Catchers to Stream for Week 3 (4/15 – 4/21)

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)

Francisco Mejia – (San Diego Padres)

Francisco Cervelli – (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Austin Barnes – (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Willians Astudillo – (Minnesota Twins)

 

Reviewing Last Week

 

Austin Barnes – (Los Angeles Dodgers): 2/13, R, 2 BB

Today isn’t over, so he could still provide some value but this is the floor for Barnes. He hurt you big time this week and I’m sorry for that; you can’t expect a HR every week, but an OBP above the .260s should be in the cards for him on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, Barnes is no longer eligible for my list (given his increased ownership), but here’s hoping he maintains quality production.

Austin Hedges – (San Diego Padres): 1/14, HR, 3 RBI, BB

Yikes. The HR was awesome, but it doesn’t fix everything that the .071 average broke. I knew the power could be there, but you were hoping for two or three more hits at least.

Josh Phegley – (Oakland Athletics): 6/16, 4 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI

YES, PHEGLEY. I’m so sorry I accidentally called you Lucroy for a minute there. Phegley is all the rage right now and he might have you thinking of holding him, but I’ll urge you to reconsider. He took advantage of a very weak pitching schedule that anyone could take advantage of and while he’s posting a ridiculous .333/.351/.639 slash line, he’s only a .227/.268/.383 career hitter in his age-31 season. There’s not much to see here, so feel free to drop with confidence.

Dave’s Streaming Record: 4-2

 

Other Notes from Week 2

 

Victor Caratini (Chicago Cubs) went to the DL, meaning Contreras is likely to start most every day in his absence. Caratini was smoking the ball and was the NL’s leader in average exit velocity (minimum of 10 batted balls) entering the weekend.

The hype continues to build around Willians Astudillo (Minnesota Twins) to the point where I can’t even recommend him in this article anymore, but he only started twice over this past week (going 1/9), putting him under 50% of games started for the season. He’s so much fun, but he’s not a must-own until he’s playing with more regularity. You may be interested in Mitch Garver, but he’s also not playing often enough to help consistently — only three starts over his last seven makes for a decent DFS dart throw, but not something I’d like to bet on consistently. Also, who wants to bet on another 2 HR game vs Jacob deGrom?

The Atlanta Braves got some welcome news that Tyler Flowers was able to return to action this week. He’s hitting the ball very hard right now (though he needs to lift the ball a bit more) and is worth a speculative add at just 2% owned.

Francisco Cervelli (Pittsburgh Pirates) is still playing every day while Elias Diaz recovers at Indianapolis. He should be back this week.

After thirteen 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

 

Welington Castillo – (Chicago White Sox): Yes, I know Castillo is hitting just .083 with no XBHs so far this year, but he’s poised for a breakout week, getting the Royals trio of Heath Fillmeyer, Jorge Lopez, and an intriguing Brad Keller, followed by Daniel Norris, Tyson Ross, Jordan Zimmerman, and Matt Boyd in Detroit. That’s a seven-game slate following a day off today. I expect him to sit one of the Lopez or Boyd games, as it’s a DAN (day-after-night game), as well as one of Ross or Zimmerman. But still, that would make five starts and a great opportunity to do some damage for your offense.

Tony Wolters – (Colorado Rockies): It’s as simple as four games in Coors. He gets Aaron Nola on Saturday and an off day Wednesday, but he should get at least four starts this week against a struggling Phillies pitching staff and the weaker parts of the Padres. He’s been playing over Chris Iannetta, so fire him up and hope for the best at home.

Austin Romine – (New York Yankees): Romine is a little banged up, missing yesterday’s game as well as today’s vs the White Sox. However, the Yankees have a pretty easy slate: a struggling Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi then Homer Bailey, Jake Junis, Heath Fillmeyer, and Jorge Lopez all at home. Yes, Sale is Sale and Romine is 2/17 in his career against him, but if the struggling Sale train continues for another game, Romine can benefit.

(Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire)