Fantasy Baseball Today - Salvador Perez's Historic Season; Early 2022 Catcher Rankings (10/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: October 12, 2021

Before we get into the catcher position, what's going on in the playoffs (1:35)? How high will Wander Franco be drafted? Logan Webb or Shane McClanahan? ... News and notes (12:13): Clayton Kershaw got a PRP injection and more. ... 2021 catcher review (14:20): who finished top-10 in Roto? What happened to J.T. Realmuto? ... What went wrong with Christian Vazquez, James McCann, Sean Murphy and others? ... Who was the biggest surprise at the position (37:35)? ... Who are Scott's Top-10 catchers for 2021 (42:26)? What about the 11-20 rankings at the position (50:14)? ... Who are we planning to target and avoid at catcher (55:22)? ... Which prospects should you know at the position? 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive. Center field. What is magnificent? Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality.

Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam. 48 homers, 121 RBI. Salvador Perez might have just had the greatest fantasy season by a catcher ever. Welcome to fantasy. baseball today on Tuesday, October 12. Frank Stamphill joined as always by Scott White here to start our offseason positional series. Well, we'll recap 2021 and take an early look at 2022. You guess it today. We are talking about the most important position, obviously. It is catcher. What is going on, Scotty? How are you feeling about your Atlanta Braves? You are rocking the brave shirt right now.

I am. I am the Freddie Freeman jersey that you can't see the back of it. feeling good up two games to one why wouldn't I feel good it's better than being down one games to two you know and looks like a bullpen game coming up so we'll see we'll see I don't people are probably going to go back and listen to this

podcast so I don't want to date it too much you know that's true you know I thought about that I'm like should we even talk about the playoffs because you know people are probably going to listen to this throughout the course of the off season but I think that there are still some people listening now and some people watching right around this time period. So I thought it made sense to talk about the playoffs a little bit. And just a few things that we've noticed so far. Jock Peterson, huge pinch hit three-run Homer in game three.

We're actually recording this on Monday after he hit that home run. So massive game for him. And Max Reed was huge over the weekend for them. Six shutout with nine strikeouts in game two. I'm just going to kind of run through each series and like what stood out to me so far. The Red Sox advancing to the ALCS. Shout out to the Red Sox. Congratulations to them.

And all of their fans, I do say that begrudgingly because, look, whatever, I'm not going to hide it. I don't want the Red Sox to win, but they have played very well so far. Their lineup is on fire. Devers, Kike Hernandez, crushing home runs right now.

And surprisingly to me, Scott, the Tampa Bay Race pitching, which, look, they're always built on their pitching, their bullpen, great fundamentals, they play good defense. Pitching, let them down. Shane McClain-Baz, Drew Rasmsonson, all those guys that they basically leaned on

all season, I guess boss towards the end of the season. Yeah, come through. Well, the problem, I've always felt this way. I don't know that it's one of those, it's like a baseball truism or something, but the more arms you have to rely on to get you through whatever you need to get through,

the more opportunities there is for one of those links in the chain to break, you know? It only takes one link. to ruin it for everybody else. And in game four, that link was Shane McClanahan. Oh, man. Shane McClanahan, look, don't draft this guy in fantasy next year, everyone.

Especially if you're playing in leagues with me, you know. Oh, man, we were talking beforehand, and I said to Scott, man, I hope that there are some people that, all right, this is the last thing they see of McClanahan this year is him stinking it up in the playoffs. Maybe it'll drive down his price a little bit. Anyone who listened to this podcast all year knows that I love Shane McClanahan, and I'm going to love him next year.

So it was a disappointing performance in game four of the ALDS, but still pretty excited about Shane McClain overall. And pretty excited about Wander Franco. I mean, obviously everything he did in the regular season, but then goes out in the playoffs, 368 batting average, two homers. I don't know how high is too high, Scott, but you know how people get, man. Like drafting the top prospect in what is expected to be, I guess, his breakout season, people tend to draft for almost the ceiling outcome. And because of that, I kind of think that Warner Franco is going to be at least a third round pick and maybe in some deeper leagues like a 15 team.

He might even be a second round pick. I don't think it's crazy. Yeah, I could see that happening. I will not be invested in him if he is. And look, maybe he does break through. with the full extent of his potential. It's going to happen at some point. It happened this past year for Vladimir Guerrero

after a couple years of it not happening. True. Now, that was more like a fifth rounder, Vladimir Guerrero was drafted. Basically, every year he was drafted as like a fifth rounder on average, and it finally paid off with first round production. Maybe if Wander Franco slides to the fifth round,

I would consider it, but I think third or fourth, you're passing up the kind of production you'd be passing up is too high-end and much more likely, much higher probability than that best case outcome coming through for Wander Franco. And, you know, it's not fun saying that because, like, I know how talented Wander Franco is, I think.

Yeah. Very likely that in the next two or three years we'll consider him a first round or two. It's just how long will it take him to get there. And that's impossible to predict. I think for me the only thing that maybe gives me pause is the speed. I guess if you play in a categories league, obviously, you know, if you're investing a pick in the second or third round, you want as,

you want to fill as many categories as possible early on in your draft. So he only had two steals in 70 games this year. I just don't know if that's going to be a huge part of his game. I think he's very fast. You watch and play. Like, he's in-game speed. He's fast. I just,

I don't know how much he's going to run, especially in the middle of their lineup. but, you know, I don't want to set too, like, lofty expectations, but an 8-10 OPS as a 20-year-old kid, I mean, it's not often these player comps really work out, but I've said in the past, I don't know if you said it's got, but to me, his, like, high-end, everything works out for Wander Franco is he kind of turns into WAN Soto, and it, like, you kind of see it already.

Just like the plate discipline, the way he handles himself there, doesn't strike out, great eye at the plate. it just, it seems very obvious to me that, that he can turn into a Juan Soto-esque player, which, again, very lofty expectations, Juan Soto to me is already on track for like a whole famed career, but, um, yeah, Wander Franco had seven home runs and 308 played appearances. Yeah. So like, you mentioned the speed, how much of that is he going to provide? How much power is he ready to provide at this stage of his, at this stage of his career?

