RADIO
It's been a beautiful time for fantasy catcher owners - Kansas City Royals catcher Salavador Perez is back. Now the main mission for the Royals is to not let him carry his suitcase for the rest of the season.
The distance between those who are at 50% ownership in Yahoo! (er... Oath?) fantasy leagues and those below it is shrinking. There was one time when there was someone at 60% ownership and then the next highest-owned was at like 30%. Yikes. Now there's less of a gulf. Still, the pickings are getting slimmer.
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. I mean, what else do I have to lose? Here are some catcher waiver wire pickups for Week 4, 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:
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Chris Ianetta(COL) 49% owned
Colorado Rockies catcher Chris Ianetta is the first to drop below the 50% threshold. Sure, he's hitting .231 with two homers, but he's playing in a state that can revive one's bat in a matter of days, what with that thin air. It's still April and if you grab him now, he could reward you in a matter of weeks, if not days. OK. Maybe not days. Still, you don't have much to lose by giving him another chance.
Matt Wieters (WAS) 8% owned
Washington Nationals Matt Wieters continues to have a very slow start to the season after joining the team a bit after the season began. He's not hitting for any power or for any average right now. Still, he's a veteran catcher and may warm up when the weather stays hotter than Siberia. Give him a few more weeks and then cut bait if he's not hitting by the time May is ending.
Francisco Cervelli (PIT) 45% owned
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli was another beneficiary of the spate of injuries that hit the catcher position. He went from 12% ownership in my last column to this. The veteran's still being added at a fairly decent clip, and if he sustains this, he may wind up being off this list the next time I do this. Cervelli had a 3-4 night in his April 25 Game 1 of a doubleheader and he could wind up being a good pick-up.
Two-Catcher League Pickups
Kurt Suzuki (ATL) 36% owned
Yes, a lot of people are lining up to get Atlanta Braves catcher Kurt Suzuki now since he's had a good string of games over the past 10 days or so. Still, the reason he's here and not in the first batch is because he's going to return to backup status when Tyler Flowers makes his way back from his injury. Still, should Flowers get injured again, the veteran may vault back into the 10-12 team mix. If anything, you can enjoy him as the No. 1 guy for a few more games.
Austin Hedges (SD) 12% owned
Yes, San Diego Padres Austin Hedges still has two homers, the same amount as the last time I wrote about him. He's also hitting below .200. He's also capable of going on some great home run tears and he's likely due to start one of those soon. Still, he's going to be in two-catcher territory until he decides to show some consistency. Perhaps a quick jaunt East against Mets pitchers not named Noah Syndergaard might help - especially since they are also due to face Jason Vargas, who is making his first start of the year and might be a prime candidate to pummel.
James McCann (DET) 8% owned
Detroit Tigers catcher James McCann has been a somewhat popular pick the past few days. It's not like Yahoo! owners are going bonkers, but there has been an uptick in his percentage. Part of it is that he's had a fairly decent string of games where he's scored at least a run. He's not starting catcher material, but he could be of service in a two-catcher league. His line of .242/2/10 bears that out.
