RADIO
The recent 80-game suspension of Chicago White Sox catcher Welington Castillo for violating the Joint Drug Agreement caused a seismic shift in terms of add/drops at the position. Seriously, I looked at "Transaction Trends" on Yahoo! and enough people had dropped him recently to fill up a basketball arena. OK, maybe to two-thirds capacity. Still, it's a lot of people.
This means a lot more people have to scramble to get a decent catcher, since he was owned by at least 50% of Yahoo! players before the news. Detroit Tigers catcher John Hicks seems to be the early beneficiary, along with Atlanta Braves catcher Kurt Suzuki, who had seen his numbers drop when Tyler Flowers returned from his injury.
Castillo is going likely be back in late August, but we'll have to make do without him until then.
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10-12 Team League Catcher Pickups
OK, I'm going to dig in, analyze some transaction trends and come up with the best catchers that you can snag off the waiver wire. At the last resort, I may just ask my cat. Here are some catcher waiver wire pickups for Week 8, to consider adding to your teams. We'll show you three players to snag in 10-12 player leagues, and also three to look out for in two-catcher leagues. All of these players are just at or below 50% ownership in Yahoo! fantasy leagues:
John Hicks (DET) - 44% owned
Hicks has been a fantasy sweetheart for the past few days, with people lining up to grab him. It might not be a product of actual play at catcher - they love that they can start him there even though he's been getting the bulk of his playing time at first base since he's subbing for Miguel Cabrera - really big shoes to follow. He's got decent numbers, .278/5/17. He's no Gary Sanchez, but how many of them are?
Kurt Suzuki (ATL) - 39% owned
The return of Flowers made Suzuki's ownership number drop some, but he's been playing every other game. He's still among the league leaders in home runs at catcher and other categories, so it would be unwise to not pick him up, especially given the dearth of hitting catchers. You'd love to have a .261/6/17 catcher on your roster, right?
Yan Gomes (CLE) - 14% owned
Is it too late to make a "Yanny/Laurel" joke? For those who have lived under a rock for the past several weeks, there was a video where sounds were made and people were asked whether they heard "Yanny" or "Laurel" and it made that whole "Blue and black vs. white and gold dress" thing look like a minor dust-up. Anyway, I took the long route here to mention that Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes has been showing an uptick in ownership numbers thanks to several good games. He's worth a chance.
Two-Catcher League Pickups
Tucker Barnhart (CIN) - 15% owned
Cincinnati Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart has seen an uptick in ownership numbers... probably because Devin Mesoraco is now in New York and Matt Harvey is in a Reds uniform. They have also seemed to be excited at his scoring three runs in his past two games. Man... it does NOT take a lot to get fantasy owners' attention these days when it comes to backstops.
Nick Hundley (SF) - 4% owned
One thing that I like to look for when I pick these guys is some production in their past 10 games or so. San Francisco Giants catcher Nick Hundley has homered twice in that span. It's a sign of life amongst a moribund bunch that lurk around the lower tiers of the ownership percentages. He may continue the periodic power, and that's all you can really ask when it comes to these guys. Hundley has five homers, which is not TERRIBLE compared to what's going on around him. Sigh... I feel like I'm lowering my standards here, but it is what it is...
Austin Hedges (SD) - 6% owned
It looks like the wait... if you can call it such... is over for San Diego Padres catcher Austin Hedges. He's been playing rehab games and could be back in the lineup this Memorial Day weekend. Maybe he'll make it Memor-able with a homer or two. He's still not consistent enough for a one-catcher league, though. Worth a shot in NL-only or two-catcher leagues, however.