I think that, I think that remains to be seen. I think it was, initial returns were a little underwhelming, just as far as that goes. But yeah, in terms of how much contact he makes, his command of the strike zone, very impressive and points to him having a high ceiling. But we have to remember, he hasn't even turned 21 yet. He will next spring. During spring training, he'll turn 21. So very young. And we'll see.

We'll see how long it takes him to make good on everything we think he can be. As of recording this, the Astros are up 2 to 1 in the ALDS over the White Sox, Kyle Tucker, performing as he has all season. Yerdon Alvarez, 3 for 8 with a home run. Some pretty bad pitching overall from the White Sox starting pitchers. So Gialito, Lance Lynn, Dylan Seas, they were disappointments. Their first go-around's here in the ALDS, Tim Anderson, and Luis Roberts was absolutely racking up hits. So Robert is someone I've talked about already.

I think I'm going to be pretty highly invested in, excited to draft in 2022. And then the Giants and Dodgers are currently playing game three. While we're recording this, the series is tied one to one. I just got to quickly mention Logan Webb. I mean, what he did over the weekend, that is worthy of a... Oh my goodness gracious.

Jeez, man. Seven and two-thirds shutout, 10 strikeouts, zero walks against the Los Angeles Dodgers. how high will be too high to rank Logan Webb among starting pitchers for next season, Scottie? Well, I haven't actually lined up the names yet,

so I may be forgetting a whole bundle of them, but I suspect Logan Webb's going to be in my top 30. That's exactly what I was thinking. Top 30. Yeah, I think that's fair. And what's interesting about that start, as dominant as it was against the Dodgers.

Remember how they were hyped in his change-up in spring training? And that's initially what got me on board with him as a potential sleeper. And then the returns on the change-up during the season weren't that great, but obviously he had a great season. So who cares, right? That started against the Dodgers Friday. He threw his change up 41% of the time. It was responsible for 12 of his 21 whiffs.

So it did, at least in that start, live up to the Luis Castillo comparisons we were hearing back in spring training. And if that's going to be that good of a weapon for him on top of everything else, yeah, I mean, talking high-end potential for sure. Look, he already delivered high-end numbers, so I don't even know how much of a question that is anymore. Who do you think will rank higher for you? Logan Webb or Shane McClanahan? I think Webb.

I can't fault you. I think it's close. I think it's, you know, I got to dive into the numbers a little bit more. But looking at the innings pitch totals here, McLanahan, 123 and a third in the regular season. He pitched,

I think he only threw one inning or he didn't even complete the inning here on Monday. So that would give him, let's see. He, yeah, point, he only recorded two outs.

So about five and two thirds in the postseason. So he got to, you know, right around 1.30 total of the season. What does he get to next year? Probably get to like 160. I think,

I think that's probably, fair. To me, what's even less crucial than the innings total is how deep he pitches into each of his starts, and Logan Webb is already six, seven innings consistently. And in September, September

in that little bit of October, four times. Logan Webb went seven innings. I mean, when is McClan ever going, when at the race ever going to ask that of Mclanahan? I don't know. Maybe he takes that step forward next year, but I'm not ready to predict that on him.

And so it's really beyond effectiveness and it gets down to usage. And Webb has already used like a front line pitcher. And McClanahan, though he was the raised number one starter in the postseason, they don't ask him to deliver that number one type workload, you know, each and every time out. No, I think that's fair. And maybe it's one of those things where Webb is a better head-to-head points. type pitcher because he's going to go deeper into his starts. And just early diagnosis of the situation,

I think McClanahan is probably better on a per inning basis. So maybe he's like a roto, higher in roto or head-side categories. But yeah, I think it's going to be close between those two. And we have a long offseason to figure that out, Logan Webb versus Shane McClanahan. Before we get to the news and notes, I just want to thank everybody once again

for leaving a five-star Apple podcast rating and review. I've been reading a lot of them, people thanking us for helping them win their fantasy baseball championships. So we really, really do appreciate you listening all throughout the course of the season. Please hang out all offseason long. We're going to have some fun guests on. We're going to review each position. We're going to do an early preview here over the next basically a couple of months. This is what we're going to do.

So, yeah, I think it's going to be fun. And if you can, if you haven't yet, please drop a five-star rating and review on Apple. The news and notes, Clayton Kirshaw, not a lot going on here. so only a few things that I'll mention, but Clayton Kirshar received a PRP injection for the flexor tendon issue in his elbow and expects to be ready for spring training. He is an unrestricted free agent following the postseason.

We will not see him pitch at all in the postseason for the Dodgers. So it's going to be interesting. I mean, Kershaw's getting up there in age. I think he's turning 34 years old. He's spent his entire career in Dodger Blue. I don't know if they need him at this point, which is weird to say.

because every team can use pitching, but I just don't know. I don't know how much Clayton Kirshaw has left here. So we'll see. Could be potentially long offseason here for all baseball players and fans alike, but definitely for Clayton Kirschau. Tigers' outfield prospect Riley Green was scratched from the Arizona Fall League as he continues to experience concussion-like symptoms, and I had a few Mariners notes, some option notes for them.

They are expected to decline. Kyle Seeger's $20 million option. He only hit 212 this past year, but with 35 home runs and 101 RBI, and then you say Kikuchi is expected to exercise his $13 million option for next year. Scott, anything you'd like to add on Kershaw, Tigers outfield prospect, Riley Green, or these Mariners options.

That's really interesting about Kershaw being a free agent. I actually hadn't, I wasn't aware of that until right now. I guess I just assumed he would always be a Dodger, but maybe not. I mean, I think they could use him, but they may do a cost-benefit analysis there. And if they do let him go, because obviously the Dodgers could bring him back if they wanted to. They could outbid anybody if they wanted to. If they do opt not to bring him back, what does that say about their confidence in his elbow?

