Orioles Welington Castillo is embarrassingly under-owned in fantasy leagues

According to the ownership data on ESPN, Orioles catcher Welington Castillo is not one of the top-12 catchers. Surely this cannot be correct?

If Welington Castillo is on waivers in your league, then you need to make a change unless you are starting one of the top three catchers.

At the elite end of the catcher spectrum, there is the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez hitting the cover off the ball. He has a position-leading 27 home runs and despite the 100 strikeouts he has amassed this season, his batting average of .274 is not a drain on the rest of your team.

The Giants’ Buster Posey has been the most consistent catcher over recent years and provides even greater value in points or OBP leagues, where his 54 walks to 53 strikeouts gain extra value.

The perennially overworked Royals’ Salvador Perez is enjoying the best season of his career and will likely eclipse his previous career-best in home runs and RBI, while hitting an acceptable .273.

If Welington Castillo is on waivers in your league, then you need to make a change unless you are starting one of these three elite catchers.

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Even Willson Contreras owners who have enjoyed his breakout season of 21 home runs and .861 OPS for an eighth round pick, are advised to grab Castillo. Contreras will be out of action on the DL until mid-September.

The Orioles’ backstop was the 13th catcher off the board with an ADP of 197. Pre-season, Bill Pivetz wrote about Castillo’s potential for 20 home runs and 75 RBI, and the catcher would have surpassed the projections had he not twice missed time with injuries (13 games at the start of May and nine games at the start of June).

The missed time contributed to Castillo to dropping off the mixed league radar.

At the moment, the 30-year-old is only playing on a part-time basis, having already sat 13 times in August, but when he is behind the plate, he is producing. Over his last 26 starts, Castillo is hitting .360 (32-for-89) with six home runs and 17 RBI. His .991 OPS over this period is eye-watering from the catcher position.

But can a part-time player help you in counting stats when compared to a full-time catcher?

In August, only Sanchez and Contreras hit more home runs than Castillo. He is in the top-10 in both the runs scored and RBI categories, and obviously, his .333 average is exceptional from a position that is usually such a batting average drain.

Castillo is losing playing time to Caleb Joseph. Joseph, who memorably failed to register a single RBI last season for the Orioles, enjoyed a productive June and July but has slumped badly in August. Both players have made 14 starts this month, with Joseph slashing .188/.204/.396 and a 34.7% strikeout rate. In comparison, Castillo looks like a stud with a .333/.375/.608 slash line. It looks inevitable that his playing time will increase in September.

Castillo is owned in 32% of leagues, meaning that he is available off waivers in nearly seven out of every 10 leagues. Don’t let yours be one of them.

Next: Twins Jorge Polanco is on fire

So if you’re starting 81% owned Jonathan Lucroy (one home run since joining the Rockies) or 52% owned Matt Wieters (with only three extra-base hits in 22 games in August) or 85% owned Yasmani Grandal (and his .169 AVG this month), then perhaps you need to be a bit more active on waivers.