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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
This does not include stats from Sunday 8/1
- Max Stassi (4 starts) 3-18, 2 Runs, 1 RBI (LOSS - the playing time is still there)
- Elias Diaz (4 starts) 7-17, 2 HR, 6 Run, 5 RBI (WIN - Diaz in Coors is a must)
- Daulton Varsho (4 starts) 1-15 (LOSS - he really cooled off)
SEASON STREAMING RECORD: 41-37
All matchup projections are made in conjunction with Roster Resource Probables Grid
Week Twenty Catcher Waiver Wire (8/9 - 8/15)
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 streamers in any format: J.T. Realmuto, Salvador Perez, Willson Contreras, Will Smith, Omar Narvaez, Christian Vazquez, Eric Haase, and Buster Posey.
Max Stassi, Los Angeles Angels
30% Rostered
Over the last two weeks, Stassi is 2nd in baseball at the catcher position in wRC+, which means that he's helping to create a lot of runs. That makes sense when you see his .333/.400/.661 line over the last 11 games with three home runs, 11 runs scored, and nine runs batted in - and that's even with last week's poor showing. In truth, Stassi has been hot for most of the second half, hitting .309 with four home runs, nine RBI, and seven runs scored over the 15 games during the second half of the season. That makes Stassi a pretty attractive option, even when the schedule isn't elite. He gets a solid four-game stretch in a plus offensive environment in Toronto but then sees three tough arms in Houston. Given Stassi's ability, I'm not too worried about the Toronto series. Robbie Ray has been great this year, but he also still has a home run issue and gives up a lot of barrels, so Stassi can do some damage with the long ball against him as well as Ross Stripling and Steven Matz, who both also have home run issues. I don't think Stassi will set the world on fire this week, but I expect a solid overall effort.
Austin Nola, San Diego Padres
32% Rostered
It seems like Austin Nola might finally be coming around. Over the last two weeks, he's hitting .455 and while the slugging percentage is only .545, you'll take that batting average hitting in the Padres lineup any day of the week. Nola has added five RBI. He also gets a pretty strong schedule this week against two teams in the bottom third of major league baseball. The Marlins always throw out some solid arms, but Zach Thompson has over-performed his underlying metrics a bit and Sandy Alcantara just hasn't been 100% as of late. Then Nola will travel to Arizona and gets a plus set of games and two starts against lefties (three on the week). Zac Gallen is obviously a talented arm, but he has been hit-or-miss since coming back from injury, so there isn't truly one arm that scares me on this slate.
Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays
5% Rostered
Frustratingly, Kirk is still splitting time with Reese McGuire, even though Danny Jansen is on the IL. Both of them are hitting the ball well, with Kirk batting .368 over the last two weeks and McGuire hitting .345. The bet on Kirk is more a bet on talent and also the fact that the Blue Jays will face three lefties next week, which should lock Kirk into at least three starts. If he produces, I can see him starting at least four of the team's seven games, since they also have a doubleheader on Tuesday. That should be enough to help your team if he keeps swinging the bat like this. The chart itself might not seem overly enticing, but even the good pitchers on the slate, like Patrick Sandoval and Yusei Kikuchi, have problems with home runs, so Kirk can still help your fantasy team with one swing, even if the offense isn't dominant in that game. I don't love his week in one-catcher leagues, but I think he can be a solid performer in two-catcher formats.
Pedro Severino, Baltimore Orioles
4% Rostered
When the weather heats up in Baltimore, the bats usually start to follow. Severino is 4th at the catcher position over the last two weeks in wRC+ and has a .313 average and .719 slugging percentage to go along with four home runs and eight RBIs. Severino did suffer a bone bruise on his knee on Saturday and missed Sunday's game, so keep an eye on him, but I think he should be fine, so he's gonna make this list. Look at that schedule he has coming up. There isn't one arm there that scares you. Houck has the best numbers, but he's thrown only 25+ innings and hasn't been going deep into games, and then Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize have been trendy names, but they both give up a lot of hard contact and home runs. In, there is a lot of green in that barrel rate column, which gives me some confidence that Severino can have a solid week for a feisty Orioles lineup.
For your consideration... With Roberto Perez going on the IL, Cleveland has called up Wilson Ramos from the minor leagues. As Ramos showed earlier with the Tigers, there is still some pop in his bat, so I would look into how Cleveland manages the reps between Ramos and Austin Hedges, but he could be a solid option in two-catcher leagues for a few weeks.
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