Because I know the MRI came back clean and there's supposedly no tear, but maybe he'll feel sore next spring and there'll be another MRI and the tear will be revealed. You know, that is certainly something that we've seen happen before. All right. 2021 year in review. First up, the catcher position will go top 10 in Roto. I have a few players I want to bring up what went wrong, players that were drafted, basically inside the top 12 in preseason ADP. And then our biggest surprise from this past season, I think, very obviously.

Look, it was Salvador Perez. I mentioned the numbers at the top. 273 batting average, 48 homers, 121, 121, R3. He was the ninth overall player in five by five roto leagues, according to CBS's algorithm, the way that they rate things out. And he does get an added boost, obviously, in a two-catcher format. But very quickly, we'll just go through each of these players and kind of a closer look. But when I looked at Salvador Prescott, just hitting the ball harder than ever before. Since he's returned from Tommy John's surgery, last year we didn't know if it was real because it was the shortened season.

but 93rd percentile or better in average exit velocity, barrel rate, max EV, X slug, hard hit rate, career high home run to fly ball ratio this year.

He hit the ball harder than ever before in the air. So when he hit a line drive or a fly ball, that was harder than he's ever done it. Tide for 11th best in baseball. So, you know,

some people might look at that home run to fly ball rate, Scott, and think, well, there's no way he could sustain that. I mean, he's done it. now two years in a row where he's absolutely crushing the ball. So Salvi Perez, he's awesome.

Yeah, that's the thing to remember about Salvador Perez is this time a year ago, we were dismissing him being far and away, the top catcher in fantasy, right? He didn't do it so much with the huge home run total. He had, he hit well over 300 and also had a good home run total. And they were the most skeptical of the batting average, but still, we could. kind of didn't appreciate the transformation he was having here in his 30s, which, by the way, is really old for a catcher. A lot of them don't last into their 30s, even age 31 like he is, you know?

So the fact he plays for an AL team obviously spares him, some of the effects, the decline effects that we see at the position and he played a ton at DH this year. He's played, he started 40 games at DH. So

they were definitely letting him take advantage of that in a way they never had before. And as long as that continues, I mean, the abat should remain a differentiator for him in their own right before you even get to the the power production,

which obviously is the most we've ever seen at the position this past year. Was it the best fantasy year ever for a catcher? I don't know. I mean, Mike Piazzas had some great ones, obviously. True. I'd have to,

it would take a while for me to compare them. But he led the major, Salvador Perez did in home runs, or at least he tied for a home run lead. And he led it outright in RBI. So the fact that it can, catcher could do that. Two-thirds of the triple crown,

not just for the AL, but all of Major League Baseball, that's a really big deal. And there's no doubt he's going to be the first catcher drafted next year. It's just a question of how early. Yes. He goes as early as like round three.

That would be tough for me to do. But at the same time, I recognize there's a big gap between Salvador Perez and J.T. Rio Muto, who I'm going to have second, and who is showing signs of decline himself as he enters his 30s. So, that's a tough one. I am looking at Mike Piazza's age 28 season, where you hit 362 with 40 homers and 124 RBI. Yeah, that was the biggest one, I think. Yeah, that's, the 361 year. Yeah, that's, that's probably, yeah, that's probably better. That's probably better than Salvador Perez. I mean, I'm sure there's

a way to look this up. But just given, I guess, the era of catchers that we're in right now, and this was just eye-popping for Salvador Perez. I will have another question on him a little bit later on regarding 2022. Your number two catcher this year was Will Smith. He had 259, 25 homers, 71 runs, 76 RBI. He plays in a great lineup. He plays every day now 130 games.

We don't have to worry about any prospects on the way. Actually, I think they do have another great catching prospect. We know Cabot Ruiz was traded over to the Washington. National. So basically we don't have to worry about him. But everything looks good for Will Smith, Scott. Good play to supplain. Pretty good bad at ball data. Puts the ball in the air. He plays in a great lineup. I think he's a pretty high floor play at this point in his career,

which is what we're like three years in, basically. Yeah. No, I think so too. He, remember when he first came up, he looks like a three-through outcomes guy, a lot of walks, a lot of home runs, yes, but also a lot of strikeouts. and they were going to really limit his batting average potential. But this year and also during the short 2020 season, he's gotten that strikeout rate down to a level that is really not a concern anymore. And still walks a ton, still has the power.

And really the biggest thing that changed from this year was, like the Dodgers treated him as a true number one catcher. There wasn't, they weren't sitting him as often as they've sat their number one catcher in the past. And that makes a big difference at this position because it's obviously it's not at all uncommon for teams to go with like catcher tammoms where one guy's starting 60% of the time and another guy starting 40 and that can really limit the potential of otherwise

great fantasy options. It doesn't look like that's going to be a concern for Will Smith going forward. The prospect you were thinking of Diego Cartaya is 20 years old, played at low Class A this year, so he's a ways away. And we don't really have to worry about him impacting Will Smith in the near future. Yeah, no, that definitely is fair.

Your number three catcher from this past year was... Not mine, just... No, not yours. The number three catcher. The number three catcher that finished in 5x5 roto was J.T. Real Muto, which we're not used to. is seeing him this far down the list.

And obviously, I mean, it's not very far down the list. But a 263 batting average, 17 homers, 13 steals. Did give you a little bit of power and speed still, obviously. But overall, it was a letdown of a year. 439 slugging percentage was his lowest since 2016. And it was basically just a reduction in doubles, which was weird because his home run to fly ball ratio was the same as it was back in 2018 and 2019, 14.7%. home runs a fly ball rate. Badded ball data was kind of middling. I'm willing to give JT

Real Muto a pass. Scott, I just, I don't think you're going to be able to get him at much of a discount next year. I think people will still recognize the name and, you know, maybe he drops off like a round or two than where we're used to seeing him, but my guess is he won't fall beyond the 6th, 7th, 8th round range. Yeah, probably not. I mentioned I have him as my number two catcher. I also mentioned that I think he's beginning to show some signs of decline. He turned 30 this year. So he'd be 31 at the start of next year. And that's pretty old for a catcher, as I said, particularly one who has been, he's gotten heavy usage over his career. That's why he's been such a standout at the position. It seemed like the Phillies were spelling

him more than we're used to real muto being spelled. So that is an issue. But the bigger issue, and maybe the biggest issue, is that both this year and last, he struck out more than 24% of the time. And he was a guy for, you know, before that was always a low strikeout guy. That's kind of an average strikeout. He used to be somebody who strikes out less than 20% of the time. So he made a lot of contact.

