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It's your resident catcher advocate here, with my weekly defense for baseball's most maligned position. Instead of giving into easy narratives about the lack of talent at the catcher position and how they're the kickers of fantasy baseball, I'm here to create a place where catchers are celebrated for how they can help our teams.
Each week, I will take a look at the upcoming schedule ahead and give you my favorite streaming options at catcher. By looking at lineup trends, amount of games ahead, the location of the games, and potential pitching matchups, I'll try to guide you towards catchers that I think can be most useful for you in the upcoming week. For each catcher listed, I'll also add a chart that will provide you with data about the potential opposing pitchers that I think are meaningful in terms of allowing potential fantasy production. Plus, I'll also give a short explanation about why this catcher made the list. Every week I'll also look back at my previous recommendations so that we can have some transparency about what's working or not.
Since many fantasy managers will pay no attention to the catcher spot, your ability to constantly look for the best matchups will be a good way to get an advantage over your competition.
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Last Week Check-In
Not including Sunday's games (6/27):
- Omar Narvaez (3 starts) 2-12, 2 Runs, 2 RBI (LOSS - Perhaps Sunday's game will turn it)
- William Contreras (5 starts) 2-18 (LOSS - Maybe the magic has worn off)
- Tyler Stephenson (3 starts) 3-16, 1 Run, 1 RBI (Loss - he'll also likely start on Sunday)
- Reese McGuire (4 starts) 7-16, 2 runs (WIN - he's been very good; he gets four lefties next week or he would have made the list again)
SEASON STREAMING RECORD: 31-27
All matchup projections are made in conjunction with Roster Resource and @Rotoquotes on Twitter
Week Fourteen Catcher Waiver Wire (6/28 - 7/2)
For the purposes of this article, we are considering a "streaming catcher" one who is rostered in under 50% of Yahoo! leagues. Whether or not these catchers will be useful for you will depend entirely on your league size and the number of catchers you need to play. In order to help, I will keep a weekly list of "Untouchables," meaning catchers who, in my opinion, should NOT (if healthy) be dropped for a streaming option.
Untouchables: Catchers who shouldn't be dropped for these streamers in any format: J.T. Realmuto, Salvador Perez, Yasmani Grandal, Willson Contreras, Will Smith, Christian Vazquez, and Buster Posey.
Luis Torrens, Seattle Mariners
3% Rostered
Guess which catcher has the highest wRC+ over the last 14 days? Well, yeah, it's obvious given the context, but it's Luis freakin' Torrens. Since being recalled from Triple-A, the young catcher has been on fire. Over the past two weeks, he's hitting .375 with a 1.042 slugging percentage, five home runs, seven runs, and nine RBIs. Oh, he also has a .667 ISO, which is pretty good, and all of that comes with just a .286 BABIP. Yes, that streak isn't going to last, but don't we want to ride it while we can?
Torrens is going to play three games in a hitter-haven in Buffalo and two of those games will come against left-handed pitchers. Robbie Ray has been great this season, but he is still giving up a ton of hard contact and home runs, so he can rack up strikeouts and still allow for opponents to produce offensive goodness. Steven Matz will just be coming off the IL, so we have no idea what to expect, and then Torrens gets two really plus matchups against the Rangers with Jordan Lyles and Mike Foltynewicz. This may be short-lived, but I'm going to enjoy the fun while I can.
Omar Narvaez, Milwaukee Brewers
48% Rostered
It's been a rough two weeks for Narvaez, but I'm leaving him on here for a few reasons. One, I think he's good and he's hitting at the top of an improving Brewers lineup. Two, look at that table above, and, three, this is a long damn season. I think too many of us are playing this game as if it was 2020 and we only had eight weeks. There are still three months to go. THREE MONTHS!
One or two poor weeks isn't going to make or break your season, so we have to be able to stick with players that have talent and can provide what our roster needs. Narvaez is still hitting .302 on the season. His strikeout rate is still at a low 17.3% with an 11.2% walk rate. His spot in the lineup and batting order isn't being threatened.
There are no changes in his profile recently that suggest the early part of the season was a mirage, so we need to hold course. The schedule for next week should make it easy to do that, so you shouldn't be scared away from rolling with Narvaez for a few more weeks.
Tyler Stephenson, Cincinnati Reds
10% Rostered
Not too far behind Torrens, coming in 7th among catchers in wRC+ over the past two weeks is Stephenson. The rookie has settled in as an above-average offensive player, hitting .280 with eight runs over the last two weeks. What's more interesting to me is that he has an 18.2% walk rate and 12.1% strikeout rate over that period, which tells me that he's beginning to get a good feel for the strike zone.
He hits fourth in a strong Reds lineup and will play all seven games at home in Great American Ballpark, which is a tremendous offensive environment. To top it off, every pitcher he'll face, with the exception of Joe Musgrove, is giving up above-average hard contact this year. Kyle Hendricks has course-corrected a bit of late and Adbert Alzolay has had some dominant starts, but Musgrove is really the only pitcher on this list that worries me, but not enough to get rid of Stephenson for the week.
On another quick note: how is Adley Rutschman more widely rostered in Yahoo! leagues than Stephenson? Stephenson is 24-years-old; he's hitting .269 with just a 17.8% strikeout rate in his first major league season. He's pretty much locked into the middle of the order for a solid offense. How is that not valuable to you both right now and in the future?
Max Stassi, Los Angeles Angels
38% Rostered
We didn't play Stassi last week because he had only five games, but we're going back to the Angels catcher with seven games on the slate, all against average or below-average arms. While few of the pitchers that Stassi will face give up lots of home runs, the ratios and barrel rates are exactly what you want to see if you're rostering a hitter.
In fact, Jordan Montgomery is the best pitcher that Stassi will face and I wouldn't be scared of Stassi facing the Yankees lefty. To top it off, Stassi will face three gas gan pitchers for the Orioles at home in Anaheim, which has played as a top-five park for power this year. I think Stassi could end the week with a bang and make you a very happy manager.
Dom Nunez, Colorado Rockies
2% Rostered
I want to start out by saying that this is for deep leagues only. Over the last 30 days, Elias Diaz has played in 14 games and has 50 plate appearances while Dom Nunez has played in 13 games with 48 plate appearances. Both are hitting like crap. Nunez is hitting worse. Neither one of these guys would be near a fantasy roster except that they play in Coors and, you guessed it, the Rockies have seven home games next week.
Then you look at the pitcher they're set to face and you see how a guy like Nunez can make his way onto this list. Adam Wainwright has defeated father time and been legitimately good this year, but I am actively trying to start hitters against all of the other pitchers on this list. Additionally, they're all right-handed, which means that the left-handed-hitting Nunez should see a majority of the starts over Diaz, even though Diaz has been slightly better of late. Just hold your nose and trust the thin mountain air.
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