn’t really surprise us. Five! Now, it’s obviously a different kettle of fish in two-catcher leagues but in the one-catcher, 10-12 team leagues that are the standard for a majority of the fantasy community, this is huge. Read the rest of this entry »
As promised, I am continuing to share potential arbitration targets going position-by-position. Last week we covered pitchers; today we cover infielders. Read the rest of this entry »
Catcher is always an interesting fantasy position. In 1-catcher formats, you will have a large portion of the league that simply takes what the drafts gives them, even if they are the last one to select their backstop. While they know the teams with the stud Cs will have an advantage, it is one they are willing to relent as they are fine getting “stuck” with the lower end and streaming. In 2-catcher formats, there is an array of strategies ranging from double studs at the high end to double punt at the low end and everything in between.
The position seems to be undergoing a youth movement recently that could result in uncharacteristic depth. It is normal to see catchers breakout later as hitters because their #1 priority upon arrival is managing the pitching staff and to a lesser extent, the running game. This year saw a spike in young catchers both playing and playing well. The 10 catchers age-25 and under who logged 200+ PA doubled last year’s total and was the first double-digit total since 2012. Half of those catchers managed a 100 or better OPS+ as well. There were 4 such catchers in 2021, too. The 9 catchers to reach that 100 or better OPS+ mark in 2021-22 are more than the 8 we saw in 2015-19 (including 0 in 2018).
Are catchers a booming market? How’d we get here and who stands out for 2023?
If you drafted Yasmani Grandal based on Steamer’s 2022 pre-season projections, you were likely preparing to play in an OBP league. Grandal was projected to finish the season with the tenth best (tied with Max Muncy) OBP at .373. The 2021 league average OBP was .317. If you were to now head over to our 2022 leaderboards, you would see Grandal is holding a disappointing .279. But, narrow down that leaderboard to only viewing qualified catchers. The first thing that you may notice is that there are only seven catchers on the list and that Grandal is one of them.
You’ll also notice that Grandal’s .279 OBP is third from the bottom, yet his 12.2% BB% ranks first (high), his 18.4% K% ranks second, and his 7.6% SwStr% (low) ranks first. He’s walking and he isn’t striking out. That marks off two of the three true outcomes. Homeruns, being the third true outcome, have not come more than twice for Grandal, and that coupled with a .210 BABIP and a .180 AVG have probably made those rostering Grandal feel a little uneasy. But, if those same fantasy managers are believers in regresión a la media, then they are sitting pretty.
There were a few years in my ESPN home league where Gary Sánchez was the first catcher off the board. Take a look at his 2016 end-of-season game logs and it’s easy to see why. Sánchez made the Yankees appear as if they had struck gold and found a franchise catcher that could have been the Yankee Posey (Ohh how I can just hear the cringing of Yankee fans behind computer screens after reading that sentence). But, things don’t always work out in such a storybook kind of way and Gary Sánchez is now in Minnesota splitting time with Ryan Jeffers. Read the rest of this entry »
With the season upon us, it is time to drop my final edition of my positional ranks. I will continue to update them live on the Sleeper and the Bust Patreon until the season gets underway and in-season as well.
You can review my ranks for other positions here: https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/category/rankings/
As we hit peak draft season, it is important to monitor where players are being drafted on a regular basis. Throughout draft season, I will be doing that work for you with regular updates on the Average Draft Position on NFBC up until Opening Day.
The difference being cited is from my first run of rankings. These are for 2-catcher leagues with 20-game eligibility. In 1-catcher leagues, you can push up some of the small sample beasts like Garver because replacement value is so much higher.
As we head into primetime drafting season, I will be rereleasing my positional ranks. Here are my current ranks for the catcher position for 2022, my third of the offseason. I will post updates as things change with signings, injuries, or news in Major League Baseball. On the Sleeper and the Bust Patreon, you can see the rankings updated live.
You can review my ranks for other positions here: https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/category/rankings/ Read the rest of this entry »