he played a lot. I think both of those are coming down for Rio Muto. Not to the point that he's going to be one of those catchers who starts only 60% of the time, but it puts him, he loses his two big advantages,

two biggest advantages at the position. Well, maybe the steals are another big advantage. Maybe there's three big advantages Rio Muto has because he's genuinely fast and he stole 13 bases this year and he's probably the only catcher you could expect to get double digits steals from. But the point is, I don't think, I think the best of Real Muto is behind us.

And I think it's more of a question whether he or Will Smith should be number two rather than Perez or Real Muto number one. I agree with everything you just said, Scott. And basically the premise that I think that obviously his playing time was down a little bit this year. And maybe it would have been again next year if we weren't gaining the National League DH, which is what we're assuming now. So I wonder if that helps him get his volume back up, which, like, that's not the only reason why he was so valuable,

but in the past, that's what's helped his value, is the fact that he's been able to play at first base a little bit here and there. And, you know, the year that we did have, the DH last year, the shortened season, he was able to play a little bit more because of that, too. So we saw it with Salvador Perez, and if it comes to the National League, I think that's something that only helps J.T. Real Muto as well. And it probably helps this next catcher as well, Buster Posey, who finished fourth at the position.

304 batting average, 18 home runs with 56 RBI, pretty good play discipline, still 12% walk rate, career high, 19% strikeout rate. He had an 889 OPS. That was his highest since 2012. So truly a renaissance season. We saw this from a few guys, right? Like Buster Posey, Joey Votto,

just get their careers back on track. But he hit more line drys than ever before. His home run to fly ball ratio was the highest we've ever seen. The problem, he is turning 35 years old in late March. So right around, I would assume, the expected start of the 2022 season. I mean, if we thought Salvador Perez and Rio Muto

are kind of getting old for the position, 35, Scott, I mean, geez, that is, that's old. Oh, yeah, that is ancient for a catcher. He's definitely defying precedent by doing that. I mean, Yadir Molina, obviously, is kind of blown out the precedent. So maybe the precedent's changing, but it's rare to see a catcher produced at a high level, at the high level pose he did at 34.

And, you know, it's worth noting he took a big step back in the second half. Most of his power production came in the first half. So he may have worn down. And that was with him starting only 102 games behind the plate, only 103 games overall. So basically two-thirds of his team's game. So that's the age, yes, but also the playing time. Like, he's probably going to be the highest rank catcher who isn't utilized like a true number one.

Man, spoiler alert for later on in the podcast, but we're going to have a few who are we avoiding next season? I think Buster Posey is going to be on that list for me. Mike Zanito hits 216 with 33 home runs. He finishes as the fifth overall catcher in 5x5 roto. this is basically the, I guess the high end outcome that we were expecting from like a Gary Sanchez.

That's what Mike Zanino did here. Low batting average, lots of power. Career high, home run to fly ball ratio this year. He also hit the ball very hard this past season. But to me he's got, I mean, very, he's a highly volatile player, and this is what the high end outcome could look like for Mike Zanino

when everything clicks. But the floor is also extremely low where just last year he hit 147 with like a sub-600 OPS. So I, I, truly think that that is the range of outcomes for him. Yeah, totally an all or nothing guy strikes that upward of 35% of the time. We've seen big power production from him in the past, but not quite this big.

He had those 33 home runs and only 375 plate appearances. So it's not like he was, you know, he was splitting at bats with Francisco Mejia himself. He wasn't, he wasn't getting that huge workload that you'd expect when you see that home run total. Now, he's a free agent. Great defender. I don't know if the race are, the raise, I don't know. I honestly don't know what kind of contract Zunino could fetch. He could certainly price himself out of the raise range.

And if he goes to another organization, then all bets are off as far as playing time. I'm kind of rooting for that, really, because there aren't, well, so I have Mike Zunino ranked ninth going into next year. So not as high as he finished here. He finished fifth. I am ranked ninth. but I obviously have him ranked like a starting caliber catcher. And I have him ranked ahead of Gary Sanchez because I think he is a...

Sounds weird to say this maybe, because it's just the one year. But it feels like he's a more reliable version of what we want Gary Sanchez to be at this stage of his career. I'm looking at his splits right now. These are insane. 1287 OPS versus left-handed pitching for Zanino. 637 versus right-handed pitching.

I mean, a 650 point difference in OPS versus left-handed pitching versus right-handed pitching. That is bananas. We will see where he winds up in the off-season. Your number six catcher was Yasmani Grandali. It's 240, 23 homers, a 939 OPS in just 93 games. And that OPS led all catchers with at least 250 plate appearances this past season.

He got off to an awful start from May 1,000. first on, Yasmani Grandal, 268 batting average, 21 homers in OPS over a thousand. He had more walks than strikeouts. He also had a career high home runs, fly ball ratio, but hit the ball very hard as well. I think there's something left in the tank here, Scotty.

Especially if you're playing points leagues or any type of OBP, Grandal is a slam dunk in those formats. Oh yeah, clearly. And he's another guy who's doing it older than we expect catchers to do it anymore. He's going to turn 33 this all. off-season. It was interesting the way you broke down the splits because he had knee surgery on July

5th, right? That that sidelined him for not quite two months, but it sidelined him for a while. He was batting 188 when he had the surgery on July 5th, well, when he got shut down for the surgery on July 5th, 188. and then after returning on August 27th, he hit 337 with nine home runs and 1154 OPS. Wow.

That was just a 30-game stretch, but I haven't looked it up, but I dare say it was the best 30-game stretch of Yosmani Grundaul's career because it was amazing. He also walked well more than he struck out during that stretch. Let's see.

