RotoGraphs Consensus Rankings – May Update: Catchers
We’re not quite a quarter of the way into the season – which isn’t the quarter pole, by the way, that comes around 122 games though that won’t stop anyone – but it is a perfect time to update the consensus rankings here at Rotographs. First off, we’re about to have Memorial Day weekend and what better way to spend the extra time off than by retooling your fantasy team? To do that, you’ll need to know how we value players going forward so you don’t get ripped off at the trading table. Secondly, even though we’re only about 39 games through the season (some teams are as high as 41 played while three others are down at 36), a lot has changed.
We’re going to roll them out by position starting with catchers. I guess that means they won’t all be out by Memorial Day. Well, I guess you’ll have to go to the ballpark or lake or pool party instead. This position has seen a lot of tumult in just a month and a half with several big names going down which left an opening for a pair of late-round catchers – including one who wasn’t catcher-eligible in March – to emerge.
For this update, you’ll get the rankings of myself, Zach Sanders, and Mike Podhorzer. Jeff Zimmerman will return for the midseason update. Without further ado:
| Num | Player | Team | League | Paul | Zach | Mike | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buster Posey | Giants | NL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| 2 | Evan Gattis | Astros | AL | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4.0 |
| 3 | Stephen Vogt | Athletics | AL | 3 | 2 | 8 | 4.3 |
| 4 | Russell Martin | Blue Jays | AL | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4.7 |
| 5 | Yasmani Grandal | Dodgers | NL | 2 | 4 | 9 | 5.0 |
| 6 | Yan Gomes | Indians | AL | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6.0 |
| 7 | Salvador Perez | Royals | AL | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Jonathan Lucroy | Brewers | NL | 9 | 11 | 4 | 8.0 |
| 9 | Brian McCann | Yankees | AL | 11 | 12 | 3 | 8.7 |
| 10 | Derek Norris | Padres | NL | 6 | 8 | 16 | 10.0 |
| 11 | Miguel Montero | Cubs | NL | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10.0 |
| 12 | Wilson Ramos | Nationals | NL | 12 | 10 | 14 | 12.0 |
| 13 | Travis d’Arnaud | Mets | NL | 14 | 14 | 10 | 12.7 |
| 14 | Yadier Molina | Cardinals | NL | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13.0 |
| 15 | Matt Wieters | Orioles | AL | 16 | 18 | 12 | 15.3 |
| 16 | Jason Castro | Astros | AL | 15 | 19 | 18 | 17.3 |
| 17 | A.J. Pierzynski | Braves | NL | 19 | 17 | 20 | 18.7 |
| 18 | Mike Zunino | Mariners | AL | 24 | 16 | 15 | 18.7 |
| 19 | Nick Hundley | Rockies | NL | 18 | 20 | 19 | 19.0 |
| 20 | Devin Mesoraco | Reds | NL | 20 | 24 | 17 | 20.3 |
| 21 | Caleb Joseph | Orioles | AL | 17 | 21 | 29 | 22.3 |
| 22 | James McCann | Tigers | AL | 22 | 22 | 23 | 22.7 |
| 23 | J.T. Realmuto | Marlins | NL | 21 | 27 | 27 | 25.0 |
| 24 | Kurt Suzuki | Twins | AL | 26 | 23 | 28 | 25.7 |
| 25 | Carlos Ruiz | Phillies | NL | 28 | 28 | 25 | 26.7 |
| 26 | Francisco Cervelli | Pirates | NL | 27 | 15 | 36 | 27.0 |
| 27 | Wilin Rosario | Rockies | NL | 23 | 37 | 21 | 27.3 |
| 28 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Marlins | NL | 34 | 29 | 22 | 28.3 |
| 29 | Robinson Chirinos | Rangers | AL | 29 | 38 | 24 | 30.0 |
| 30 | Carlos Perez | Angels | AL | 31 | 41 | 30 | 31.0 |
| 31 | Blake Swihart | Red Sox | AL | 33 | 35 | 26 | 31.3 |
| 32 | Rene Rivera | Rays | AL | 25 | 31 | 34 | 32.0 |
| 33 | Chris Iannetta | Angels | AL | 44 | 26 | 31 | 33.7 |
| 34 | Brayan Pena | Reds | NL | 36 | 25 | 41 | 34.0 |
| 35 | Alex Avila | Tigers | AL | 30 | 41 | 33 | 34.3 |
| 36 | Tyler Flowers | White Sox | AL | 40 | 30 | 35 | 35.0 |
| 37 | Dioner Navarro | Blue Jays | AL | 32 | 32 | 42 | 35.3 |
| 38 | Kevin Plawecki | Mets | NL | 41 | 36 | 32 | 36.3 |
| 39 | Welington Castillo | Cubs | NL | 35 | 33 | 43 | 37.0 |
| 40 | Geovany Soto | White Sox | AL | 45 | 34 | 38 | 39.0 |
| 41 | Michael McKenry | Rockies | NL | 37 | 41 | 44 | 40.7 |
| 42 | Jordan Pacheco | Diamondbacks | NL | 38 | 41 | 45 | 41.3 |
| 43 | Ryan Hanigan | Red Sox | AL | 46 | 41 | 37 | 41.3 |
| 44 | Josh Phegley | Athletics | AL | 39 | 40 | 46 | 41.7 |
| 45 | Tuffy Gosewisch | Diamondbacks | NL | 46 | 41 | 39 | 42.0 |
| 46 | David Ross | Cubs | NL | 46 | 41 | 40 | 42.3 |
| 47 | Cameron Rupp | Phillies | NL | 42 | 41 | 47 | 43.3 |
| 48 | Austin Hedges | Padres | NL | 43 | 41 | 48 | 44.0 |
| 49 | Hank Conger | Astros | AL | 46 | 39 | 49 | 44.7 |
- Our biggest disparity was between Mike and Zach with a 26-spot split in the ranking of Cervelli.
- Mike and I have a much rosier outlook for Rosario than Zach, too, with the split ranging as high as 16.
- Among the impact backstops, Norris was most divisive with a 10-spot split between myself at six and Mike at 16.
- Grandal, Vogt, and Martin joined the top 10 for all three rankers.
- There was complete consensus on Posey and Molina while McCann, Hundley, Gomes, Perez, and Montero were really close.
First off, awesome stuff! Second in a one catcher league and somewhat small bench, I have on my roster three catchers Gattis and TDA and Wieters. Do either of my injured catchers have any trade value? I have a ton of pitching depth and can package a gio, odorizzi, lackey and maybe arrieta. Thanks!
only in a 20 team league
appreciate the response. I guess i should just take the loss and drop one of TDA or Wieters? Or give it another week or two and see what their time tables look like?
I would offer both TDA and Wieters around your league and see if you can get anything in return. Otherwise, if you are in a standard 10 or 12 team league, you can probably move on from TDA or Wieters.
I understand he has almost no power, but Bryan Pena has over 100 PA’s and an OBP close to .400, and a .322 avg still. Surely he should rank higher than 34th.
You guys make me feel bad for trading Caleb Joseph for Willin Rosario. At least he should be more useful while Morneau is out in my H2H league
I’m with you. I dropped Castro for Rosario, and will ride him out at least for this homestand. If Morneau is still out, I will keep him longer – they have 18 Coors games in the first 25 days of June.
If you played in a league where Carlos Santana still has Catcher eligibility, where would he rank?
I’d have him second to Posey. I’m buying that the back isn’t a huge deal. Obviously if that changes, I’d adjust, but as it stands right now I’d be trying to buy Santana (if I didn’t essentially have him everywhere to begin with).
Any thoughts on where Carlos Santana would fall on this list? He is still catcher eligible in Yahoo leagues.
I would rank Santana second
Worth rostering Wieters? He’s off the DL in a couple of weeks.
