Top fantasy baseball catcher waiver pickups for Week 13

We’re nearly to the halfway point of the 2023 MLB season, and things are only getting wilder with each passing day. The Cincinnati Reds are now America’s team. The Los Angeles Angels just dropped 25 runs at Coors Field. For fantasy baseball players, it’s time to throw out what you thought you knew around draft time and make adjustments. Time to decide whether you’re in it to win it this year, and what you might need to make that happen. Time to check narrative and sentiment at the door.

Nowhere is that more true than at catcher, that most dire of fantasy positions. We’re beginning to get a sense of whose slow starts are more than a fluke and whose breakouts look like they’re for real — and who we might’ve buried a bit prematurely. So if you’re like most of us, looking for any kind of production from behind the plate, here are three backstops likely available on the waiver wire who could return surprisingly solid production for the rest of the year.

Fantasy baseball waiver wire: Week 13 top catcher pickups

Henry Davis, C, Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster percentage: 14%

For a while it looked like Endy Rodriguez would be the first top catching prospect to make it up to Pittsburgh, but instead it was Davis who got the call. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, injuries slowed Davis down a bit to start his pro career, limiting him to just 67 total games over his first two seasons. Finally healthy this spring, though, the former Louisville star wasted no time rocketing his way through the Minors: Davis slashed .284/.433/.541 with 11 homers and nine steals in 51 games between Double-A and Triple-A, showcasing the monster bat speed and power that made him so highly coveted.

He’s looked the part since getting called up for his MLB debut last weekend, already notching a homer and a steal (along with an .875 OPS) in his first six games. The power (and the potential to chip in a few steals) is awfully rare, and the Pirates didn’t call him up to ride the bench — he was also getting outfield reps in the Minors this year. There’s some swing-and-miss here, but he has legitimate four-category potential if it all clicks.

Bo Naylor, C, Cleveland Guardians

Roster percentage: 2.1%

The other top catching prospect to get the call this week, Cleveland fans had to be wondering what took so long. While Mike Zunino and Cam Gallagher were putting up historically bad numbers for the big-league club, Naylor — a former first-round pick and younger brother of fellow Guardian Josh Naylor — was tearing it up at Triple-A, slashing .254/.393/.498 with 13 homers and almost as many walks as strikeouts. Cleveland finally brought him up this week, and while he’s gotten off to a slow start, the advanced approach at the plate and plus power numbers suggest that he should be an above-average hitter at the plate — which, for a catcher, is fantasy gold.

Yainer Diaz, C, Houston Astros

Roster percentage: 5.3%

Diaz hasn’t just taken Martin Maldonado’s job as Houston’s starting catcher, but the 24-year-old has even started drawing starts at DH as the team searches for answers offensively without Yordan Alvarez. Diaz has been scorching all month, slashing .323/.328/.646 in June with five homers in 17 games. He’s not going to hit above .300 forever — he’s far too free a swinger for that — but the .563 expected slugging percentage and 90.8-mph average exit velocity suggest the power is very real, and any catcher getting regular at-bats somewhere other than behind the plate is a huge asset.