It was 27 walks to 18 strikeouts. So he was like locked in. And, you know, I don't know how much to attribute that to a return to health. I mean, I think it was an actual injury that led him to having the surgery. It's not like it was a nagging issue he was playing through. But I think of nothing else, that crazy 30-game stretch to end the season does show us that, okay, it's not really on the decline here. Still has plenty left. It was probably more of a fluke that he hit as low as one.

188 during during those first three months or so. And I'm not saying he's going to be that 3.30 hitting guy for a full season. But basically you look at the season long numbers, him hitting 240 and with a 939 OPS. And that's probably, you know, maybe not quite that high,

but about right, about right what he did for the full season statistics are more predictive than the partial season statistics thing. Yeah, look, the only reason why I included from May on is because while his May batting average was very bad, 136, he had a 467 OBP in the month of May. And then June was also massive for him, 260, batting average, eight homers, 10.05 OPS. So it was really just an awful April.

And batting average would be made in May too. Most of the league got an awful April. Yeah, so he really bounced back. And I think next year, there's, you know, good reason to be excited about the White Sox line. and it's still a very strong lineup. It's a deep lineup. And Grandal seemingly will be hitting right in the middle of that. So I think he's someone I'll be in on four next year.

7 through 10, I'm going to quickly mention these names here. Wilson Contreras hit 237, 21 homers, five steals. He actually was pretty good. He hit the ball hard this past year. I know overall the numbers are not good. The strikeout rate was up, so that caused the batting average to drop a little bit. But that's kind of just who Wilson Contreras is,

I guess at this point. Eric Haas comes out of nowhere. 231 batting average, 22 homers, 61 RBI. Yadda Yarr Malina finishes 9th, 252 batting average, 11 homers,

66 RBI, and then your number 10 catcher. Pretty surprising. Tyler Stevenson, 286 batting average, 10 home runs, 56 RBI, and the Reds have an option

that they decide on for Tucker Barnhart. So that obviously is, that can make, things very interesting here for Tyler Stevenson if he's the starter for them next season. Barnhart was their starting catcher. It is surprising that Stevenson finished 10th. I assume this is in Roto and I doubt Stevenson was top 10 in points leagues just because of the lack of volume. He only started 65 games behind the play. He started 17 at first base,

but still you're talking half the Reds games he started. That's it. So that's impressive. Yep, and I was I was kind of researching a little bit to see I just looked up Tucker Barnhart to see what the early diagnosis of that situation is and he's already been talking about like he's set for a new start kind of thing

so maybe he kind of sees the writing on the wall so if he's gone and Tyler Stevenson is the starting catcher for the Reds teamingly all season anything could happen they could bring someone else in he used to be a decent prospect good ballpark to hit in pretty good lineup as of now we'll see what happens with Nick Cassiano

he has an option that he can opt out of as well. But yeah, I mean, I could see being excited about Tyler Stevenson for next year. Wanted to mention these names, Scott, what went wrong? And these were five catchers that were ranked inside the top 12 in ADP before the season started. Christian Vasquez, James McCann, Sean Murphy, Mitch Garver, Austin Nola. And for basically all of them, excluding Mitch Garver, Mitch Garver, Rich Garver was actually pretty good when he plays the problem he's just always dealing with injury

the other four I mean the batted ball data was just it was bad it was like wait like average exit velocity down for a bunch of them home run to fly ball rate down for a bunch of them I don't know if it was maybe because of the ball it had been as it wasn't the same ball as it has been in the past

James McCann hit way too many ground balls but I had a lot of I had a lot of James McCann this year and it did not work out very well so anything else that you saw on these names? McCann, Vasquez, Murphy, Garver, Nola, any reason to be excited about any for next year? The ones I'm definitely not excited about are Vasquez and Nola.

They were, it was less surprising that they fell short of expectations because their batted ball data was never great, you know? McCanns looked good at times. Sean Murphy, I thought, was on the verge of maybe taking a big step forward. And instead he took a step back. They ended up acquiring Yon Gomes at the deadline and the two split of bats down the stretch. Gomes is hitting free agency.

But, you know, I still think there's upside there for Sean Murphy. He's shown a good batting eye at times. Doesn't strike out too much. You know, none of these guys are in my top 12. Well, okay, one of them is in my top 12. Mitch Garver is in my top 12 for next year. But it's definitely. kind of a hopeful ranking because we know how good he can be if he gets the playing time.

And it wasn't just injuries that cost him the playing time. Even when he was healthy, it seemed like he was sitting about half the time in favor of Ryan Jeffers, who doesn't even come close in terms of what he brings with the bat. So, you know, the twins are kind of entering a retooling phase. I'm hopeful they're able to find at bats for Garver, on just catcher and obviously that he's able to stay healthy because if he does, then I think it'll pretty easily be a top 12 catcher and potentially even top five. That's kind of upside he brings.

So clearly the highest upside guy of this group, but Vasquez and Nola, you know, they're just going to be guys you draft in deep leagues, two catcher leagues, because they're getting at bats. And I don't even know how long that's going to last for Austenola with, uh, what's the prospect who's coming? up. Luis Campusano. Yeah, Luis Campusano. He's pretty much ready to take over, I think.

I'm not saying he's going to win the job in spring training, but Nola's going to be looking over his shoulder all year. I don't know what the contract status is for Victor Caratini. I can look it up. I know that he has been a personal catcher for U. Darvish, so they might not want to let him go

either. Yeah, he's arbitration eligible. Well, actually, no. He he's under contract for 2022, and then he's arbitration eligible for 2023. So Caratini's going to be there. Austinola is under contract for a while. I don't know.

I don't know what's going to happen with Luis Campusano. Maybe, you know, they make another trade and he winds up somewhere else. But that might actually be the best case for him to wind up getting playing time. Luis Campusano, that is. All right. So biggest surprise I wanted to ask you about, Scott. And look, Salvador Perez obviously makes a ton of sense. But was there anyone else?

