Paul Sporer’s Top 50 Catchers by Paul Sporer March 19, 2021 Pardon the delay on these as they should’ve been up over a week ago, but I’ve updated the commentary and rankings since then so here’s the latest backstop ranks fresh off the press! Other positions: 1B 2B SS 3B OF Here’s my list. 2021 C Rankings RK PLAYER TM POS Notes 1 J.T. Realmuto PHI C Thumb inj. doesn’t cost him #1 at C, but should drop him overall 2 Yasmani Grandal CWS C Best wRC+ at C (min. 500 PA) since 2018; 2nd in HR w/60 (G.Sanchez, 62) 3 Willson Contreras CHC C Could be moved in-season, but doesn’t deter me from drafting him 4 Will Smith LAD C 144 wRC+ is tops at C (min. 300 PA) since 2019 5 Salvador Perez KC C Excellent 2-mo. season is pushing him too high (15th in wRC+ since ’18) 6 Travis d’Arnaud ATL C Has been great since ’19, can he stay healthy & remain a force? 7 Christian Vázquez BOS C Backed up his ’19 w/a solid ’20; avg of 7 SB per 500 PA since ’17 8 Sean Murphy OAK C Huge fan of his bat, would be higher if not recovering from collapsed lung 9 Gary Sánchez NYY C Premium pwr is enticing, but another sub-.200 AVG would be tough to eat 10 James McCann NYM C Can he maintain his big BABIP to remain a huge AVG asset? 11 Austin Nola SD C Unknown status of his finger makes him a tough draft at this point 12 Mitch Garver MIN C PT not guaranteed, but he only needed 359 PA for his mega breakout in ’19 13 Daulton Varsho ARZ C, OF Calhoun inj. opens potential OF spot for the C-elig. prospect 14 Buster Posey SF C Has the skills to bounce back from ugly ’19 15 Wilson Ramos DET C 2nd in AVG (.288) among C since ’18 (W.Astudillo, .294) 16 Yadier Molina STL C Compiler who always seems to wind up doing just fine 17 Tom Murphy SEA C No real tax for his 18 HR breakout so I might buy in 18 Omar Narváez MLW C Forgotten after 40 ugly gms, but even w/that he’s 10th in wRC+ since ’18 (112) 19 Ryan Jeffers MIN C Better glove than Garver w/a solid bat to boot; interesting sleeper 20 Danny Jansen TOR C Has shown flashes, but career .208 AVG highlights the risk 21 Yan Gomes WAS C He’s fine 22 Jorge Alfaro MIA C Still feel like there’s some upside here, but I can’t get past the 34% K, 4% BB 23 Carson Kelly ARZ C Was a favored sleeper coming into ’20 who’s star faded after a rough 2 mos. 24 Max Stassi LAA C Think the power gains are real and make him a really intriguing C2… 25 Kurt Suzuki LAA C …but Suzuki will eat into his PT if he remains a plus bat 26 Alejandro Kirk TOR C Just not sure there is anywhere to play right now 27 Pedro Severino BAL C 18 HR in his last 519 PA with a .249 AVG 28 Jason Castro HOU C Ks too much, but the power is legit and makes a potential C2 29 Jacob Stallings PIT C Has the defense to be a 6-day-a-week backstop and compile some stats 30 Victor Caratini SD C Will be the starter to open the season which makes him a worthy C2 31 Tucker Barnhart CIN C Losing his hold on the full-time role w/below avg bat & Stephenson looming 32 Tyler Stephenson CIN C Be careful with rookie Cs, but keep an eye on his playing time 33 Austin Barnes LAD C Defense and OBP will get him some PA and SBs give him unique value 34 Joey Bart SF C Not starting with the club so he will be a waiver wire pickup 35 Mike Zunino TB C While he doesn’t play a ton, a .161 AVG can still hurt 36 Roberto Pérez CLE C Will get a ton of PT, but do you want it on your roster? 37 Francisco Mejía TB C Maybe the Rays can unlock some of that prospect potential 38 Kyle Higashioka NYY C Should get enough PT to be a reasonable AL-Only C2 39 Jose Trevino TEX C Has edge for starting role, but feels like a glove-first backstop 40 Elias Díaz COL C Stop, you’re only drafting him because of Coors despite yrs of this strategy failing 41 Adley Rutschman BAL C Sisco/Severino could be a solid platoon & leave Rutsch in the high minors 42 Alex Avila WAS C OBP stud can be a sneaky C2 in NL-Only leagues 43 Sam Huff TEX C Popped 28 HR in 2019 and then 3 in 33 PA in his MLB debut 44 Martín Maldonado HOU C Could be relegated to a short-end platoon if Castro hits well 45 Chance Sisco BAL C Should reach double-digit HRs… can we get ’em w/an AVG north of .220? 46 Andrew Knizner STL C At least one more year behind the legend 47 Jonah Heim TEX C Strong high minors (AA/AAA) in ’19 could bring opportunity in TEX 48 Kevin Plawecki BOS C A .403 BABIP drove his nice 89 PA sample, but he’s a career 80 wRC+ 49 Luis Torrens SEA C Murphy’s backup hasn’t done much to instill interest in his bat 50 Willians Astudillo MIN C Just not seeing the PT for La Tortuga