If you have a DL spot or the roster flexibility, he is probably worth grabbing. Or if you are someone who owns one of the guys in his projected range like Montero or Norris. I would try and wait and see on Wieters and how the O’s plan to use him. They have indicated they really like Caleb Joseph behind the plate and Joseph, recent struggles aside, has hit much better than expected this year. Maybe they use Wieters at DH some, but as long as Jimmy Paredes keeps hitting that spot may be blocked. Aside from the long layoff due to his elbow surgery, it will be interesting how much they use Wieters going forward and where they use him.
Per usual, it depends, but in a vacuum it’s not a terrible idea. As long as you aren’t chopping anyone important.
Dynasty 5×5 one catcher 14 team league, 27 MLB keepers. Own Perez, Ramos, and Swihart. I usually roster 2 MLB catchers. I’m leaning towards shopping Ramos. It’s a young team with a fantastic infield and a weak outfield. Should I be thinking differently? Maybe Swihart or Perez would bring back more without hurting me at C too much?
I feel like Swihart would bring back the most and I wouldn’t be averse to exploring that, unless everyone overreacts to his first 45 PA. But I usually try to avoid young catchers to begin with because the development at the dish can take years. If Swihart offers aren’t meeting your standards, then explore Ramos deals.
Where do I find the consensus of other positions?
“We’re going to roll them out by position starting with catchers. I guess that means they won’t all be out by Memorial Day. Well, I guess you’ll have to go to the ballpark or lake or pool party instead.”
The horror! A pool party? A lake? We can not do that, there might be girls there!
Where the daily grind been?
Can you talk about Gattis a little? I own him in one league and while the power has been there, the BA is kind of negating it at this point. A .598 OPS ain’t great. I know the .200 BABIP will come up, but the K%, SwStrk% are bad and the FB% is disconcerting.
I was able to trade for Russell Martin shortly after the Lucroy injury due to Martin getting off to a slow start, but now I am conflicted on stashing Lucroy and seeing these rankings. I also have Dickerson and Myers (both DL’d recently) just sitting on the bench. Should I cut ties with Lucroy since I have Martin in the fold? I am having a tough time making this call since I had such high hopes for Lucroy coming in to the season.
Lucroy’s “low” ranking still has him in the top ten. I’d certainly be comfortable rolling with Russell Martin for the rest of the year, but surely you could leverage Lucroy’s 2014 and get something back in him for return. Unless you’re in an eight team league, he’s at least better than what two or more of your competitors are running out there at catcher.
Unless you’re in a 2-catcher league, I would trade one or the other. If Lucroy comes back and plays well you can probably fetch more for him (if you have the luxury of waiting for a little bit); people like Russ but I don’t think that they would pony up a lot to get him.
Good advice, gentlemen, thanks. I will ride it out with Lucroy and hope to fetch something nice for him in an area of need down the line.
Hundley should be higher. Better average than Zunino, best home park and .300 avg. against righties. Underrated in Rosario’s shadow.
While I agree with putting Hundley higher, let’s keep in mind that Hundley is currently benefiting heavily from a .378 BABIP. His home park keeps him near or just inside my top 15 Catchers, but it’s hard to put him much higher.
I added Grandal as a replacement when D’arnaud went down, should I try to trade him to make room when D’arnaud comes back, or do you think I could manage to trade D’arnaud even after the injury?
1 catcher, 6×6 roto with OBP instead of AVG, TB instead of HRs and K’s for hitters is the added category. I have Martin and Cervelli is available. I’m trying to trade Martin w/ another hitter to upgrade a hitter spot. I feel like Cervelli and Martin will be close in OBP, Ks ROS. With Cervelli’s average likely to be higher, TBs could be close. I think Martin’s pace for runs and RBIs may be a little high. I may take more of hit on runs and RBIs, but if I can have that upgraded hitter significant enough, that may make up for that “loss”. A lot of “what-if”, but is this thought process too far out there?