Fantasy Baseball > 2017 Rankings > Catchers

2017 Fantasy Catcher Rankings

Fantasy Baseball Brass' annual, expert review of the best fantasy Catchers, refreshed again in 2017 for your Fantasy Draft. Expert advice, in-depth stats analysis, sleepers, predictions and projections of the best Catchers in baseball so you can dominate your draft... again.

Who's the Best Fantasy Catcher for 2017?

Man oh man, what an immediate impact Gary Sanchez had on the Yankees last season, and he had an even bigger impact on fantasy owners who picked him up last season, too. But was it a large enough sampling of data to put Gary Sanchez at the top of your fantasy Catchers list or was he a fluke? To make this easy right out of the gates, if you're in a keeper league with the first overall pick and Buster Posey is already gone, you need to grab Gary Sanchez immediately in your draft as there is no better potential for any possibly-available fantasy player, let alone a hard-to-fill Catcher spot. If your situation is right, get Gary Sanchez. If your situation is different (which is probably 99% of the rest of us), check out our annual fantasy Catcher Rankings, updated for 2017.

Fantasy Catcher Rankings for 2017

	Catcher	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	SLG	OBP	OPS
1	Buster Posey	SF	147	542	82	155	33	2	14	80	65	68	6	1	.286	.432	.361	.793
2	Gary Sanchez	NYY	53	201	34	60	12	0	20	42	24	57	1	0	.299	.657	.376	1.032
3	Jonathan Lucroy	TEX	142	490	67	143	24	3	24	81	47	100	5	0	.292	.500	.355	.855
4	JT Realmuto	MIA	137	509	60	154	31	0	11	48	28	100	12	4	.303	.428	.343	.771
5	Evan Gattis	HOU	128	447	58	112	19	0	32	72	43	127	2	1	.251	.508	.319	.826
6	Salvador Perez	KC	139	514	57	127	28	2	22	64	22	119	0	0	.247	.438	.288	.725
7	Willson Cotreras	CHC	76	252	33	71	14	1	12	35	26	67	2	2	.282	.488	.357	.845
8	Brian McCann	HOU	130	429	56	104	13	0	20	58	54	99	1	0	.242	.413	.335	.748
9	Wilson Ramos	TB	131	482	58	148	25	0	22	80	35	79	0	0	.307	.496	.354	.850
10	Yasmani Grandal	LAD	126	390	49	89	14	1	27	72	64	116	1	3	.228	.477	.339	.816
11	Matt Wieters	FA	125	427	48	103	17	1	17	66	32	87	1	0	.241	.405	.300	.705
12	Russell Martin	TOR	138	459	62	105	16	0	20	74	64	148	2	1	.229	.394	.333	.727
13	Wellington Castillo	BAL	113	416	41	110	24	0	14	68	33	121	2	0	.264	.423	.322	.745
14	Stephen Vogt	OAK	137	490	54	123	30	2	14	56	35	83	0	0	.251	.406	.305	.711
15	Tom Murphy	COL	21	44	8	12	2	0	5	13	4	19	1	0	.273	.659	.347	1.006
16	Yadier Molina	STL	147	534	56	164	38	1	8	58	39	63	3	2	.307	.427	.360	.787
17	Travis d'Arnaud	NYM	75	251	27	62	7	0	4	15	19	50	0	0	.247	.323	.307	.629
18	Mike Zunino	SEA	55	164	16	34	7	0	12	31	21	65	0	0	.207	.470	.318	.787
19	Sandy Leon	BOS	78	252	36	78	17	2	7	35	23	66	0	0	.310	.476	.369	.845
20	Cameron Rupp	SD	105	389	36	98	26	1	16	54	24	114	1	0	.252	.447	.303	.750

Could Gary Sanchez Be Worth a #1 Pick?

The quick answer is yes. The logical answer is probably not, but if you take him #1 - and we mean overall, not just as a catcher - you could be getting 40+ Home Runs and 100 RBI out of a .290 hitting Catcher. Pacing his stats out to 542 at bats last season (the same number of at bats that Buster Posey had), you're looking at 54 HR, 113 RBI,  and 92 Runs. However... he also paces out to a total of 154 strikeouts. Not unthinkable by today's standards, but it does make him prone to streaks and slumps. Still, we project Gary Sanchez to hit 30+ HR while scoring 80 Runs and driving in anywhere from 70-90 RBI.

What About Jonathan Lucroy (#3)?

Evan Gattis is Ranked #5? Really?

Our only significant fears with Lucroy are injuries and age, and those two issues aren't necessarily independent of one another. He turns 31 in June (which is about 38 in Catcher years) and, believe it or not, he doesn't see a lot of time at DH. Last season, he only played DH 3 times, and that was when he was in the National League with the Brewers, still! He played ZERO games at DH in the AL with the Rangers. His backup at Catcher is Robinson Chirinos, so we don't expect Lucroy to see much time at DH or at first base, either. He played in a total of 142 games last season, and his 24 HR was a career high. Still, the Rangers have a solid lineup, so e think 20 HR and 80 RBI is well within reach for Lucroy, so long as he stays healthy again this season.

That's right, Evan Gattis is the #5 ranked fantasy Catcher in 2017. "But what about Brian McCann being the Catcher in Houston?" What about it? Remember, Gattis qualifies at Catcher and he's going to be DHing a bunch while McCann does the hard work behind the plate. More rest and less stress for Gattis will likely mean more-consistent fantasy stats output from him in 2017. One thing that makes us nervous about Gattis, honestly, is that Carlos Beltran's old, half-broken ass just showed up in Houston, too, and so did Norichika Aoki. Aoki, however, will not likely end up as a fan favorite in a park full of Texans who love to see baseball jacked to the train tracks above left field, so leaves Gattis with the chance at 400+ at bats with 25+ HR.