Justin Mason Catcher Ranks: 10/29/21
2021 is over and we turn the page to 2022. Here are my current ranks for the catcher position for 2021. I will post updates as things change with signings, injuries, or news in Major League Baseball.
See my other ranks here: C 1B 2B SS 3B OF SP RP
Justin Mason Catcher Ranks: 10/29/21
| Rank | Player | Team | POS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salvador Perez | KCR | C/DH |
| 2 | Will Smith | LAD | C |
| 3 | J.T. Realmuto | PHI | C |
| 4 | Yasmani Grandal | CHW | C |
| 5 | Buster Posey | SFG | C |
| 6 | Willson Contreras | CHC | C |
| 7 | Daulton Varsho | ARI | C/OF |
| 8 | Omar Narvaez | MIL | C |
| 9 | Eric Haase | DET | C |
| 10 | Tyler Stephenson | CIN | C |
| 11 | Yadier Molina | STL | C |
| 12 | Sean Murphy | OAK | C |
| 13 | Mike Zunino | TBR | C |
| 14 | Christian Vazquez | BOS | C |
| 15 | Gary Sanchez | NYY | C |
| 16 | Max Stassi | LAA | C |
| 17 | Keibert Ruiz | WAS | C |
| 18 | Mitch Garver | MIN | C |
| 19 | Travis d’Arnaud | ATL | C |
| 20 | Adely Rutschman | BAL | C |
| 21 | Luis Torrens | SEA | C/DH |
| 22 | Carson Kelly | ARI | C |
| 23 | Tucker Barnhart | CIN | C |
| 24 | Alejandro Kirk | TOR | C |
| 25 | Yan Gomes | OAK | C |
| 26 | Danny Jansen | TOR | C |
| 27 | Austin Nola | SDP | C |
| 28 | James McCann | NYM | C |
| 29 | Elias Diaz | COL | C |
| 30 | Francisco Mejia | TBR | C |
| 31 | Jacob Stallings | PIT | C |
| 32 | Pedro Severino | BAL | C |
| 33 | Jorge Alfaro | MIA | C/OF |
| 34 | Zack Collins | CHW | C |
| 35 | Dom Nunez | COL | C |
| 36 | Ryan Jeffers | MIN | C |
| 37 | Tom Murphy | SEA | C |
| 38 | Manny Pina | MIL | C |
| 39 | Jake Rogers | DET | C |
| 40 | Jonah Heim | TEX | C |
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.
I feel like Alejandro Kirk will be one of those guys that slowly moves up all draft season. 94.8 eva on ld/fb, seems like a guy who has good power potential with already really good plate discipline.
Yeah Kirk is a big time sleeper pick for me. His power with those strikeout rates gives him upside with the bat akin to Buster Posey.
I like him as a hitter a lot too, my question is just plate appearances. Jays already have Jansen and McGuire at C. DH is a possibility for Kirk but he’ll have to earn that spot by starting hot.
A good chance too if the Blue Jays remedy the logjam as Moreno gets closer to graduating. While I think it may just be speculation, there may be some consideration to moving Kirk in a deal as he has the most value out of the three catchers. Until the PAs rise for Kirk, the draft should keep his ADP lower than what he can produce.
At the risk of picking nits – Smith has to be above Salvy. That takes nothing away from Perez’s season. But Smith’s defense (which doesn’t matter in fantasy) has improved so much that it’s likely he will get full time AB next year… which was no certainty six months ago.
You aren’t picking nits…you’re talking about defense influencing rankings on the fantasy section of the webpage.
Except that defense DOES impact fantasy rankings for precisely the reason that tomerafan said: his improved defense will keep him on the field more, therefore giving him more PA
How is it relevant when comparing him to a catcher who played in 161 games?
Not taking a side here, but it’s relevant if Smith is going to be playing a similar amount of games rather than 30 fewer. However, according to Steamer, even with the same playing time, Smith will not be as valuable as Salvy. They’d be tied in R and SB and Salvy has the edge in HR/RBI/AVG.
But Perez is the DH when he isn’t catching. I doubt Smith will approach his playing time regardless of his defensive ability.
Perez DHs though, he played 161 games this year. Even with great defence, it’s hard for an NL catcher to get full time at bats if they only catch. I’m looking at Tyler Stephenson in OBP this year because he plays 1B behind Votto.
Yes, but you don’t necessarily need full time at bats to outproduce someone who does. Smith just needs to put up better fantasy numbers than Perez despite the disadvantage in playing time, especially if he can get more playing time next season compared to what he himself got this season.
Granted, it would be pretty close to impossible for Smith to match the offensive season Perez just had in 2021, but if that was a fluky career year and Perez regresses back to his usual level of offensive performance from 2013-18, and if Smith continues to develop and plays in 140 games rather than 130, then Smith could easily surpass Perez next year.
As to whether the likelihood of this happening is high enough to rank Smith over Perez in current fantasy rankings, that’s a different question…
Good job on these rankings. Elias Diaz should be higher in my opinion. In Colorado and a hell of a 2nd half. Rutschman will go way higher in the NFBC. I understand he is a rookie but the buildup will see him going 7th to 10th. I can see Eric Haase and Posey sliding a bit, but these are very good rankings.
Interested to see if Ruiz ends up being top 10 by the end of the season, could have Soto on base 50% of the time he comes up if he hits behind him. Seems like he’ll be the guy and the bat was solid to close out the season. Of the guys in the 10-20 range he’s who I’d be looking at for good upside.
Also, it’s Adley not Adely.
Grandal had surgery to repair a torn knee tendon he was supposedly playing through since spring training. It certainly didn’t seem to affect his swing much, though.
Yum.
Garver seems low? Is Haase the 3rd best fantasy catcher in AL-only?
Stallings isn’t exciting, but he sure outproduced a bunch of these guys in 2021 and has been very steady with lots of PT locked in.