Fantasy Baseball Catcher Sleepers 2023: Best potential breakouts, values, draft steals

The catcher has become such a difficult position in fantasy baseball — as my three-year-old daughter would say, “It’s difficult.” In many ways, it’s like the MLB version of tight end: a few studs, some decent value- Picks that keep performing and a litany of boom-or-bust dudes. Still, sleepers can be found in the catcher pool, and today we’re going to uncover the five most intriguing draft day values ​​at the backstop.

For most infield positions – as well as relief pitchers – we typically rank 40-50 players. For the starting pitcher and outfield it’s more like 85-100. However, for Catcher, fantasy baseball’s red-haired stepchild, we usually only rank around 30 players among the best. Why? Because projecting catchers beyond the top 30 is about as pointless as predicting weather patterns in 2030.

So if you’re in a 12 or 14 team league, we’ve got you covered with rankings and thresholds for Fantasyland’s C eligibility. If you’re playing in a two-catcher league – which is really awful if you ask me – you’re on your own waiting until the end of the draft to nab a second catcher. The point of a two-catcher league is to increase the importance of catcher position (for whatever reason). So, of course, drafting a second catcher should take precedence over grabbing your eighth bencher.

2023 FANTASY RANKING & DOLLAR VALUES:
cs | 1Bs | 2Bs | 3Bs | ss | OFs | SPs | RPs | top 300

Okay, scold over. Like I said, there are some sleepers in the catcher’s landscape. If “they were all bad,” as Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, we probably would have combined catchers and first basemen in one position like FanDuel does in its DFS competitions (honestly, it’s brilliant). But you’re old school and want to be rewarded for doing your due diligence on the doodiest offensive position in the sport (my daughter also says doodie — crap humor can be especially hilarious in toddler circles).

Speaking of Doodoo, you’ll probably read all over the internet that the Royals’ MJ Melendez should be considered the top sleeper in this catcher class. We disagree. He’s got some punchy data on his side and he’s enjoyed a solid spring, yes, but we didn’t like what we saw in the 2022 season. He had a pathetic 24.5 percent strikeout rate — huffing .28 times per at-bat and 1.02 times per game — and maintained an absolutely abysmal .258 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). The fantasy experts galore can keep their sleeper – this MJ is no GOAT.

Our definition of “sleeper,” at least for these drills: players we value much more than his ADP would otherwise suggest he’s worth. Typically, this type of player strikes us as a bounce-back candidate, a young under-the-radar climber, a veteran recovering from injury, or just a guy whose batter data makes impending positive regression believable.

This column does not suggest that you need any of the following players for your team to be successful. Instead, think of it as a cheat sheet of names to target at least one to three turns before their ADP if you’re not drafting any of the elite options. Fantasy baseball championships aren’t won on draft day, and certainly not in the first five rounds. The value and perks you gather in the mid to late rounds can make or break your team’s chances of a title shot – and yes, that includes catcher position.

Let’s get to our favorite sleepers at Catcher, with a quick explanation of why we rate each of them well above their ADP.

Fantasy Baseball Catcher Sleepers 2023: Breakouts, Stats, Draft Day Steals

Location permission based on Yahoo’s default settings. ADPs courtesy of Fantasy Pros.

William Contreras, brewer (ADP: 129)

Say it with me now: Willson, left, William, right. Willson = cub, William = brewer. Brother Willson was drafted an average of thirty spots ahead of William this spring, but that’s just a textbook example of fantasy managers submitting their catcher prep. William was better for the Braves than Willson for Chicago last season. Hell, he was even voted an All-Star! He hit 20 homers and 45 in less than 100 games overall while hitting a .278/.354/.506 slash line. Has he benefited from his stunning .344 BABIP? Naturally. Did he delete a bunch? Absolutely. Are his groundball rates a bit alarming at times? Secure. But forget all that. This guy walked into the yard with 27 percent of his fly balls! If you can use your 120th pick in the draft to land Contreras — a power hit-catcher who ranks fifth in a solid Brewers lineup and only hit a .278 last year — you kind of have to do it.

Kelbert Ruiz, Nationals (ADP: 200)

You can hate him because he’s a National and his rookie year slash line was .251/.313/.360, but I’ve got Ruiz on C12 and I’m not bouncing. Washington clearly likes what they see in the boy, considering they just signed him to an eight-year, $50 million deal (did I just say “inked him?” Sounds like a squid attack). Here’s why to see the promise in Ruiz: He’s smashed seven homers, drove in 36 carries and stole six bags in just 112 games last season. And according to our friends at FantasyPros, his expected batting average, strikeout percentage, and touch percentage are all in the 90th percentile or higher. We still won’t be watching Nats games, but we could call up Ruiz until the 16th round.

Yasmani Grandal, White Sox (ADP: 288)

Grandal struggled with injuries for most of the 2022 season and as a result has been forced to DH more times than he’s likely willing to admit. The veteran catcher has always made it clear that he prefers playing catcher to DH, so he was probably overjoyed to hear White Sox managers say Pedro Grifol “I didn’t really think about him as a DH. He’s our catcher.” That’s huge – look at his batting career by position:

Splits	B.A	OBP	SLG	OPS	BABAIP
as C	0.243	0.355	0.449	0.803	0.277
as 1B	0.21	0.323	0.397	0.719	0.256
as DH	0.179	0.314	0.248	0.563	0.247
as PH	0.207	0.348	0.37	0.718	0.319

Grandal appears to be healthy so we are more than optimistic that he will put on a good campaign. It might start out a little bumpy, but the bones are good in Grandal’s hitting house, so we’re okay with placing a late bid on him.

Joey Bart, Giants (ADP: 316)

As with every position sleeper column, we’ve saved the best for last on Bart. You shouldn’t be drawn to him just because of the endless possibilities you could explore using his last name for hilarious team names – you should also consider drafting him because he’s pretty good (and replacement is Roberto Perez it not). In the final round of the draft, you can lock down the Giants’ everyday catcher, a 26-year-old who accompanied his .300/.391/.550 spring-slash line with a homer, three walks, and two steals in just 23 record appearances. He was underchallenged last season but try to fill in Buster Posey’s cleats! You’ll get some strikeouts for sure, but you also get a guy who gets things started almost every time he makes contact (his .439 expected wOBA led all catchers in 2022). Sign me up for Joey and let’s cheer for some beard bombs!