2011 Fantasy Baseball Preview - Catcher Rankings

Introduction  - Catchers  - First Basemen  - Second Basemen  
Third Basemen  - Shortstops  - Outfielders 1  - Outfielders 2  
Starting Pitchers 1  - Starting Pitchers 2
We're kicking off the fantasy baseball position-by-position breakdown, and we're gonna start with the catchers.
So let's get to it - here's my top 14 catchers for the 2011 season, followed by a player-by-player breakdown.


#1 Joe Mauer
This is a no-brainer. Mauer is not only one the best offensive catchers in the league, he is one of the best offensive players in the league. He struggled with the power numbers last year, which could be attributed to him missing some time along with a seemingly unlucky 6.7% HR/FB ratio. His line drive percentage was even higher than his career average and that translated into another outstanding .327 batting average along with a .402 OBP. He had another high BABIP, but that has been common ground for Mauer with how well he strokes the ball. Mauer gives you outstanding offense from a position where that just doesn't happen.

#2 Victor Martinez
Martinez had a pretty solid season in 2010, posting numbers right around his career averages in almost every category. His line drive percentage went down slightly while his ISO went up, which shows that he was at least a little bit lucky with hitting gaps and hitting the ball out of the ballpark, but there's nothing to be alarmed bout here. He is 33 years old, so he is at the point where we should expect his numbers to start falling. However, I don't think they'll fall significantly this year, and if he can stay healthy (which he didn't last year), he will be a top 3 fantasy catcher, easily.

#3 Buster Posey
There wasn't too many bigger stories in 2010 than this kid. He burst onto the seasons and helped the Giants win the World Series. Posey had an impressive .200 ISO and a solid 18.4 LD% to accompany his 18 home runs in the 108 games he played. He has huge power potential and will be playing a lot at first base this year, which will help him stay healthy. I seriously considered putting him above Martinez on this list, but I'll have to see him continue to put up numbers before he gets there. Posey is a stud, and there's a pretty significant drop-off after him, so if you don't get Mauer or Martinez, I would consider grabbing Posey to boost your team with offense from the catcher position.

#4 Brian McCann
McCann has been considered the best hitting catchers in the National League for the last couple of years, but last year was pretty ugly. His .269 average was 20 points lower than his career average, despite having an average .297 BABIP. His isolated power dropped significantly while his line drive percentage stayed about the same, which could suggest that some bad luck hurt him. McCann had some issues with LASIK eye surgery that could be worked out by this year, and at the age of 27 I expect a major improvement from McCann. I'd still put him outside of the top tier of Mauer, Martinez, and Posey, but he's the next best guy. He should be a very good value pick because of his bad 2010 season, and snagging him in round 4-6 could end up being a very good idea.

#5 Carlos Santana
Santana was a top prospect heading into the 2011 season and started off his career in impressive fashion. He belted 6 homers in 46 games and slugged .467 before suffering a season-ending injury after a tough collision at the plate. As you can see from the numbers, Santana had a very impressive .401 OBP, which was 41 points higher than his batting average, which shows that he was seeing pitches well and working deep into counts, which bodes well for his future. His .207 ISO was higher than almost every other catcher that is going to be mentioned in this post (except the guy coming next), although that was in a very small sample. Santana has the most raw power of any catcher in the league, and being at the ripe age of 25 when the season begins, he has a very bright future. His potential is easily a top 5 fantasy catcher, but for this year I'm putting him in the 2nd tier just because he still has a lot of room for development.

#6 Geovany Soto
Speaking of power hitting catchers, Soto is one of the best. He hit 17 home runs in 105 games last year and slugged .497 with that very high .217 ISO. Soto did hit the ball better in 2010 than he had in his career, with a LD% that was 3.5 percent higher, but his HR/FB and BABIP increased significantly as well, which shows some good fortune. Soto is a decent catcher to get for your team if you miss out on the top 5 guys, but I can definitely see him regressing quite a bit in 2011.

#7 Miguel Montero
Montero was a popular fantasy catcher in the later rounds of last year's drafts. Everybody looked at him as a sleeper guy that had big upside. He showed some really impressive signs early in the year and looked like he was going to have a big year. However he was hampered by injuries and ended up not helping his owners all that much. He played only 85 games and hit 9 home runs. His .266 batting average was right on pace with his career average despite a .318 BABIP. He posted nearly the same numbers as his career averages across the board, so it seems that you know what you're going to get with Montero this year. If he stays healthy, a .270/.330/.450 season with 13-18 home runs would be about where I would put him. Not a great option, but good enough to draft around round 10 or 11 in a 10 man league.

#8 Matt Wieters
A couple of years ago Wieters was getting the sort of attention that Posey and Santana are now, but he hasn't been able to put it together quite yet. He will be 25 this season, so he is still one of the youngest catchers in the game, but there are definitely questions about if he will ever realize his potential. Wieters was below his career averages in most categories last year; that's extra bad because he was expected to make huge strides last year. He has been looked at as a guy with 25-30 HR power, and his mark of 11 last year left his owners frustrated. He was drafted in the mid rounds last year and dropped in a lot of shallower leagues. I personally dropped him for Santana last year, which turned out being a pretty good move until the injury. Wieters still has more upside than most catchers, and could definitely be a huge late round steal, but I wouldn't consider drafting him over the guys already mentioned until he shows us some actual consistent production.

#9 Mike Napoli
Napoli is another catcher with big pop. He has posted big time ISO's in his career, and last year was no exception. 19% of his fly balls went out of the ballpark last year, also a very large number. When Napoli hits the ball, it goes a long ways, however he doesn't hit it very often. His .238 average last year was 13 points lower than his already disappointing career .251 average. He has recently been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, which will probably hurt his RBI numbers, but possibly earn him some more playing time. I wouldn't expect his numbers to fluctuate much just because of this trade, I'd still put him around a .245 average with 20-25 homers, which isn't bad value for where you'll get him.

#10 Kurt Suzuki
Suzuki was another under the radar possible sleeper pick last year, but he disappointed in a big way. He didn't do much well last year, and only played 131 games despite not suffering from serious injury. Suzuki's numbers don't give me any reason to believe he'll get any better. In my opinion the catchers get extremely weak after Napoli, so I highly suggest grabbing one of the aforementioned players so you don't get stuck with someone like Suzuki who will kill you all year long.

#11 Chris Iannetta
Iannetta was one of the biggest catching disappointments in baseball last year. He played only 61 games and hit a putrid .197 in those games. He showed some power with 9 home runs and a .186 ISO, but his 13.5 line drive percentage really shows you how bad he was last year. I really don't expect much from Iannetta, he won't be on any of my teams.

#12 Carlos Ruiz
Ruiz was a pleasant surprise for players that owned him last year, at the age of 31 he posted the best season of his career with a .302 average and a .400 OBP with 8 home runs. He played only 121 games but was very effective in those games. His average was 42 points higher than his career average and his BABIP was 55 points higher. Since Ruiz is now 32 years old, those improvements were certainly not expected and he should regress quite a bit this year. I think he will be drafted way to high this year to even consider taking him.

#13 Yadier Molina
Molina is a great catcher, but not a great option for fantasy. He had a very normal season last year, all of his numbers were nearly identical to his career averages. He has no power but will at times go on good batting average streaks, which will be negated by equally bad streaks. Molina is in a contract year this year, so that might translate into some improved offensive numbers, but I can't see him doing enough to warrant being a relevant fantasy option.

#14 Jorge Posada
Posada is 39 years old, had a really bad season in 2010, and is going to lose major playing time to the newly acquired Russell Martin. His HR/FB ratio nearly doubled his career average in 2010, and at his age that means that I can practically guarantee that he will not come near the 18 home runs he hit last year. I see no reason to draft Jorge Posada for any reason except being a back-up.