Nationals Matt Wieters: Top fantasy baseball catcher?

Washington Nationals offseason signing Matt Wieters has quietly become the most productive catcher of 2017.

Catcher is the least productive position in fantasy baseball. Based on April’s stats, the top scoring catcher Matt Wieters was only as a productive as the 10th-best shortstop Addison Russell. We all need to roster one (or two) catchers, so regardless of their overall value, it is the differential between catchers that is the difference maker.

With the usual provisos about not reading too much into small sample sizes, below are a few early season highlights from the catching position.

Tony Wolters, acquired by the Rockies for his pitch-framing excellence, surprisingly leads all catchers with 12 runs in 16 games. It is unlikely that he will continue at 120-run pace and it is expected that Wolters will lose some playing time when young slugger Tom Murphy recovers from his fractured forearm.

Two catchers have hit six home runs. Six is a significant number. It is as many as Jose Abreu, Brian Dozier and Mark Trumbo combined. With 89 plate appearances, the annually overworked Salvador Perez leads all catchers in playing time. He hit his six home runs with a useful .271 batting average. Padres’ catcher Austin Hedges went 2-for-31 in his first ten games before exploding with six home runs and a .292 batting average for the rest of the month.

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RBI is divisive and often disparaged as a stat of opportunity rather than skill, but it still makes up 20% of traditional 5×5 hitting categories. The RBI leader from the catcher position is Mets’ Travis d’Arnaud with 15, already surpassing his 2016 total. The 28-year-old is hitting .313 with runners in scoring position.

Catchers are frequently a drain on your batting average. Half of the top-24 catchers in 2016 hit below .250, with Chris Iannetta, Jason Castro, Dioner Navarro and Derek Norris hitting .210 or less.

If you picked up Brewers Manny Pina, you would be pleased he is leading all catchers with .385 AVG (minimum 50 plate appearances). If you were hoping for a breakout from Tigers James McCann, his .155 AVG is the lowest among catchers.

Pina and McCann are only rostered in the deepest of leagues or two-catcher leagues. So what about the catchers taken early in the draft and owned in every league?

Buster Posey was the first catcher off the board and has started in typical fashion with two home runs, .348 AVG and nearly as many walks as strikeouts. Rangers’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy is not walking, striking out or hitting. The second catcher off draft boards only has 13 hits this season with a .200/.246/.277 slash line.

Following the sensational rookie campaign of 20 home runs in 201 at-bats, the most hyped catcher in drafts was Yankees Gary Sanchez. He started 2017 poorly, hitting just .150 before landing on the DL with a biceps strain. He is expected to begin a rehab stint on Tuesday and be back in the majors at the end of the week.

Another catcher who looks to have been over drafted is the World Champions’ Willson Contreras. The 24-year-old is hitting .243 with 22 strikeouts to five walks and has the lowest contact rate and highest swinging strike rate among catchers.

Marlins J.T. Realmuto started the season on fire with two home runs and 1.124 OPS over his first nine games. He has only scored two runs since and no extra-base hits over the last couple of weeks.

Which brings us to Wieters.

The Nationals’ star is the consensus leader, appearing as the highest ranked catcher in Yahoo leagues, the top scorer in CBS points leagues and as the No.1 catcher on the ESPN player rater.

Wieters has hit four home runs (the same as Kris Bryant) with 10 runs and 12 RBI, and he also has one stolen base.

The 30-year-old is hitting seventh or eighth in the potent Nationals’ lineup, with walk rates and strikeout rates to rival the best of his career. The former first-round pick had one of the most outstanding games of his career on April 30, hitting 3-for-6 with two home runs, four RBI and he also walked twice.

Wieters is benefiting from a .321 BABIP and 16% HR/FB rate compared to his career .288 BABIP and 12.1% HR/FB rate.

Next: April Pitching Category Studs

13 catchers were drafted ahead of Wieters. Even with the likely regression, he should maintain his position as a top five catcher, but why can’t he finish as the best catcher in fantasy baseball?