RADIO
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 (5/30) - I told you before last week started that injuries made it a brutal week:
- Mitch Garver (He took a foul ball to the groin and then had to have surgery, so he gets a pass)
- Omar Narvaez (4 starts) 6-18, 2 HR, 6 Runs, 3 RBI (WIN - he should be over 50% rostered)
- William Contreras (5 starts) 4-17, no counting stats (LOSS - but he's starting every game now)
- Jose Trevino (4 starts) 1-11, 1 HR, 1 Run, 2 RBI (LOSS - guess Coors only helps so much)
- Dom Nunez (2 starts) 1-8, 2 Runs, 1 RBI (LOSS - he continues to lose playing time)
SEASON STREAMING RECORD: 24-21
All matchup projections are made in conjunction with Roster Resource and @Rotoquotes on Twitter
Week Eleven Catcher Waiver Wire (6/7 - 6/13)
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, Buster Posey, and Yadier Molina.
Omar Narvaez, Milwaukee Brewers
38% Rostered
Over the last two weeks, Narvaez is 10th among catchers in plate appearances, and his spot at the top of the Brewers' lineup means that he has become a good source of runs, with nine over that span. While the .235 batting average over those two weeks isn't ideal, he's also hit three HRs, drove in four runs and has an impressive .324 ISO and .559 slugging percentage. Considering he plays in a hitter-friendly park, those last two numbers will continue to allow him to accrue fantasy value. On the year, he's hitting .317 and has cut his strikeout rate from 31% last year to 17.2% this year. He should be rostered in way more leagues.
Next week, he gets to go to another hitter-friendly park in Cincinnati and gets to face off against a string of pitchers who have been having some home run issues on the season. Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray have a history as aces, but both have been struggling a bit this season, especially with the long ball. JT Brubaker, and his 22.2% HR/FB ratio, would be the next best arm Narvaez sees for the rest of the week, and he also gets the benefit of facing two rookies and zero left-handed pitchers, which is a big plus for the lefty Narvaez.
Tom Murphy, Seattle Mariners
3% Rostered
Don't look now, but Tom Murphy is starting to hit a bit. Despite splitting time with Jose Godoy, Murphy is hitting .304 over his last two weeks with two HR, four runs, five RBI, and a .609 slugging percentage. The fact that Godoy is hitting only .192 during that span should persuade the Mariners to give Murphy more starts, but he also has the benefit of having three lefties on the schedule next week in Matthew Boyd, Tyler Alexander, and Sam Hentges.
Those should be automatic starts for the right-handed Murphy, giving him a good shot at four starts next week against a relatively average set of arms. Shane Bieber is obviously an ace and Casey Mize has shown some signs of growth lately, but most of the pitchers on the slate for Murphy have allowed above-average barrels and home runs, which means the veteran has a chance to remain effective, especially if he gets at-bats against a weak Tigers bullpen.
Jorge Alfaro, Miami Marlins
6% Rostered
The Marlins are one of a small handful of teams who play seven games next week, which means Alfaro has a slight advantage in terms of at-bats. Over the last two weeks, he's been doing fine with the opportunities he's had, hitting .250 with two HRS, three runs, and four RBI to go along with a .500 slugging percentage. The Marlins offense hasn't been great as a whole, so he's not going to put up a massive week of counting stats, but he doesn't face any pitchers who are at the top of their game right now.
Charlie Morton and Max Fried obviously have a history of near-ace level production, but both have struggled a bit in the early stages of the season and don't seem invincible. While Alfaro won't face the Rockies in Colorado, he gets to face a very beatable set of arms and, for the week, will see three left-handed starters, which is good for a guy who has a .789 OPS versus lefties this year when compared to a .587 OPS versus righties. In short, this won't be a game-breaking stream week for you, but I think he can provide a solid floor.
Tyler Stephenson, Cincinnati Reds
7% Rostered
Tyler Stephenson continues to start at 1B and hit in the middle of the order for the Reds as they deal with a myriad of injuries across the infield. As a result, Stephenson has the second-most plate appearances for a catcher over the last week weeks. However, as a rookie, those have not been the most consistent plate appearances and he slumped a bit at the end of May. He seems to be coming out of it a little bit lately, hitting .364 with a .636 slugging percentage since the calendar turned to June.
But what this stream call comes down to his his spot in the order and six games against average pitching in a great hitting environment. Okay, Freddy Peralta is certainly a better than average pitcher, and German Marquez on the road is no slouch, but Stephenson also faces two extremely vulnerable lefties in Brett Anderson and Kyle Freeland, and then gets two other above-average match-ups against Adrian Houser and Antonio Senzatela. That's enough for me to roll the dice on the rookie.
Deep League Thoughts
Just a quick note on two other guys. With Mitch Garver having surgery, Ryan Jeffers has assumed the majority of the catching duties and went 5-12 with two HR and four RBI this week. He has a really tough schedule coming up against the Yankees and Astros, which is why he didn't make the cut, but if you're desperate for an option in two-catcher leagues, he may not be a bad one. Also, if you currently have Eric Haase, you're obviously going to hold him because he's hit .500 with five HR in the month of June; however, just be aware that he has a 37% strikeout rate over the last two weeks and will face Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, and Carlos Rodon in the White Sox series, so this could be a hot streak that gets cold quick.
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