Catchers to Stream for Week 17 (7/29-8/4)

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)

Christian Vazquez – (Boston Red Sox)

Mitch Garver – (Minnesota Twins)

James McCann – (Chicago White Sox)

 

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.

 

Roberto Perez – (Cleveland Indians): 4/20, RBI

Oof. C’mon Perez, you’re better than that.

Mitch Garver – (Minnesota Twins): 3/16, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI

Yes, the average sucks. It really does. But it comes with 2 HRs and not terrible counting stats. I have said that 2 HRs is all but a guaranteed win unless the guy hits under the Mendoza line…. so I have to give him the loss. It feels wrong, but those are the rules that I arbitrarily made up, so I have to stand by them.

Dave’s Streaming Record: 20-14

Scott’s Streaming Record: 4-3-2

 

Quick Thoughts from Week 16

 

I hate this point every year. The playoffs are approaching and we start panicking about the catcher position, so the list of eligible catchers shrinks dramatically. I lost Christian Vazquez, Mitch Garver, and James McCann in the last two weeks.

C’mon Travis d’Arnaud. Please just let me stop writing about you. I don’t want to do it, but you INSIST that I keep doing it. Over the last month, he’s batting .333/.418/.725. He’s got 3 HRs, 5 R, and 12 RBI over the last week and the last week does not include his 3-homer game! Just nuts. Grab him while he’s hot and ride out the streak. I can’t believe I’m saying that and it feels awful to say but yeah, do it.

THE FRESH PRINCE HAS BEEN UNLEASHED! Will Smith returned to the majors this week, while Austin Barnes got demoted to AAA. How good has Smith’s AAA season been? He’s slashing .269/.381/.605 with a .255 BABIP, 20 HRs, and 102 R+RBI in just 61 games. Yes, it’s the PCL. Yes, it’s AAA. But wow. That kind of pop at the catcher position is absolutely tantalizing. Smith has now started back to back games and I expect the playing time to continue.

Yasmani Grandal has cooled off significantly hitting just .239 with 1 HR over the last month. It deserves a lot more digging and I intend to do that over the next week but I’m inclined to think this will not continue.

 

This Week’s Streamers

 

Will Smith – (Los Angeles Dodgers): Not only do I stand by everything I said above, but he goes to COORS this week. Gimme. Smith is gonna be a mainstay on this list until he loses playing time or he gets above 50% owned.

Travis d’Arnaud – (Tampa Bay Rays): WHAT YEAR IS IT? I also stand by everything I said above, and the Rays should put up big scoring efforts against the Red Sox and the Marlins… The catch, and there is a catch, is that the Rays have two off days in the middle of the week. Can d’Arnaud put up enough production in those five games to make it worth it?

I also want to recommend John Hicks but he’s just been downright awful. It’s a rough week for catchers. I’m hoping better days are ahead.

(Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)