The catcher position is always one of the toughest to manage in fantasy baseball. If you have a great one like Buster Posey, Yadier Molina and Carlos Santana. You could also have breakout candidates who you found later in the draft—Jonathan Lucroy and Miguel Montero have been great surprises this year and surely delighted the fantasy owners who drafted them.
One of the biggest let downs is clearly when you draft a young, premiere catcher and he ends up being a major letdown. That’s been the exact case this year with Wilson Ramos, who is once again on the disabled list.
Ramos already missed all of April with a broken hand, and then suffered a hamstring injury on the 11th. Ramos has played in just 24 games this season and now fantasy owners have to find a replacement once again. Even when Ramos was healthy, he only registered a .261 batting average with one home run and .314 on-base percentage in 92 at bats.
One name fantasy owners should look at on the trade market is Pirates catcher Russell Martin, who dealt with his own injury earlier in the year. Now Martin is healthy and hitting fifth in a Pirates lineup that is really starting to heat up.
Since the promotion of Gregory Polanco, the Pirates now have a strong 1-2-3 with Polanco, Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen. They all know how to get on base and create RBI opportunities for their teammates behind him.
Martin’s numbers the previous two years certainly leave more to be desire with two straight seasons of a batting average under .230 and less than 60 RBI’s. Martin’s bat has been much improved this year however, with a .275 batting average and an impressive .409 on-base percentage. Martin only has three home runs, but is showing patience at the plate with 20 walks to only 26 strikeouts.
He has also been hot lately, with a .350 average over the past seven days and a .308 average in 40 June at bats. As an added bonus, Martin will also give you some stolen bases as he had nine in 2013 and has three this month. Keep this in mind when considering Ramos has never stolen a base in his career.
If you don’t want to go out and trade for a catcher, you can always find a decent stopgap option on the free agent market. Ramos owners should take a look at Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis, who is back after hurting his ankle during a celebration. Ellis has the Dodgers’ catcher job locked down and is not in a platoon situation like many of the other free agents you will find. Ellis has only played in 18 games this season but his track record is worthy of starting in a pinch.
Ellis posted consecutive seasons of 10 or more home runs and 50 or more RBI’s. He is part of a lineup that features Hanley Ramirez, Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp who all provide him opportunities to drive in runs. Since returning from the disabled list, Ellis has four hits and four walks in three starts. He is getting comfortable again and should see plenty of good pitches to hit with the lineup surrounding him.
If you are willing to go out and make a trade to find help at catcher, then Martin is the perfect target to go after. He should come at a reasonable price and will allow you to keep your main pieces together. If you have an open roster spot, then go ahead and use it to pick up Ellis. Once Ramos comes back, you will have valuable depth at a key position.