Give me a positive. Your biggest surprise? at the catcher position this past season was bike the biggest surprise I mean there were a lot who was the biggest

well one we haven't well we did kind of mention him but Eric Haas just I didn't even know the name Eric Haas before this past year and he ended up being I think he had the second most home runs at the position be wrong about

that just going off memory Let's see No, no, no Salvador Perez Zunino Will Smith Yeah, he only had the sixth most Home Runs at the position Wasn't even close

But he had 22 In only 98 games So you project that out Over a full season Obviously he's He looks like one of the Most prolific home run hitters At the position

If he's good enough To keep getting starts That's really the concern Because his strikeout rate Is bloated among the worst at the position, I think over 30%.

See if I can look that up real quick. It's really high. And after getting off to a hot start, he wasn't as productive in the second half either. Still hit for power, but hit 220 in the second half, a 674 OPS. So you could see how,

particularly if the tigers are kind of transitioning into a intention mode that Eric Haas at age 28 striking out that much, he just kind of burns out, you know, and doesn't have a future in fantasy or the majors even.

But, you know, there's a chance that goes the other way, and he becomes like this, man, I'm having trouble thinking of names. Mike, who's that catcher for the Rangers and the Angels and eventually became the Red Sox first baseman. What's his name?

Had facial reconstruction surgery? Jeez. To correct sleep apnea? Mike Napoli. Mike Napoli. My high school, no. My wife used to teach it as high school. Interesting.

Mike Napoli. Yes. Maybe Eric Koss has a future like that. He was actually the answer for me. Again, like I didn't know the guy's name either. He finished top seven in both formats, head to headpoints. and Roto this past year,

a 28-year-old journeyman did have big pop consistently throughout the minor leagues. He had 27 or more home runs in each of 2017 and 2019 down in the minors. And he did play a little bit more than your average catcher

because he had 22 games in the outfield this past year did Eric Haas. The only thing that stood out to me that I don't really like is I don't like when position players in general have like these drastic

splits. I mentioned Mike Zaninos, but yeah, Eric Haas was up there to. 9.07 OPS versus lefties, 661 OPS versus right-handed pitching this past year. So kind of an interesting guy. Let's see what the Tigers do at the catcher position in the off season and where they're at heading into spring training. But we could potentially have, you know, a lower batting average big pop kind of guy in Eric Haas. We're going to take a quick break when we return. A little bit of an early 2022 catcher preview, Scott's top 20. at the position are ranked, and they are currently live on the site.

Wait to you see where he has Dalton Varsho ranked for next year. We'll talk about it next on Fantasy Baseball today. All right, so Scott's top 20 for 2022. Number one at the position, that's right, Dalton VAR, no, I'm just kidding. It's Salvador Perez, rightfully, so we talked about him a lot recently

and obviously on this podcast. He is your number one ranked catcher heading into next year. Number two at the position is J.T. Real Muto, assuming the National League DH, is there for the Phillies next year. Hopefully that's something that can help keep Real Muto on the field next year. Will Smith, your number three catcher, you mentioned,

you know, I think it's, it's going to be a decision point for some people, two, three, Real Muto versus Will Smith. Number four, Dalton Varshow, that's right, your number four catcher. From July on this past season, Dalton Varsho hit 275. 11 homers, five steals

in 845 OPS in only 69 games play some games in the outfield gives you some added played appearances at bats at that position you know

I was gonna come on here and be like Scott what are you doing but the numbers look pretty pretty awesome man especially from a catcher so

yeah I mean it's he does a couple of things Dalton Varsha that that other catchers can't he runs well he could steal bases you mentioned

he had five over the final three months. So it's really him and JT. Real Muto, the only guy's doing anything worthwhile in that statistic. And, like, he's just really athletic overall. He plays, I think he played center field even more than he played catcher this past year. So that opens the door for him getting a ton of the bats for the diamond backs. He actually didn't get a huge number of abats down the stretch, but I don't know why, you know, obviously,

the diamondbacks are just in a development phase right now. I don't know why they want to give him all the playing time in the world next year. If he's capable of playing both catcher and the outfield. And I know they have Carson Kelly there, and of course he's going to get his share at bats behind the plate as well. But again, Varsha can play the outfield. So I don't know why he wouldn't play close to every day for them. Well, potentially hitting really well and stealing some bases.

So that seems like... as much upside as anyone at the position other than maybe Salvador Perez. I will point out that in points leagues, I do have Yesmani Grandal ranked fourth instead of Varsho. I have Varsho fifth instead. So you can flip those two in that format where Granddoll's plate discipline is most rewarded. But yeah, I think for rhodo leagues,

when you're scrounging up steals wherever you can, I think Varsho, fourth of the position makes sense. Because he could be a great hit or two. I mean, he could be awesome. Rounding out your top five, you do have Yasmani Grandal just behind Varsho. These are for roto category leagues. And you mentioned Grandal would be higher in a points league. By the way, Grandal averaged 3.4 fantasy points per game this past season, which was by far the most at the position.

Even Salvador Perez only averaged 3.1. And that's because he has very poor plate discipline. So just a reminder, Grandal, arrow up in points leagues. your 6 through 10 at the position. Buster Posey, 6th, Wilson Contreras, 7th, Cabr Ruiz, 8th. Mike Zinino, number 9,

and Gary Sanchez is 10th here. Buster Pose would be talked about 35 years old in March. Kind of scares me a little bit. I didn't really give you an opportunity to talk about Wilson Contreras, Scott, but to me, he kind of is what he is. I think he's going to be like a very middling batting average.

Maybe he's, you know, on the high end, he can hit 260. maybe 270 lower end I think it's what we saw this past year so we kind of have like a 30 point gap where 30 point range where I think his batting average can live but decent pop a handful of steals it's okay it's just it's not really a standout like we thought he was going to be I guess yeah he's been a difficult player to make sense of throughout his entire career

because the way he started out you know it was a lot of weak contact a lot of ground balls. The strikeout rate was pretty low, but the underlying number, he drastically outperformed his underlying numbers for three of his first four seasons. Did Wilson Contreras, and it kind of lulled you into believing, okay, he's just one of those weird cases, right? But the last two seasons, his numbers have, his base numbers have been more in line with his underlying numbers, and he's hit like a combined 240 between those two seasons.

So, you know, for a catcher, a guy who plays a lot has the ability to hit 20 to 25 homers, you can deal with a 240 batting average. But it makes him more like a top 10 guy than the top five guy. We've seen Wilson Contreras drafted as in the past. Scott, for Cabot Ruiz, do you think we could potentially see a breakout coming here? I mean, you have ranked pretty high, I guess, eighth overall. And with the nationals, he had 273, three homers, 740. OPS.

It's a pretty small sample size. I want to say it was like, I don't know, 30 games or something like that. But showed off the plate discipline. Only a 9% strikeout rate during that time. Doesn't hit the ball very hard. It was, yeah, 29 games. So three homers and in 29 games for KBeruis.

What are we thinking? A breakout-esque season coming? It's certainly possible. I mean, that's the reason why I rank them that high in case he does have that breakout season. We saw him breakthrough as a power hitter in the minors. hit 21 homers in 316 plate appearances between two organizations in the minors this year

and the contact skills are just unbelievable. So I think he's going to get the playing time for the Nationals. So I feel like there's a really high floor here for Cape Air Ruiz. And if he shows the kind of power he did in the minors this year, then there's a really high ceiling as well. All right.

I'll just quickly mention, you have Gary Sanchez 10th at the position. I don't think that he's going to be on the Yankees next year. And this is just kind of like a gut feel. He's under contract still. But I kind of think that they need to make some kind of wholesale changes somewhere. And I think maybe Gary is just kind of, I don't know, like the scapegoat here. That's obviously not all his fault. But I don't know.

Yeah, I mean, I think he's a non-tender candidate for the Yankees. I think that's possible. Maybe that would be the best for him in terms of fantasy value because they've clearly been losing faith in him and his playing time has suffered as a result. Still as much, it's difficult after the year at Perez had to say anyone has as much power potential as him. But leaving Perez aside, Gary Sanchez still has as much power potential as anybody

at the position. There are major consistency issues. there are major defensive issues. And obviously, he's not going to get drafted nearly as high next year as a result. But there may still be something there. I mean, there isn't much to, basically once you get past K. Be Ruiz, there really isn't much to get excited about it, Catcher. There are some guys who could deliver you solid stat line like Zunino like Sanchez has in the past.

And there are a couple other upside plays here. but you're not expecting that to be a strong position for you if you wait beyond Kbert Ruiz to take your catcher. 11 through 15 in your catcher ranks for next year. Mitch Garver, Alejandro Kirk, Travis Darno, Eric Haas, and Elias Diaz. And I think that a popular theme that at least we'll see here in your top 12,

there's two catchers ranked here in Dalton Varshot in Alejandro Kirk, where I think that we were just off by one year. And Varsho was still, he still had value this season, so it wasn't a complete, you know, lost 2020 for him. But I think that 2022 could be the true breakout for both guys. For Dalton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk, guys that we did have, you know, some kind of sleeper breakout kind of hype coming into last year. So for Kirk, his bad at ball data was amazing. And he was basically one of the biggest underperformers in baseball in general on Statcast.

242 batting average, 284XBA. 436 slugging percentage, 501 expected slug. Alejandro Kirk had the second highest difference between his expected Wobo versus his actual Wobo. So he hits the ball hard, he makes contact, we know that about Alejandro Kirk. He's got to get better defensively if he wants to remain in the lineup.

But if he does, Scott, if, it's a pretty big if, he could be a huge breakout in that lineup. Yeah, he could. 11.6% strikeout rate, by the way. You said he makes contact, but that is amazing. Almost as good as K Bear Ruiz, yeah. So Mitch Garver and Alejandro Kirk both. We talked about Garver earlier.

I mentioned he has top five potential at the position. It's just a question of playing time. Playing time is a big concern at this position, obviously. And if I were to get between now and opening day, if I were to have assurances that Garver and Kurt, would play more consistently than they did this past year, then I'd move them up ahead of Gary Sanchez, probably ahead of Zunino and Cabo Ruiz, too.

But I think that's a big question. I'm much more confident in Varsho's playing time moving forward than Kirk's. I mean, Kirk was splitting at bats with two different catchers for the Blue Jays. And then Garver, you know, I mentioned his struggle staying in the lineup. So I want to be able to buy into both Garver and Kirk because I like their ability, but I'm not sure if the playing time is going to be consistent enough. And that's why I rank them as low as I do, 11th and 12th at the position. I mean, I could be talked ahead of moving in the head. I could be talked into moving them ahead of Gary Sanchez even now.

Yeah, just do it. Just do it, Scott. We'll see what happens with Sanchez in the offseason. I may. Alejandro Kirk, 32nd percentile in framing this past year. So that's not going to help a team that really has enough offense. They don't need another reason to get Alejandro Kirk in the lineup for offense because they don't really need it. So they need a good defensive catcher behind the plate.

So look, if he wants to get in the lineup, he has to get better in the offseason. 16 through 20 in your catcher ranks, Omar Nirvarez, Sean Murphy, Carson Kelly, Tyler Stevenson and Adley Ruchman, who I know you believe that we could see him quite early next year with the Baltimore Orioles. I did want to ask you about Stevenson, right? So I mentioned this situation with Tucker Barnhart. And this is the headline for an article from the Cincinnati Inquirer. It's been hard. And that's in quotes.

Tucker Barnhart braces for a possible end to his Cincinnati Reds career. Now, if Barnhart is no longer with the Reds on opening day, say Tyler Stevenson, that guy. Is he someone that you can envision moving up these rankings? Oh, definitely. Yeah, I mean, 19th. I only have him there because I'm not confident. He'll play more than half the time, you know. So if, if they move on from Barnhart and, you know, it's made very official, Tyler Stevenson is our catcher going into 2022. He probably moves up to probably like 14 for me. That's exactly what I was looking at.

Yeah, and between Travis Darno and Eric Haas. I think that would make sense. His underlying numbers were actually much worse than his actual ones. He hit 286. His XBA was 254. He slugged 431. His ex-slug was only 384.

So he was not making high-quality contact. But, you know, he showed power in the miners. He doesn't strike out much. I don't want to totally I don't want to totally be driven by those by that stat cast data because particularly for less than a full-time player

like Tyler Stevenson, I mean, it doesn't say everything, but you have to take it into consideration that by stat-cast data, he overperformed in 2021. But still, I like the upside if he was a full-time catcher. I could see putting him in the top 15.

Before we wrap up here, I did just want to ask you, very early, Scott. Is there anyone that you're looking at that you can identify, that's going to be a target of mine? An early target for you at the position? At catcher. Yes.

Let's see. Let's see. I mean, unless it's going to be Varsho, but that will kind of depend on how much enthusiasm there is for him throughout the fantasy baseball world. I suspect it'll be pretty high, and it might force me to draft them earlier than I'm really ready to take a catcher, because I don't like investing much at the position. But I think he just brings special qualities to the position,

ones that don't come around very often and that you can't really find in any other catcher. So if the price tag is reasonable, like you can get them round 10 or beyond, then I'm going to be very excited to take Dalton Varsho. we'll see how that plays out. Otherwise, now this isn't the kind of position where I normally have a half to have kind of guy.

Yeah, and for me, I think Yasmadi Grandeau is someone that's just kind of standing out who had just a really bad first month of the season this year and then turned it on and he's performed in the postseason so far as well.

And it's just a good lineup and I still trust the player and the profile. So especially in points leagues, but really, you know, any format, 250 with, like good power, good counting stats in that lineup could get behind that. Alejandro Kirk, if he is the starting catcher

for the Blue Jays, definitely could see that that breakout potential there. Is there a name that you were looking to avoid early on here? I would say I can't imagine I'm going to be drafting much Buster Posey. Oh yeah. Now we're talking, Scotty. Yeah, I could see the

I could see the floor dropping out for him and maybe we did start to see it in the second half. You know, obviously, I had already written him off coming into 2021, so it seems kind of unfair to pick on him after the season he just had, but I wouldn't want to make a hefty investment in him following up on that season. Oh, yeah, I'm right there with you.

That was the name that stood out to me, and you haven't ranked six at the position, and I don't really blame you. I just, I don't know how much further you can move him down. It's just the nature of how bad this position is. but like maybe you couldn't put Wilson Contreras ahead of him, but even that one is just like, all right, flip a coin, I guess, between Buster Posey and Wilson Contreras. But looking like an early avoid for me again, Buster Posy there. A few prospects to know, Adley Ruchman, obviously just had a monster year between AA and AAA.

Real quick, Scott, ETA on Adley Ruchman? May. May. Okay, a few other prospects I wanted to mention here as well, Joey Bart, who we've been waiting quite a while for, but Brandon Belt is a free agent for the Giants. The DH in the National League, maybe that's something that can help Joey Bart come up and maybe split some time at catcher, DH with Buster Posey. I guess that's a possibility.

Luis Camp Usano, we mentioned with the Padres. He had 295, 15 homers, a 906 OPS at AAA this past season. M.J. Melendez, you probably heard the name. Just a ridiculous season at AA and AAA. 288 batting average, 41 home runs, 130. RBI. He is a prospect in the Royals organization. And then Shea Langalears is a name I wanted to mention as well.

256 batting average, but 22 home runs in 833 OPS in the Braves organization this past year. Scott, any excitement for those names, Bart Campesano, Melendez, Langalears? I hope I'm saying that last one, right? Adelae Rushman, who we mentioned, he's my number 20. But my highest ranked yet to debut catcher is M.J. Melendez, you know, after Rushman is MJ and Melendez, who I have 27th at the position. I actually have them ahead of Joey Bart, but obviously there are a lot of playing time developments that could happen between now and then to change that.

I could see Joey Bart making the opening day roster for the Giants. And I can't really see that for Melendez. But if they do send Bart back down, it's possible. both be up about mid-season, so it makes sense to stash them away in some deeper leagues. The others are a little bit further down. One, you didn't mention Gabriel Moreno of the Blue Jays, as if Alejandro Kirk needed even more to competition.

Gabriel Moreno is probably the best catcher prospect other than Adley Rushman. There's a chance he'll be top 10 on some rankless coming into next year. And he did advance to AAA at the end of last season. He's only 21. He'll be 22 before the start of spring training. So he's young and he doesn't have a lot of experience in the minors, but he hit 367 with a 1060 OPS in the minors and a very low strikeout rate.

He did miss a lot of time with injury, but still, I mean, he showed a ton of potential. And I don't know how they fit another catcher on that roster, but I could see Moreno getting the call at some point next year. All right. Well, I don't know. I'm a little worried now because my guy, Alejandro Kirk's guy, I don't know what's going to happen here, but I don't know.

I'm wishing for the best. I don't know. At least there's a DH spot. MJ Melendez, by the way, this is interesting. I pulled up his fielding page in the minor leagues. He has played nine games at third base. So that gives me some hope maybe he can, you know, get called up and catcher, DH between him and Salvador Perez, maybe a game here or there at third base, if that's something they want to try out.

Because, man, like the year he just had in the minors, that is just eye-popping, an OPS over 1,000 for M.J. Melendez. So I think sooner rather than later, they've got him on the way. They obviously have the best prospect in baseball, whose name I'm forgetting right now. Bobby Witt, right? Like, how can I forget that? And then they have a few other names, too, like Nick Prado and Vinny Pasquantino. So very interested to see what the Royals do for next year, because I can see all of those names, obviously, making their debut here in 2022.

That will do it for the catcher position. Little recap, a little look ahead for next year. We are going to wrap it up there for Scott. I am Frank DeGael for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball. Today will be back again on Thursday. when we take a look at the first base position. Bye-bye!