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We have seen big offseason moves for catchers. The Minnesota Twins shipped Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers while the New York Yankees sent Gary Sanchez to the Twins. The pool of valuable catchers isn’t very deep so here are some sleeper catchers that are flying under the radar that you should target in your drafts.
The MLB Lockout has come and gone and now we can get back to looking forward to Opening Day. With the 2022 season getting started on April 7th, now is a great time to start mock drafting and looking into your fantasy baseball leagues.
Tyler Stephenson, Cincinnati Reds
The Reds didn’t take long to make Stephenson their starting catcher as they traded Tucker Barnhart to the Detroit Tigers at the start of the offseason. Stephenson split time with Barnhart in 2021 and still managed to have 350 at-bats where he hit .286 with 10 long balls and 45 RBIs. He also carries dual-positionship with 1B and he is one of only two top-30 catchers that have a secondary position that you can use for your fantasy lineup.
Keibert Ruiz, Washington Nationals
Ruiz was part of the package that came back to the Nationals when they sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021. Ruiz is a switch-hitting catcher that figures to be the starting catcher for the Nats. In only 88 at-bats in 2021, Ruiz hit .273 with three home runs and 15 RBIs.
Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
I may just have a thing for switch-hitting catchers. Rutschman is currently dealing with an injury and is day-to-day, so he isn’t expected to be with the big league club for Opening Day. It shouldn’t take the Orioles long to bring up Rutschman with Jacob Nottingham and veteran Robinson Chirinos at catcher. It could be argued that Rutschman is the top prospect in baseball, so either have him be a final pick to ride the bench until he is in the bigs or make sure he is one of your first waiver wire adds.
Others to consider: Sean Murphy, Oakland Athletics; Carson Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks; Christian Vazquez, Boston Red Sox; Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays