Catchers to Stream for Week 14 (7/1-7/7)

If you missed out on the cream of the crop at catcher and need help to address the problem, look no further. This article will address your concerns by looking at who might be the best streaming-caliber catchers for the week ahead.

First, we have to rule out any widely owned catcher. For the purposes of this list, that means anyone who has 50% ownership rate or higher according to FantasyPros consensus ranks. The ineligible catchers are:

Gary Sanchez – (New York Yankees)

J.T. Realmuto – (Philadelphia Phillies)

Buster Posey – (San Francisco Giants)

Willson Contreras – (Chicago Cubs)

Yadier Molina – (St. Louis Cardinals)

Yasmani Grandal – (Milwaukee Brewers)

Wilson Ramos – (New York Mets)

Omar Narvaez – (Seattle Mariners)

 

 

Reviewing Last Week

 

In weeks past, I outlined guidelines for determining a streaming “win” and I’ll leave these up here each week as a reminder.

1. Batting average is king. When we stream a catcher, we’re not expecting multiple home runs, so a guy hitting .275 is helpful and I’ll consider that a plus. Anything over .300 is a super plus and a near-automatic win. That said, we have to keep in mind the number of plate appearances—under 10 PA diminishes that boost.
2. Home runs have a major impact. If you get two homers from the catcher position, it’s almost a guaranteed win, unless the catcher batted under the Mendoza line. However, a catcher can still be a streaming win without home runs if other factors are there.
3. Counting stats (R+RBI) are the lowest stat consideration because you’re not expecting them from your catcher anyway. They’re a nice bonus.

 

Carson Kelly – (Arizona Diamondbacks): 7/15, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI

See what happens when we wait until the right week to stream Kelly? Dude FLAT. OUT. RAKES. Except… his home run came against righty reliever Trevor Gott. Wait, what? Yeah, apparently Kelly is figuring out that he’s allowed to hit against righties also.

Roberto Perez – (Cleveland Indians): 4/15, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

A homer and a .267 average? It’s close, but the staff gave the vote in favor of Perez. If you’re in a shallow-enough league, I’m dropping this week in favor of another streamer as the Tribe only has five games, but he’s not the worst hold through the All-Star Break.

Mitch Garver – (Minnesota Twins): 3/11, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Garver was healthy after the Monday off-day and he rewarded fantasy owners who trusted him. Keep riding the Twins backstop.

Dave’s Streaming Record: 16-10

Scott’s Streaming Record: 4-3-2

 

Quick Thoughts from Week 13

 

Just like your Rotten Tomatoes page, Will Smith you’re such a tease! We expect great things when we see you, but it’s just disappointment. Last Sunday, I wrote that he got called up and you should pick him up to see if the Dodgers were ready to install him as the everyday catcher. He responded with a three-run walk-off home run and then only four more ABs before getting shipped back to Oklahoma City. C’MON DODGERS! LET THE FRESH PRINCE PLAY! Oh and in case you think I’m taking an unfair dig at Will Smith, check out his Rotten Tomatoes page. The guy doesn’t have a movie above 70% as an actor since 1998.

There’s the Pedro Severino I want to ignore. Yes, he hit another HR this week, but he only had two starts, as the O’s decided to let give Chance Sisco a chance and he responded going 4/9 with two HRs and seven RBI in the O’s back-to-back blowouts over Cleveland. I expect this playing time split to be pretty even moving forward which limits fantasy appeal.

I made fun of Travis d’Arnaud last week and he hit a HR the day of last week’s article, then another one yesterday. I’m still avoiding him due to the .205 batting average, but the power could play in desperation weeks.

Neither of the Atlanta catchers did anything special and they each got three starts so far this week. Catcher streaming is a rough wasteland.

There may not be any catcher playing more frequently than James McCann right now. Last week, we talked about how Zack Collins is unlikely to threaten his playing time and he’s not at all. Collins started twice this past week, once at DH and the other at catcher, while McCann DH’d. I can’t imagine McCann starting THIS regularly, but you want to ride it as long as he’s starting every day and mashing. For what it’s worth, baseball savant says he’s been a .275 hitter with a .384 xwOBA so far. It’s not all smoke and mirrors, he really has been awesome.

Be careful of the seductive mistress that is Martin Maldonado. Yes, he’s homered in two straight, but that constitutes 40% of his homers on the season and 13% of his homers since the start of 2018. I’m more inclined to be seduced by Danny Jansen and his 6/13 week with two homers. His bat needs to turn around at some point, so hopefully it’s sooner rather than later and this past week is a sign of what’s to come.

 

This Week’s Streamers

 

Christian Vazquez – (Boston Red Sox): After what should be another high-scoring affair in London today, the Sox fly back and get three games against the Blue Jays pitching staff, whose greatest threat is Marcus Stroman. Then, three games against the Tigers to finish off the first half, which does include lefty Matt Boyd, but nothing else of consequence. The Red Sox are back to being a top-10 offense the last 30 days according to wOBA and I want all of it.

James McCann – (Chicago White Sox): You know who hasn’t been a top-10 offense the last 30 days? How’d you guess? Yes, the White Sox have been the third worst offense the last month per wOBA, but that’s not James McCann’s fault. He’s playing every day and the Sox get six games despite two off-days (shoutout double-header). I expect McCann to play at most five because they have four games in three days against the Tigers before staying at home for a cross-town matchup with the Cubbies.

Robinson Chirinos – (Houston Astros): This is a risky play, as the Astros only get five games, but two are in Coors. In Coors, the Astros draw German Marquez and then in their three-game set hosting the Angels, they get both Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning, so yeah, risky.

(Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire)