I live in New England, and I’m not a Patriots fan. So, it’s fair to say that the early winter months are rough.
Each December and January, as I’m either sitting in my car waiting the 14 minutes before it warms up enough to drive or furiously calculating how much snow my roof can hold before it collapses, I’m reminded of one of my favorite lines from one of the all-time underrated movies, “Groundhog Day.” After being stuck in Punxsutawney re-living the same day over and over for probably several years, Bill Murray’s character begins to snap. He looks at his colleagues during one of his weather reports and says:
“I’ll give you a winter prediction. It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be gray, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.”
And that’s how I felt riiiiiiiiiiight up until pitchers and catchers reported. Suddenly, the warm(ish) weather is right around the corner and I swear I saw the sun peeking through for a second. But most importantly, it’s fantasy baseball prep time!
Not to worry, we’ve got you covered from all angles. In this series, we’re going to be breaking down each position by tier.
Positional tiers are an important part of any draft or auction strategy. You want to have each position broken down into groups of players that are, relatively speaking, close in value. That allows you to actively manage your draft as it’s going on and maximize the value of your picks.
We’re going to dig into each position over several articles. First base tiers, outfield tiers, starting pitcher tiers, tracks of my tiers . . . Yeah, that was bad, but I’ve used the interwebs to find some more songs that have the word “tears” in their titles, so buckle up for the rest of these articles, my friends.
So now, without further ado, here are your fantasy baseball catcher tiers.
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The Difference-Makers
Obviously, Schwarber isn’t catcher-eligible in every league, but to the extent he is, he makes the cut for the first tier. These guys are the only four who you can feel relatively certain will give you a solid advantage over the rest of the catcher field.
The bad news is that they all carry a fair amount of risk. Lucroy is 31 years old, around the time catchers begin to decline, and Posey is coming off a down year and is turning 30. Sanchez’s late-season production was totally out of line with his minor league numbers, and Schwarber’s at-bats, given his defensive struggles and the depth of the Cubs’ lineup, are a bit tenuous.
The good news is that they are all going later than the “elite catchers” usually go. You can grab Posey and Sanchez in the 4th round and Lucroy and Schwarber in the 6th, according to our ADP. Personally, I’ll still be waiting on catcher, but if you’re into drafting one of the top players at the position, these are you guys, and you can get them at a reasonable cost.
The Very Solids
These three should all give you solid production, but have capped ceilings that will likely prevent them from jumping into that next tier. Contreras has to split playing time with Miguel Montero and Schwarber. The Astros acquired Brian McCann and signed Carlos Beltran, which will similarly limit Gattis’ playing time. And Realmuto has limited power, and gets most of his value from his handful of stolen bases, which is dangerous for a catcher.
With that said, all three of these guys will give you above-average production from the position if healthy.
The Startables
This is the last of the group of guys with whom you can leave a draft and not have major reservations. Other than perhaps Grandal if everything goes absolutely perfectly, these guys have almost no chance to be elite options. But, absent getting hurt, they are going to give you decent but unspectacular production, which is pretty much all you can ask for out of your catcher.
The Guys Who Show Up
So, yeah, there’s not much to say about these guys, other than they play a lot, and that’s worth something from a catcher. Molina no longer puts up decent stats, yet always finishes as a startable catcher just from pure volume. And Vogt supplements his time at catcher with games at DH, resulting in extra at-bats. There’s something to be said for just being there, particularly in points leagues.
The Guys With Upside
All of these guys are risky, but have a ton of potential to vastly outperform their ADP. Wieters hasn’t had a particularly productive year since 2013 but will be batting in a solid lineup with the Nationals and wants to reestablish himself. d’Arnaud looked lost last year but was an elite fantasy catcher per plate appearance in 2015.
Rupp has defensive concerns, but if he gets regular playing time, he should hit for solid power (16 HR in 389 at-bats in 2016). Murphy looked like he figured things out in Triple-A last year, and was great in his September cameo with the Rockies, but he’ll need to hold off Tony Wolters. Castillo should hit for power in Baltimore and could have a breakout season if he gets time at DH during his off-days. And Ramos could be a steal if he can return before June and get playing time at DH.
Everyone Else
- Sandy Leon
- Mike Zunino
- Yan Gomes
- James McCann
- Derek Norris
- Devin Mesoraco
- Austin Hedges
- Jason Castro
- Francisco Cervelli
- Tyler Flowers
Ok, this isn’t EVERYONE else, but if you’re looking past this group, you’re in trouble. You really don’t want to be relying on many of these guys, but if you have to, there are at least a few intriguing names. Hedges had a huge year in Triple-A, Zunino always hits with power, and Mesoraco was a stud before getting hurt.
But seriously, don’t get caught in this group if you can avoid it. Otherwise, you’ll be in the tracks of my tiers . . . Boom, comedy gold!
More Tiers
First Base Rankings Tiers
Second Base Rankings Tiers
Shortstop Rankings Tiers
Third Base Rankings Tiers
Outfield Rankings Tiers
Starting Pitcher Rankings Tiers
Relief Pitcher Rankings Tiers
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Dan Harris is a correspondent with FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.
