Here, friend, are some catchers that I will be targeting at my 2015 fantasy drafts after the top options are gone. I’m not going to get into the strategy of punting catchers. Been there, half-drunkenly wrote that years ago. Click on the player’s name where applicable to read more and see their 2015 projections. This is a (legal-in-most-countries) supplement to the top 20 catchers of 2015 fantasy baseball. Now, guys and four girl readers, I am not saying avoid catchers like Matt Wieters if they fall, but to get on this list, you need to be drafted later than 200 overall. And, to preemptively answer at least seven comments, yes, I will go around the entire infield, outfield and pitchers to target very late. Anyway, here’s some catchers to target for 2015 fantasy baseball:
Wilson Ramos – (Yahoo 256, ESPN 243) I wanted to write a sleeper post dedicated to Ramos, but it was 650 words that boiled down to “If he’s healthy, he’s good.” I can justify wasting everyone’s time with 550 words on that, but 650? C’mon!
Travis d’Arnaud – (Yahoo 281, ESPN 227) It’s Travis d’Governator! He has arrived…At the Apollo…Big d’Addy Kane! You wanna call Travis up? Take down his potential batting average. It’s .2222222. He got an answering machine that can talk to you. That’s d’La Soul. That’s my d’Anger Mouse mashup. I do like d’Arnaud, so don’t take this as me being fickle, Travis — you talkin’ to me? — but how d’Arnaud is going so far above Zunino is slightly bizzonkers. I have liked d’Arnaud for a while now and hope to own him, but how some people have him ranked in the top 100 is goofy. Though I think CBS’s rankings are not policed by anyone and the fantasy sports department, in general, can get away with whatever they want. Just don’t make fun of CSI and you’re okay.
Yasmani Grandal – (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 214) We have a problem, over-the-internet friends. I kinda want all the catchers in this post. I might draft a guy like Conger, then drop him for Grandal, who will surely be on waivers, and don’t call me Shirley. Let’s just go on what we know in its most basic form. Grandal has a season where he hit .297 in the majors, he’s recorded a .394 OBP and hit 15 homers last year, calling Petco home without a full-time job (only 128 games). Grandal could breakout this year in Los Angeles with Fox optioning his life rights for the movie, OBPwulf.
Mike Zunino – (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 259) If Zunino were simply a young prospect without a season under his belt, he would’ve been ranked in the top 100 by Yahoo. They kick young prospects out of bed quicker than Gary Glitter, and are nearly as excited about them when they first come on the scene. Alternate spellings of come work there. Ewwwww, says our four girl readers. Sorry, ladies, I still love you. Especially the one that is hosting one of our Razzball Commenter Leagues. Meow, girl reader! So, Zunino hit 22 homers and .199 last year. Grody, indeed, but he used to regularly hit for a good average in the low minors and has shown a decent eye before in professional ball.
Robinson Chirinos – (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 438) What do you say when you’re drafting in the last round and have yet to draft a catcher? Uh-oh Chirinos! Take it, Highlights Magazine, it’s yours. Chirinos is the number one reason why you don’t draft a catcher in any league prior to the last round (well, him and all the guys in this post. Yes, there’s seven number one reasons. Leave me alone, County McCountstein). Chirinos should catch about 135 games this year, hit 15 homers and hit around .240. Basically, the same as every other 12th ranked catcher. Since the bottom of the Rangers order looks as appealing as imagining E.L. James as the girl in Fifty Shades of Grey, Chirinos could move up to the five hole by May and start collecting real counting stats.
Josmil Pinto – (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 387) Sky already gave you a Josmil Pinto sleeper. He wrote it while hiding Lady Edith’s child from her family. I didn’t even rank Pinto, so I’m out on Sky’s limb here. This is weird, sitting on another grown man’s wrist. Maybe I should move to a different limb. Like a leg. Any hoo! Pinto looks like a 15-homer, .260 hitter, which is awesome, fantastic, adjective, but he’s also buried in the depth chart. If he splits time at DH with Kennys, I may have a holy conniption, but if Pinto just takes over at catcher for Suzuki, then we’re cool.
Hank Conger – (Yahoo unranked, ESPN 614) I’m so crazy high on Conger compared to other sites it’s funny in the not-actually-funny kind of way. I have love for Conger that his own family can’t even account for, but his family has to deal with receiving gifts from Hank that are picked out by his personal assistant, Jeffrey, who has been dealing with lots of personal issues lately. So, why all the love for Conger? Great question, clunky introductory question! Well, I ranked him 291st overall, so let’s not confuse my enthusiasm for Conger with enthusiasm for Wong, for unstints. (By the by, I’m now saying for unstints instead of for instance. It’s got more pizzazz.) First in Conger’s favor, Jason Castro is doing no one any favors. He’s hot garbage on the surface of the sun. Conger will help Astro pitchers with his pitch-framing ability and the Astros are the sort of organization that won’t ignore that. I say Conger plays more than Castro this year; I am the only one saying this; I know this; I love semicolons. Next up in his favor, he hit 10 homers in his last Triple-A year, hit 11 homers the year before in Triple-A, then hit 7 homers in part-time duty in the majors in 2013, and four homers in the majors last year in more of a bench role. This is important because The Sciosciapath was holding him back just as he held back Napoli. Conger’s a 15-homer hitter just waiting for a full-time job. Speed? Well, not much, but he has 5-steal speed, which is decent for a catcher. People once thought of him as a mini-Napoli. I know what you’re asking yourself, can we stop talking about Conger already? Okay, but if you were asking yourself something else, it might be, isn’t Conger old? He’s 27 years old, which is not old for a catcher to finally figure things out. If the Astros go on the record saying Castro is their starting catcher, then I would drop Conger for someone else. I say drop because I plan on drafting him in the last round for the chance of upside. I am a Virunga-scratching gorilla all up in this Conger!
