Paul Sporer’s 2022 Catcher Rankings with Comments

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

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.

2022 C Rankings with Comments
RK CATCHER TM POS Last Rk. Diff. NOTE
1 J.T. Realmuto PHI C 1 0 Perfectly solid season that included a career-high 13 SBs
2 Will Smith LAD C 2 0 Brilliant skills, just 27 y/o, and part of a wonderful lineup
3 Salvador Perez KCR C 4 1 I’m on an island w/him at 3, but can he maintain a 25%+ HR/FB rate?
4 Yasmani Grandal CWS C 3 -1 Insane ’21 rates likely won’t hold, but should net more than 375 PA as well
5 Daulton Varsho ARI C/OF 5 0 Non-catching catcher w/spd is enticing; .290 AVG, 10 HR, 5 SB in 219 2H PA
6 Willson Contreras CHC C 7 1 Feels a bit overlooked after another strong yr (109 wRC+, 21 HR, 5 SB)
7 Tyler Stephenson CIN C/1B 6 -1 Betting on size (6’4, 225) and scouting raw pwr (65) to deliver HR boost
8 Keibert Ruiz WAS C 8 0 Elite contact is rare at C and carries the profile even if pwr takes time
9 Elias Díaz COL C 23 14 After a .381 OPS thru May (88 PA), exploded w/a .897 OPS & 17 HR in 283 PA
10 Omar Narváez MIL C 12 2 Showed ’20 was a small sample blip; bankable double-digit pop & solid AVG
11 Mitch Garver MIN C 15 4 His ’21 is natural regression off that insane ’19; Cruz departure could add PA
12 Sean Murphy OAK C 10 -2 Elite D locks in PT; should eventually reach the 20-HR range
13 Alejandro Kirk TOR C 9 -4 Love the talent, but logjam is hard to overlook at a defense-first position
14 Gary Sánchez NYY C 20 6 2016-17 is never coming back, but 23 HR per 400 PA since ’18 is a solid floor
15 Max Stassi LAA C 11 -4 Huge fan of him, but hasn’t topped 88 gms entering his age-31 season
16 Carson Kelly ARI C 13 -3 Hit just .219/.301/.347 w/7 HR from May on (6 HR in Apr.) + 2 inj. (toe, wrist)
17 Christian Vázquez BOS C 24 7 Volume and chip-in speed drive the profile even if the bat doesn’t rebound
18 Adley Rutschman BAL C 19 1 Should spend most of yr in BAL & premium skills can take over from there
19 Yadier Molina STL C 25 6 Top 10 effort in ’21 due to contact & volume; solid floor bet even at age-39
20 Mike Zunino TBR C 21 1 Made most of limited contact w/33 HR, but he’s so volatile… be careful
21 Travis d’Arnaud ATL C 14 -7 Brutal health track record makes the 33 y/o a tough bet; not C1-worthy
22 Austin Nola SDP C 18 -4 3x on IL(finger, knee, thumb) ate up ’21; still a + bat & 4% HR/FB will regress
23 Luis Torrens SEA C 16 -7 Bat absolutely plays at DH and might not have to catch a single gm all yr
24 Joey Bart SFG C 26 2 Prospect Cs take time & he has just 117 MLB PA so far; don’t forget him
25 Yan Gomes CHC C 37 12 Should find 300-350 PA even if Contreras stays and be a useful C2
26 Danny Jansen TOR C 22 -4 2 IL stints (hamstring) cost him 2 mos.; stuck in timeshare w/TOR
27 James McCann NYM C 28 1 Rough transition to NYM; locked in PT & a little improvement is C2-viable
28 Tucker Barnhart DET C 17 -11 Bat likely to decline (98 pt road OPS drop), but defense will help DET SPs
29 Jacob Stallings MIA C 34 5 If you prefer to set it & forget it w/volume C2s, Stallings is your guy
30 Eric Haase DET C 29 -1 Fun 2-mo. run last yr, but I don’t see much OF PT coming
31 MJ Melendez KCR C 41 10 KC open to pos. move to get him in lineup after 41 HR at AA/AAA last yr
32 Cal Raleigh SEA C 31 -1 Could be a sneaky breakout if playing time opens up for him
33 Manny Piña ATL C #N/A #N/A An interesting C2 as his .162 BABIP has to regress w/his 18% K, right?
34 Francisco Mejía TBR C 30 -3 Solid C2 season (107 wRC+), but PT might be capped behind Zunino
35 Jonah Heim TEX C 33 -1 Flashed some pop and should improve his AVG as .210 BABIP regresses
36 Tom Murphy SEA C 27 -8 Unlikely to recapture ’19 magic (126 wRC+) and Raleigh could curb PT
37 Riley Adams WAS C 32 -4 Capped strong yr w/good 90 PA stint in WAS; could wind up a worthy C2
38 Pedro Severino MIL C 45 -5 Cheap C2 pop, but probably won’t play enough to match ’21 output
39 Ryan Jeffers MIN C 35 -2 Only 25 y/o, but troubling contact (37% K) could stifle any growth
40 Austin Allen OAK C #N/A #N/A Really strong bat in the minors (4x 20+ HR), but will his glove curb PT upside?
41 Luis Campusano SDP C 36 -3 Strong prospect, but weak glove and a crowded C group will hurt
42 Roberto Pérez PIT C 40 -5 A poor man’s Stallings (career 76 wRC+)
43 Martín Maldonado HOU C #N/A #N/A A rich man’s Perez, but w/a better backup that could eat some PT
44 Jason Castro HOU C #N/A #N/A Still has some pop, though injuries are piling up and he’s 35 y/o
45 Jose Trevino TEX C #N/A #N/A Monitor Sam Huff and if he returns to catching this yr
46 Gabriel Moreno TOR C 42 0 Just be aware of the 22 y/o prospect; TOR is logjammed, but he’s awesome!
47 William Contreras ATL C 38 -5 It wasn’t a terrible debut, but the PT isn’t there right now
48 Victor Caratini SDP C 39 -5 Could be squeezed into a 3-catcher rotation
49 Curt Casali SFG C #N/A #N/A Could spike a 10+ HR season if it’s more of a 55/45 split w/Bart
50 Jorge Alfaro SDP C/OF 44 -3 Would be interesting if he found some PT in the OF, espec. w/his speed
Made with two-catcher leagues in mind.





Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

19 Comments
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Saltymember
2 years ago

For my money, Smith’s my #1 C. Maybe I’m wrong, but with the NL DH, I’d be surprised to see that big a differential in ABs between those top two catchers that Steamer is projecting, and maybe if their PT ends up being closer, Smith’s strength in HRs and OBP/SLG will outweigh JTR’s SB advantage.

I may be overrating the old adage of the magical “age 27” year of high production, which for Smith is 2022, though.

Ryan DCmember
2 years ago
Reply to  Paul Sporer

Grandal could be #1 an OBP league maybe, definitely not a standard league