Salvy tops 2022 fantasy catcher rankings

Drafting your 2022 fantasy catcher won’t be easy.

The position is loaded with question marks, particularly following lackluster seasons from a few of the usual producers who would ordinarily be first off the board. Should you go for someone durable, or take a chance on one of the many low-floor, high-ceiling guys you could pick up in the later rounds? And is 2021 home run king Salvador Perez going to make another appearance in 2022, making him a catcher worth spending a first-round pick on?

As you mull over your decision, consider who will be on offer come draft day.

Tier 1: Salvador Perez

Perez in his current form has no equal. He led baseball last season with 48 home runs and 121 RBIs, and it had nothing to do with luck. He hit the third-most barrels (with a rate of 16.3%), and ranked second only to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in hard-hit rate (56.2%), measuring batted balls of 95+ mph. The Royals’ willingness to use him as a designated hitter, and how well Perez took to the role, only adds to his value as a fantasy catcher – he appeared in 161 games in 2021.

It’d be unfair to expect Perez to top 40 homers again in 2022, but some projections have him as high as 37. And despite celebrating the tenth anniversary of his debut last season, Perez is still only turning 32 in May.

Tier 2: J.T. Realmuto, Will Smith, Yasmani Grandal, Willson Contreras

Realmuto’s 2021 season was somewhat disappointing compared to his body of work, but while his rate stats dropped a bit, likely owing to him chasing more, he did still hit 17 home runs, about in line with his career totals. Still a solid choice to keep at catcher.

2021 was Smith’s first full campaign, but his discipline made him look quite a bit more seasoned (he ranked in the 90th percentile in chase rate and the 74th in whiff %). His expected stats were lower than in 2020, but even so, .258/.365/.495 with 25 HR from an everyday catcher is nothing to sneeze at, and as he’ll only be 27 on Opening Day, there’s reason to expect he’s only getting better.

Though limited by injury, Grandal posted career highs in OBP (.420) and SLG (.520) while hitting just .240, walking 87 times against 82 strikeouts. His patience is offset by how hard he hits the ball when he does swing – his 23 HR over 93 games would have been 40 in 162, though Steamer’s predictions have him at 26 for 2022.

Contreras put up decent contact numbers last season, including a 48.4% hard-hit rate, but his power numbers were down – he hit 21 HR in 128 games compared to 24 in 108 in 2019 – and his strikeouts rose.

Tier 3: Tyler Stephenson, Keibert Ruiz, Travis d'Arnaud, Mitch Garver

Stephenson had eight career games played before 2021 and his first full season was a great introduction, as he hit .286/.366/.431 and showed plenty of discipline, certainly enough to maintain such a solid on-base percentage.

One of the centerpieces of the Max Scherzer blockbuster, Ruiz still only has 31 Major League games under his belt, enough to graduate from his position as the Nationals’ top prospect, but not enough to tell us what we should expect in 2022. Still, 23 hits in 23 games as a Nat in his age 22 season were a good sign.

d’Arnaud hit .321/.386/.533 in 2020, but ‘21 was less kind to him, his average dropping a full 101 points. His 2021 numbers looked more in line with the player the Mets released in 2019.

Garver still wasn’t back to 2019 form last season, posting a .517 slugging percentage, .113 under his career high.

Tier 4: Mike Zunino, Adley Rutschman, Sean Murphy, Christian Vázquez, Elias Díaz, Gary Sánchez, Carson Kelly, Alejandro Kirk, Omar Narváez

Zunino is routinely a low-cost power source – in 2021, he hit 33 home runs in 109 games despite his .216 average – and his Statcast metrics back that up. Even with a minimum of just 25 batted balls, he led the league in barrel rate at 24.3%.

Barring something unexpected, Rutschman, who was MLB’s No. 1 prospect as ranked by MLB.com last season, will make his Major League debut in 2022. As well-rounded and talented as he’s been in college and the Minors (he’s hit .278/.387/.485 with 27 HR in 160 games across all levels), it’s not a bad idea to keep an eye on him.

Murphy appeared in 119 games in 2021 (his previous career high was 43 in ‘20) and hit 17 home runs, but his OPS+ was still a slightly below average 98.

Vázquez hit a respectable .258 in 2021 but didn’t make much quality contact. His hard hit rate was in the 9th percentile among qualifiers, leaving him with a .352 slugging percentage.

Díaz hit a career-best 18 home runs last season, which might be good enough to keep him in the starting catcher spot in Colorado.

Sánchez again failed to recapture the brilliance of his rookie and sophomore seasons in ‘21, but he still hit 23 home runs, which could make him another low-cost power option.

Kelly had an incredible start to 2021, hitting .340 in April, but injuries limited him for the remainder of the season and kept us from finding out if he was really ready to break out.

Though he hit eight home runs in 60 games, Kirk’s playing time in Toronto was limited, and he ultimately got less playing time than Reese McGuire.

Narváez got his first career All-Star nod last season, and while his performance fell off some in the second half, likely owing to how rarely he makes solid contact, he did total 11 home runs and 49 RBI.