Archive for Catchers

At this time last year, well actually about a week earlier, we did a series of Bullish/Bearish articles where we each picked one side or the other on a particular player of note.  My Bearish on Carlos Santana piece wasn’t convincing anyone and some even pointed out that perhaps yours truly was just taking one for the team here and picking a side he may not wholeheartedly believe in.  But here we are a little more than a year later and while I still have hope for confidence in another second half surge, I look back on that article and can sympathize with the guy who wrote it. Read the rest of this entry »

For the most part, the catcher position has been a pretty big disappointment this season.  Some have performed as expected, but by and large, there are more downs than ups.  Hopefully, things will pick up in the second half when we get a serious influx of players coming back from injuries who might be better options than the Nick Hundley, Miguel Olivo, or Jason Castro that you have sitting in your catcher slot right now.  They’re not all precious gems coming back, but some are definitely better than others and likely better than what’s out on your waiver wire as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Even though the positional rankings aren;t being updated monthly, the tiers are, so let’s take a look at some of the movement amongst the catchers.  We saw a few things happen with the May tiers but I held back any extreme movement because of sample sizes and questions surrounding performance sustainability.  This month, guys are moving… Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s waiver wire brings you two rookies who have come into more important roles of late, one an outfielder and one a relief pitcher.

Norichika Aoki | OF | Brewers | Owned: 3% Yahoo! and 1.7% ESPN

Aoki turned 30 years old earlier this year, but technically he’s a rookie after coming over from Japan. He opened the season as a reserve player with Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, and Carlos Gomez/Nyjer Morgan entrenched in the outfield, but he’s seen more playing time lately because Mat Gamel’s season-ending knee injury has forced Hart to play some first base. It wasn’t just Gamel’s injury though, Aoki earned his spot.

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Yasmani Grandal, I hereby dub thee The Magic Man.  Now you see me, now you don’t.

Raise your hand if you were one of the many who wasted valuable FAAB dollars and waiver priority to grab Grandal when word broke that he would be called-up to San Diego on Friday.  As a Nick Hundley owner in a few two-catcher leagues, I certainly did.  The 23-year old, Cuban-born backstop is supposed to be able to hit for both power and average and should eventually take over the starting job, possibly as early as this season, so when the news came out that he was on his way, the prudent thing to do was grab him. Read the rest of this entry »

Baseball has a history of strange injuries. Sammy Sosa hurt his back while sneezing. John Smoltz was injured while ironing a shirt…that he was wearing. In the past calendar year Giants’ reliever Jeremy Affeldt has been injured while trying to separate frozen hamburger patties with a knife and sprained his knee while hugging his 4’6(!) 4-year-old son. The latest strange injury comes courtesy of Brewers’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy. The third year veteran will miss 4-6 weeks after breaking his hand in an accident involving his wife, a hotel bed, a sock, and a suitcase. Lucroy was having a huge season, hitting .345/.387/.583 in 43 games and ranking fourth among all catchers according to Yahoo!. Luckily for the fantasy owner, i.e. you, there are suitable replacements to fill the void.

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The release of the monthly positional rankings and subsequent position tiers always spurs a lot of discussion here on the site.  Some people like them, some people hate them and some people just have questions as to why they are the way they are.  So while Eno and the boys get ready to compile the rankings for the month of June, I figured I’d open up the catchers discussion early and see if we can’t help influence some of the decisions. Read the rest of this entry »

Catcher may be the most frustrating position to fill as you annually prepare for the fantasy baseball season. Realistically, there are only a handful of impact bats who are catcher-eligible in most leagues and unless you are lucky enough to snag one it may be difficult to find a catcher who will positively contribute to your team. Even elite catchers aren’t with out flaws. If one hits a lot of home runs, his average usually suffers (See, Santana, Carlos). A high batting average is usually coupled with middling power, and even superb seasons like Napoli’s 2011 or Posey’s 2010 don’t give your team any steals. Despite playing in PETCO park, Yasmani Grandal projects to be an solid option behind the dish for your fantasy team. Read the rest of this entry »

I drafted Jonathan Lucroy in the staff ottoneu league, but if it were a different league with a different players and a different set up, right now is when I would be trying to move him.

It certainly think that Lucroy is good and relatively undervalued to the every day fan, but I also I think his performance to date is inflated and that with catcher being a relatively weak hitting position with not many high average hitters, he can be moved for more value than he was originally acquired for. Lucroy is currently owned in 56% of Yahoo! leagues, which is rather criminal, but that means he’s on squads in most competitive leagues and good owners should be looking to acquire a high average, high RBI catcher.

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Back in early April, we took a look at a few catcher prospects that you should have had on your radar, both as long-term keeper prospects and potential 2012 call-ups in case something went awry on the major league level.  We’re a little more than a month past that first look and while none of them have set foot in the big leagues just yet, different aspects of their situations have changed and a re-visit seemed like a good idea.  Are they any closer to a shot in the majors, and if so, how long before we see them? Read the rest of this entry »