Archive for Catchers

As the calendar gets ready to flip to August, it’s time for those of you that have fallen out of contention in your keeper league to start making plans for the 2013 season.  You’re probably sitting on a number of players that can help the contenders in your league make that final push for a championship, so it’s time to turn those guys into a little something for your efforts this year.  The catcher position is not usually long for guys you’re dying to protect from year to year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grab yourself some quality options for cheap that can be fruitful components to next year’s championship squad. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s start the week with an up-and-coming young catcher and a veteran reliever hanging on by the skin of his teeth…

Salvador Perez | C | Royals | Owned: 39% Yahoo!

A trendy breakout pick for 2012, Perez’s season debut was delayed because of a knee injury. He returned to the Royals late last month and has hit .350/.373/.600 (.408 wOBA and 160 wRC+) in 83 plate appearances, building on last season’s .331/.361/.473 (.361 wOBA and 127 wRC+) performance. In a whopping 241 big league plate appearances, Perez owns a .338/.365/.518 batting line (.377 wOBA and 160 wRC+).

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With the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline approaching, you should be looking into possible MLB trade scenarios that could have a direct impact on your fantasy roster.  Maybe you own the player on the move, maybe you own a guy who is about to start losing playing time, or maybe you own a guy who will say bye-bye to a teammate and land some extra PT. Whatever the case may be, your league’s trade deadline is rapidly approaching as well, so staying alert and showing some foresight could help you land some much-need production from a relatively soft position. Read the rest of this entry »

On Saturday, I analyzed the five hitters whose HR/FB ratios have increased the most since last season and using various tools and metrics, tried to determine whether we might see a decline in the second half. Today I will look at the opposite end of the spectrum, those hitters whose HR/FB ratios have declined the most. Will they experience a second half power surge?

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Rankings week is mercifully drawing to a close, with only the pitchers left for Monday. It makes sense to close the offense with catchers, in a way — they are the least likely position to make an offensive impact on your fantasy team. Sure, middle infielders hit for a worse batting line, but catchers are close, and they accrue fewer plate appearances. Their teams need to watch out for their knees and always employ a tandem at the position — only five catchers are projected to accrue more than 500 at-bats this year by the updated ZiPs, and that’s not a ton. By contrast, there are three first baseman that might crack 600 at-bats, and 21 that should cross the 500 at-bat threshold.

Catchers: not only are they doing it worse, they’re doing it less often. Maybe that’s a boon, actually. Sometimes, especially in two-catcher leagues, it makes sense just to leave that space unfilled. Many of these guys are just going to hurt your team more with every plate appearance.

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As we settle in here for the mid-summer classic, it’s a good time to take a look back at some of the biggest surprises of the first half with respect to the catching position and what you might expect moving forward. Read the rest of this entry »

With the All-Star break upon us, we finally don’t have to worry about our fantasy teams for a few days. It’s always nice to have that little break, especially when you run multiple teams. Rather than the usual daily waiver wire shtick, let’s take a look at four players who have gone from undrafted and afterthoughts to key contributors in all formats.

Carlos Ruiz | C | Phillies | Preseason ADP: 290 | Owned: 89% Yahoo! and 100% ESPN

Chooch has been, my far, the best hitting catcher in baseball this season. He came into the year with a .265/.357/.393 career batting line which is solid but not exactly worth a fantasy roster spot. The 33-year-old Ruiz carries a .350/.412/.584 (!) line into the break this summer, having already hit a career-best 13 homers with 21 doubles that are just eight shy of his career-high. He’s moved into a more premium lineup spot — fourth or fifth depending on whether or not Ryan Howard plays — and the result has been 46 RBI that are the second most among qualified catchers and eight short of his career-high. His 523 ottoneu points lead all catchers by a significant margin.

Ruiz’s production will likely step back for a number of reasons in the second half, mostly because catchers tend to wear down in August in September. A .362 BABIP and 18.3% HR/FB don’t exactly scream sustainable either. That said, Chooch’s first half production is already in the bank and anyone who grabbed him off waivers in April is surely thrilled.

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It’s time again to re-visit the catcher tiers as the calendar flips to July. I’ve taken both current and expected performance into account, some thoughts and expectations of my own and a few comments from you, my very own Peanut Gallery. Things are looking a little different than they did back in June, so without further ado… Read the rest of this entry »

Is your team lagging in production from behind the plate?  Can you sacrifice some batting average if it means a boost in the counting stats?  Well, if you answered yes to either or both of these questions, here are a pair of catchers you should probably look into to give your fantasy team a nice little burst of power. Read the rest of this entry »

Look at Jesus Montero. You probably aren’t excited by the .263/.301/.406 work, or the eight home runs. It’s just not a strong package, not after all that hype.

As that hype creates the context that has led to disappointment — an emotion that’s running high among his owners if twitter is to be believed — there are other ways to place Jesus Montero that make him more attractive. Context is key.

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