The catcher position likely isn’t going to propel you to fantasy baseball glory. But if you pick the right one, it will help erase some frustration during your 2017 season.
Catchers don’t do a ton on offense. So if you don’t use an early pick one of the elite catchers (spoiler alert: there’s not many), then you’ll have to endure the issues that go along with fantasy baseball catchers.
Here’s a list of the can’t miss, possible bust and sleepers in the catcher position.
Can’t Miss
Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Since 2012, Posey has finished either first or second among catchers in fantasy points. And in the last two years, no one has come close to his production as a catcher.
That’s why he’s ranked 54th overall and will cost you a high draft pick. He’s going to lead catchers in fantasy points, so that’s his major upside. The only issue you have to deal with is if he outscores his fellow catchers by enough to make him worth a fifth-round pick.
Last year he scored 440 fantasy points. That wouldn’t come close to leading any other position and he would be a marginal player in other categories.
However, he outscored the second-best catcher by 37 points. Comparatively speaking, among first basemen, 37 points separated the top first basemen to the sixth-best first basemen.
If you believe Posey will put up similar numbers, he may be worth a high pick again.
Potential Bust
Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees
He was unbelievable in his 53 games last year for New York. He batted .299 in 53 games, and hammered 20 homers. If he can continue that sort of production, he’ll be one of the greatest players ever.
If you think that’s looking a little too far down the road, you haven’t seen his fantasy baseball ranking. He’s slotted as the 66th overall fantasy baseball player, 12 spots lower than Posey, a player who has so much clout as a catcher that no one should come close.
But people are buying Sanchez as the player they saw in limited action in 2016. If I know baseball, though, I would anticipate him to take a step back. And putting him that high on a draft board with such a limited sample size is too risky.
The catcher position is absent much talent, but that’s too high of a ranking to predict Sanchez will be a similar player as last year.
Sleeper
Yasmani Grandal, Los Angeles Dodgers
He wasn’t great in a total points category last year, but if you’re playing fantasy baseball based on categories, i.e. home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, etc., he can a solid sleeper.
Grandal managed the most at-bats, hits, runs, RBIs and homers in his short career last year. Most importantly, his home runs were second among catchers at 27, meaning he can be a regular contributor in that category for your team.
His batting average was atrocious last year at .228, so that needs to rise for him to be a top-tier catcher. He’s still young, so that number has room to grow. And he’s shown nothing but improvement in his career so far, so it’s natural to believe that will continue.
He’s currently the eighth-ranked catcher with an overall number of 141. That’s more in the zone of where I like to take my catchers in fantasy baseball.
