Opening Time: Bullish on J.T. Realmuto
Catcher is the most physically-demanding position on the sandlot, and maybe that explains why the position has been such a fantasy mess this year.
Consider all the big names disappointing us. Carlos Santana hasn’t returned what we expected. Yadier Molina’s power might be gone for good. Yan Gomes got hurt, hasn’t hit since. Devin Mesoraco also got hurt, and basically punted the year. Wilin Rosario isn’t in the mix in Colorado. Matt Wieters has been so-so since his injury return.
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With all that in mind, we savor the players who have panned out, and the surprises that emerged from nowhere. Russell Martin is no hoser in the YYZ. Yasmani Grandal is an OBP machine in L.A. Francisco Cervelli is here to help your batting average. Buster Posey remains one of the most bankable and reliable players around.
And very quietly in South Florida, rookie J.T. Realmuto is making his mark with the Marlins.
Realmuto generated a modest amount of bush-league buzz before the season, a Top 76 prospect on a couple of sites. He was a .299/.369/.461 stick at Double-A Jacksonville last year, with eight homers and 15 steals in 97 games. The Fish quickly gave Realmuto the job shortly into 2015, accepting that Jarrod Saltalamacchia wasn’t the answer.
It took a little while for Realmuto to find his sea legs, but J.T. Marlin has been ripping the ball of late. He’s on a .313/.338/.500 binge for his last 35 games, with four homers and a couple of steals. If you rank all the Yahoo fantasy catchers over the last month, Realmuto grade as the No. 3 man, behind Posey and Jon Lucroy.
Fantasy owners have been slow to give Realmuto a shot - he’s owned in just 11 percent of Yahoo leagues. I even saw him kicking around the wire in some two-catcher pools last week, something I quickly amended. It’s high time we consider him one of the Top 12 backstops going forward. And even if his average slips some, his solid defense should keep him in Miami’s lineup. They’ve got a good one here.
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I’d prefer Realmuto to Wilson Ramos going forward, that’s an easy call. Even with the Colorado backdrop, give me Realmuto over Nick Hundley, too. Why is A.J. Pierzynski owned in more leagues than the Miami rookie? Maybe you guys can help me understand that, in the comments.
• What the heck do we do with Curt Casali in Tampa? He’s clocked four homers in his last two games, part of a 15-for-50 run (with seven homers) this year. New catcher under the catwalk.
If you didn’t know much about the 26-year-old Casali, it’s for good reason - he didn’t have any pedigree to speak of. He logged 112 at-bats at Triple-A Durham this year and produced a putrid .205 average, with four homers. He was adept at taking a walk, pushing his OBP up to .326. And of course, he’s old for the level in the first place.
I understand some fantasy players will simply want to jump on someone this hot, and I can’t dissuade you on that idea. Just make sure a Casali pickup comes with the shortest leash possible. I have zero confidence he’ll be even a Top 20 catcher the rest of the season, and he has the ability to torch your average at any time. The league figures to adjust to him quickly.
• The Athletics had a bunch of choices for their new closer; they decided to go with experience over on-field production. I can’t see how Edward Mujica is anything close to Oakland’s top reliever, but he’ll be the closer for now. "He's got the most experience doing it," skipper Bob Melvin told MLB.com.
Maybe I’m stubborn or flat-out wrong, but I’m still holding onto Fernando Rodriguez here, chasing his K/9 rate and solid control. Mujica doesn’t miss enough bats and he can be homer-prone. Mind you, given how Oakland has punted its season, any of these guys could be in a different city before the end of the week.
• The closing chairs were rearranging themselves on the East Coast Tuesday, sparked by Jon Papelbon shipping down to Washington. He'll settle into the ninth inning for the Nationals, to the dismay of Drew Storen owners. Storen did nothing to lose the gig (1.72/1.02, 29 saves in 31 chances), but Papelbon probably doesn't agree to the trade if not promised the glory role. So it goes.
With Papelbon finally gone from Philadelphia, closer-in-waiting Ken Giles gets a chance to show his stuff in the ninth. He worked around one hit and picked up a handshake at Toronto on Tuesday, a nifty way to mark your territory. The Phils are one of the worst teams in the majors, of course, though they've been a plucky 9-1 since the All-Star break. