Fantasy Baseball : Position Prep - Catchers
With Spring games starting in 3 weeks, it’s time to start prepping for your Fantasy Baseball season. What better place to start than with catchers. The dominant fantasy forces that they are, let’s dive into the group.
The focus of this series is on Value…VALUE!!
Perhaps that is William Contreras, the top projected catcher across most boards. Or perhaps it’s a deep cut. Let’s find out.
#1…
Alright…so it is William Contreras.
I debated being a contrarian but for a guy who finished 5th in MVP voting last year and hitting 3rd on a Milwaukee team projected by many to win their division, that is strong value outside the top 2 rounds.
His ADP across ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, RT Sports, NFBC, and Fantrax lands him at 32.6 with a high of 25 - All outside your first 2 rounds in 12-team leagues.
Fangraphs projects we’ll see a bit of a dip with his average but if he can give you 20+ HRs again and slug over .450 there is no doubt he’ll give you close to 100 Runs & RBIs with him expected to man the 3-hole in that lineup.
#2 - Will Smith - LAD
I had a much harder time locking in this spot. But I keep coming back to the fact that this lineup is just too strong and there will be too many good opportunities to hit. I mean, you can’t pitch around everyone in the Dodgers lineup. That’s right. Will Smith is my 2nd most valuable catcher with an ADP of 95 across the 5 sites mentioned. Going at 68th on ESPN I’d be a bit more hesitant but the other 4 sites have him going between 90th-118th, good for an 8th-10th round pick instead of a 5th rounder.
If you find yourself considering him around ESPN’s ADP here’s my main point in favour of Smith and a big part of why I have him in this #2 spot. I think he will finally get some decent play outside the catcher position. Will Smith does only have 1.2 innings of work at 1B in his career. But I just do not see Freddie Freeman getting 147 games in like last year. Also, with Ohtani expected to pitch come May, it would certainly fit the Dodgers style to give him some added rest here and there, potentially opening up a few more DH days for Smith as well.
With Freeman’s overall down season statistically in 2024 combined with some injury trouble, it’s more than reasonable to expect a cautious franchise to give their now 35-year-old star all the rest they see fit. The question is who will play 1B beyond him?
In 2024 the only players to get more than 1 appearance at 1B for the Dodgers were Cavan Biggio with 12 and Kike Hernandez with 18. Neither of these players are on the Dodgers roster as of today. Max Muncy now hasn’t played 1B since 2022 when he made just 3 appearances, although he did have 122 the year before. If Will Smith can take hold of the backup 1B role he could easily earn himself an extra 20+ games. This would have the potential to push Smith into the true upper echelon of fantasy catchers.
#3 - Salvador Perez
Sal Perez is timeless. He’s the MLB equivalent of a fine wine as he continues to be an elite hitting catcher going into his 14th season.
His Baseball Savant shows that when he connects he is demolishing baseballs. But he is as bad as it gets for chasing outside the zone. He did have a career-high 44 walks last season though.
His ADP is 83.8 with a high of 69. He is typically being drafted slightly before Will Smith but there are a few reasons I have him behind the Dodgers backstop.
First, is that he is 35, and with almost 11k innings behind home plate, the toll that has taken on him will arrive one of these years. In typical fashion for an aging catcher, the transition to more 1B started last season as his appearances rose from 23 in 2023 to 49, while still getting in 24 games at DH.
Second is how viable those numbers are to continue. Last year was Vinnie Pasquantino’s first full year in the majors and he certainly showed some flashes of being a strong contributor. He will fill 1B and DH spots and I’d expect his 131 games played to see an increase this year. Next is the addition of Jonathan India. While obviously not a direct positional competitor to Perez his addition creates more options for Royals manager Matt Quantaro as the Royals 2B from last season Michael Massey looks to stay in the lineup as well.
All that being said, if Perez continues to hit well and near the top of the lineup, just behind a likely perennial MVP candidate in Bobby Witt Jr. Not only will Perez have a great campaign but there is absolutely no reason to think the Royals won’t do everything possible to keep him in their lineup.
#4 - Yainer Diaz - HOU
This one has the potential to make me look bad. That feels odd to say for the catcher coming off the boards most commonly 3rd after William Contreras and Adley Rutschman. His ADP is 73.8 with a high of 54. If you’re getting him around his low end of 101 then there’s a good chance his value surpasses that of 1 or 2 of the guys above him here. That late I think will end up being a pipe dream come most peoples drafts.
I think the biggest reason I have him in the 4 spot is the risk you run relying on a high batting average. Diaz does have just over 1000 plate appearances now and is hitting .291 for his career. That is no small sample size. His HRs did drop from 23 to 16 while having almost 250 more plate appearances. He also had just 7 more doubles. This could mean the power he showed as a rookie was just a flash.
Diaz is also almost as bad as Perez at chasing balls as he found himself in the 2nd percentile for Chase%. He also barely walks as his BB% is also 2nd percentile with a 24/107 BB/K ratio. On the flip side, he had 84 RBIs last year and with what may be an improved top of the Astros lineup adding Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker, Ruiz may have an opportunity to increase that number.
#5 - Shea Langeliers - ATH
Yes, I am leaving Adley out of the top 5. That may end up looking worse than Diaz at 4. But the man they were calling ‘Bangeliers’ in Oakland and soon to be Sacramento. As ‘The Athletics’ begin their slow transition to Las Vegas they bring with them a real ragtag group of misfits. Of that group, Shea is a real piece who would be a great complementary piece on a competitive ballclub. Instead, he is a centerpiece behind only Brent Rooker who had a remarkable 2024.
Langeliers hit 29 HRs last season and that likely is around his max. Fangraphs model projects him at 26 with a slight boost to his batting average to .231 up from .224 last season. With an ADP of 143.2 and a high of 118 I think he makes for a great pick if you want to focus on other positions early in your draft.
I don’t think it’s out of the question that Langeliers breaks the 30 HR barrier and with some growth from Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday with another strong season from Rooker, we could even see an increase in his 80 RBIs from 2024. I won’t hold my breath on some down-the-lineup help to boost Shea’s run.0 totals but maybe we’ll see magic in Sactown.
#6 - Austin Wells - NYY
Finished 3rd in AL ROY voting. A red-hot August where he hit .287 with 4 HRs got him a good amount of attention in the Big Apple. Being a lefty in Yankee Stadium always leaves the potential for a HR boom. The lineup in front of him looks great on paper as well.
ADP - 214.6 - High of 185.
#7 - Cal Raleigh - SEA
Here I'm expecting a down year from Seattle and I don’t see Cal being worth the higher ADP compared to a lot of his similar counterparts. He does walk pretty well but I’m down on 2/3 of the guys projected above him in the lineup (Robles & Arozarena). The Rays rarely lose trades so my money is on last year’s Randy Arozarena is closer to the norm than an outlier.
ADP - 88 - High of 75.
#8 - Gabriel Moreno - ARI
Depending on your league setup Moreno can be a great boost out of your catcher’s spot. Should hit for good average with a great OBP. Lower power numbers but barely strikes out and as you can assume from his OBP, plenty of walks. He helps in more categories than he hurts.
ADP - 237.8 - High of 190
