Catchers to Stream for Week 2 (4/8 – 4/14)

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 >50% owned (according to Yahoo). The ineligible catchers are:

Gary Sanchez – (New York Yankees)

JT 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)

Welington Castillo – (Chicago White Sox)

Francisco Mejia – (San Diego Padres)

Mike Zunino – (Tampa Bay Rays)

Francisco Cervelli – (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Danny Jansen – (Toronto Blue Jays)

 

Reviewing Last Week

 

Isiah Kiner-Falefa – (Texas Rangers): 4/13, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Kiner-Falefa didn’t give you anything in terms of power and not much in the way of counting stats, but a .308 average helped you big time. And really what you’re looking for out of a catcher is non-negative production and IKF didn’t hurt you, so I’ll take it. If someone objects to this being a win, let me know.

Omar Narvaez – (Seattle Mariners): 8/29, 6 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB

Narvaez snuck up my personal rankings over the few weeks leading up to the season and he had a big first week. The power is unlikely to be there each week, but take advantage when you can.

Austin Barnes – (Los Angeles Dodgers): 7/17, 5 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB

I mentioned in my blurb that Barnes was my favorite streamer pick from Week 1 and, if you streamed him, he rewarded you in a big way. I’m working on a Going Deep piece about Barnes, but long story short: Feel good about him.

Dave’s Streaming Record: 3-0

 

Other Notes from Week 1

 

Alex Avila (Arizona Diamondbacks) was off to a great start, but landed on the IL with a strained left quad. Carson Kelly and John Ryan Murphy will split starts, but I expect Kelly to get the bulk.

The hype continues to build around Willians Astudillo (Minnesota Twins), who hit a ridiculous .500 through his first 14 ABs and even drew a walk. However, he only started three times so far and that gives me pause to recommend streaming him. I’d definitely consider grabbing him in redraft leagues as your main guy, but I’m hesitant about him on a week-to-week basis.

The Atlanta Braves are in trouble with Brian McCann going on the IL and Tyler Flowers getting hit on the hand, however X-rays were negative. Expect rookie Alex Jackson to get the bulk of playing time until Flowers is healthy.

Any threat to Francisco Cervelli’s (Pittsburgh Pirates) playing time should be eased for the time being with Elias Diaz on the IL; however, Diaz began a rehab assignment this past Thursday and should be back some time this week.

After eight games, Yan Gomes seems to have an advantage in playing time over Kurt Suzuki, so the former will enter into streaming consideration until that trend shifts.

 

This Week’s Streamers

Austin Barnes – (Los Angeles Dodgers): Barnes doesn’t have the best of matchups this week, but they’re not terrible. He gets a struggling Miles Mikolas tomorrow, followed by Jack Flaherty on Wednesday and Nick’s beloved Corbin Burnes on Thursday, but overall it’s a weak slate and Barnes can take advantage.

Austin Hedges – (San Diego Padres): I’m somewhat hesitant about Hedges because he’s still not all that great offensively, but he has started seven of 11 so far for the Padres and started evenly against righties and lefties. While his matchups are not particularly great, he has just two tough matchups in Madison Bumgarner, who is off to a hot start, and Zack Greinke on Sunday, which gives him plenty of opportunities to take advantage.

Josh Phegley– (Oakland Athletics): Our own Jonathan Metzelaar was leading a mini-hype train this preseason for Lucroy and, although I disagree with it, it’s certainly possible for you to take advantage this week. He has a very weak slate: four at Baltimore and three at Texas with no particularly strong matchups. Feel free to fire him up this week, but know that the floor is low. My deepest apologies, I was looking at last year’s notes, which still had Lucroy in Oakland. This is Josh Phegley; it could be Nick Hundley but I’m willing to bet on Phegley getting the playing time edge. I don’t love Phegley but my feelings on their matchup remain very strong.

I definitely don’t love this week as much as last for streaming, but if you can, ride Austin Barnes into the sunset.

(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire)