2017 Fantasy Baseball: Top 10 catchers

Who are the top 10 catchers for 2017 fantasy baseball?

Over the next few weeks here at Call to the Pen, we are going to get you ready for your 2017 fantasy baseball draft. In this space, I’ve done some prospect diving, talking about prospects to target and then prospects to stash with a late pick who may help you down the road during the season.

Now it’s time to get to the positional ranks.

I’m going to give you top 10 rankings at all positions and then top 25 for outfielders and starting pitchers because there’s just so many of them.

Today, we are going to look at the top 10 fantasy catchers. These are the 10 best catchers for you to target for your squad in fantasy.

For every player, we’ll give you their stats from last season and Steamer projections from Fangraphs.

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The catching market is a little deeper than you may think. Young catchers are coming up and starting to rise up the rankings while veterans are still there and still productive meaning you can wait at the position and maybe target someone further down the road in your draft instead of maybe going after the top of the charts.

Catching is a hard position to look at year to year because of the wear and tear they take at the position.

So who are the top 10 catchers to target for your fantasy baseball time? Let’s take a dive in and find out.

10. Matt Wieters– FA

2016 stats:  124 games .243/.302/.409 17 homers 48 RBI

2017 steamer projection: 76 games .245/.302/.408 10 homers 31 RBI

Yes, Wieters is a free agent right now,(as of this post) but I think part of that has to do with some questions regarding his defense. The bat plays and has played when he’s healthy. Steamer projects him to hit more like he did in 2015 than 2016.

Where he ends up will certainly impact him. Will he stay in Baltimore? Could he end up in Colorado? Anaheim? Cincinnati? Mystery team?

Wieters saw a spike in his hard contact by 3% from 2015-2016. I think the part that you look at is more at 2013 where he hit .235/.287.417 22 homers and 79 RBI with a 2.6 WAR.

If Wieters can remain healthy, I think you should expect something between 2013 and 2016 with hopefully the higher OBP. If he can do that, and I think in the right situation he can, you can get a quality bat for your catchers spot later on in the draft.

9. Salvador Perez– Kansas City Royals

2016 stats- 139 games- .247/.288/.438 22 homers 67 RBI

2017 Steamer- 124 games .264/.298/.444 21 homers 71 RBI

One of the best parts about having Salvador Perez as your catcher is that he’s going to be there day in and day out. He’s caught over 135 games in each of the past four seasons and will turn just 27 years of age in May.

Perez had his highest ISO power of his career as well as hard contact and got his walk rate back up to 4%, however he saw his strikeout rate jump to 21%

Perez had the best offensive season of his career and because of his age, there’s no reason to think he can’t improve since he is just entering his prime.

The one worry that I have about Perez is what is going to be around him come August. Will Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain be there come August 1? Did they find something in Jorge Soler? If the Royals are in contention, they won’t tear it down, but if not, look out.

8. Evan Gattis– Houston Astros

2016 stats-  128 games .251/.319/.508 32 homers 72 RBI

2017 steamer- 97 games .244/.300/.469 21 homers 49 RBI

Yes, the Astros did trade for Brian McCann during the off-season and signed Josh Reddick, Carlos Beltran and added Nori Aoki, but I think Gattis will find enough at-bats and playing time throughout the year to make him fantasy relevant.

Against lefties, he will certainly be out there, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Gattis sees a lot of time in left with Aoki coming on later on in the game (Aoki is faster, but both were -4 in defensive runs saved last season)

Gattis had a career high walk rate last season, but struck out 1/4 of the time. If you can live with that behind the plate on your team, you’ll be rewarded with a lot of power.

The Astros sent him down last season to work on his catching, but with McCann in the fold, I can’t see Gattis catching quite as much this season, but enough to be eligible for the position. Watch during spring how Gattis  is used.

7. Brian McCann-Houston Astros

2016 stats- 130 games .242/.335/.413 20 homers 56 RBI

2017 steamer- 103 games .230/.312/.408 17 homers 54 RBI

McCann is the second Astro to be on this list, slightly ahead of his teammate Evan Gattis. McCann was brought in along with Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran to provide some balance to a very right-handed lineup. McCann saw his playing time diminish in the Bronx last year when Gary Sanchez came up and looked like a catching version of Miguel Cabrera with the bat.

McCann had his best BABIP since joining the Yankees at .269. His OBP of .335 was also his highest during his Yankee career.

Getting out of Yankee Stadium may help McCann. His pull percentage has risen to 50% over the past two years. The allure of that short porch will do that to a player, but going to Houston can possibly help him use the entire field again.

McCann hit just .218 vs lefties last year, so having Gattis as his partner should limit his at-bats vs them.

McCann isn’t going to be counted on as the guy in Houston, just someone who can supplement the lineup. He could find himself in a lot of good counts and RBI situations this year.

5. J.T. Realmuto– Miami Marlins

2016 stats- 137 games .303/.343/.428 11 homers 60 RBI

2017 Steamer- 81 games .274/.317/.408 seven homers 36 RBI

Realmuto made a big jump in his age 25 season, providing power and a bit of speed at the catching position last year for the Marlins. Realmuto is just entering his prime and if this keeps up, Realmuto may find himself even higher next year.

One thing that I think may even out is his BABIP. Realmuto’s BABIP of .357 is most likely unsustainable which will cause his numbers to go down as his steamer projection suggests. However, I can’t see him catching just 81 games next year unless some sort of injury happens. He will not platoon with A.J. Ellis, now matter how much Don Mattingly likes Ellis.

Realmuto’s walk and K rate went up last year with more at-bats, so we may not able to tell where he truly lies with those until this year.

4. Willson Contreras– Chicago Cubs

2016 stats- 76 games .282/.357/.488 12 homers 35 RBI

2017 Steamer- 108 games .271/.337/.432 13 homers 54 RBI

The Chicago Cubs used three catchers effectively last year and this year will use two depending on how much Kyle Schwarber can actually catch. The main man should be the 24 year old Contreras.

Contreras can also play first as well as the outfield, so even when he doesn’t catch, his bat will still be in the lineup.

The one thing you have to hope with Contreras is that his strikeout rate goes down. His rate of 23.7% last year was extremely high and much higher than his rate in the minors, although his walk rate was in line with what it was in the minors.

He’ll turn 25 in May and will be a part of one of the best lineups and teams in the league. I think he plays in more games than Steamer suggests. His positional flexibility can also help your squad as well.  The question you have to ask yourself is whether or not you want to use a higher pick on him or wait on someone like Salvador Perez.

3. Gary Sanchez- New York Yankees

2016 stats- 53 games .299/.376/.657 20 homers 42 RBI

2017 steamer- 118 games .268/.329/.492 26 homers 78 RBI

The Yankees rebuild has begun and one of the big parts of that was giving Gary Sanchez a chance behind the plate. With Brian McCann traded, the job is all set for the 24 year old to take hold of it and be a huge part of the Yankees for years to come.

They traded McCann because Sanchez set the world on fire and looked like a young Miguel Cabrera with the bat and a young Ivan Rodriguez on defense.

Sanchez isn’t going to slug over .600 again, but even if he provides you what his Steamer projection is you’ll take that and run at the catching position. He had a walk rate over 10% and a strikeout rate about 25% which was a little higher than he was in the minors.

There is risk in taking Sanchez. He will be going into his first full season in the bigs and a sophomore slump could occur.

2. Jonathan Lucroy– Texas Rangers

2016 stats: 142 games .292/.355/.500 24 homers 81 RBI

2017 steamer- 120 games .280/.349/.444 14 homers 63 RBI

Lucroy was traded to the Texas Rangers during last season and didn’t miss a beat. Now, he heads into a contract year and will turn 31 in June. Lucroy’s walk rate and K rate have been pretty consistent, but his BABIP went back up to 2014 levels where he produced a 6.4 WAR for the Brewers.

Lucroy set a career high in homers last season and missed his career high in RBI by just one. The issue with Lucroy is he’s been a bit of an every other year guy over the past four years. His odd number years have been better than his even.

Three of the past four years he’s appeared in over 140 games and can also play first base which will give him and you more opportunities to keep him in your lineup.

Lucroy is going to be off the board as the second or third catcher in every draft. If you cant get the guy at number one, Lucroy may not be the worst consolation prize you can get.

1. Buster Posey– San Francisco Giants

2016 stats- 146 games .288/.362/ .434 14 homers 80 RBI

2017 steamer- 128 games .300/.370/.467 17 homers 73 RBI

Posey not only is the best catcher in the game, but is also the best catcher that you can get in 2017 fantasy baseball. Posey will turn 30 this year and doesn’t really show signs of slowing down. Posey may see even more time at first base with Nick Hundley in the fold as his backup which means even more time at first which means more time in your lineups as well.

Posey’s walk and strikeout percentages have been very consistent. What I would be a little concerned about is that his WRC+ decreased to 116 which was the lowest for any full season of his career. His slash line was also the worst of any full year of his career, but to me he is still the number one catcher in the game and the best you can get at the position.

Next: How can Brett Anderson help the Cubs

You have to decide whether you want to spend a sixth round pick on him in a 10-12 team league or spend it on another position and wait on catcher.

There you have it. The top 10 catchers for your fantasy team in 2017. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below.