This week’s fantasy baseball catcher review will help you identify catchers available in 50% or more of Yahoo! fantasy baseball leagues. For deep league players, the third is available in 85% or more of Yahoo! leagues.
Russell Martin, Toronto (42% owned)
Martin started the year off slowly but has turned it around over the last couple of weeks. He was highly drafted, but his April cratering saw owners abandoning ship on Martin. Since the calendar turned over to May, he’s positively regressed in the average department, going from .218 to .268. He’s still well short of his career .287 mark, which means he’s due for more positive regression. He also has five dingers on the year and already has a combined 30 runs and RBI. The Toronto offense has woken up lately, and Martin has been a huge piece in that.
Alex Avila, Detroit (41% owned)
It’s getting to the point where I’m about to rename this article “just go pick up Alex Avila already.” People seemingly haven’t caught onto his production, despite the complete wasteland at catcher. People don’t believe the hype on Avila, but he just keeps chugging along. He’s the #5 catcher over the last two weeks, going for a .293 average with two dingers, six runs, and seven RBI. It’s not just a hot streak, either. He’s top-ten in the last 30 days and #4 on the season. There’s so much that’s awful at catcher, and Avila’s availability in two-of-five leagues is criminal.
Wilson Ramos, Tampa Bay (14% owned)
Last year’s #3 catcher hasn’t swung a bat in the majors yet this year. A gruesome knee injury sidelined him for the tail end of 2016 and all of this year so far. That’s the bad news, but Ramos is already hitting and catching at extended Spring Training. He should be back in the next couple of weeks and is more likely to DH than catch, which means a ton of at-bats from someone who broke out last year. In case you forgot, he ended 2016 with a .307/.354/.496 slash line with 80 RBI, 58 R and 22 home runs in just 131 games. He could be a league winner in the second half and he’s out there in 85% of Yahoo! leagues.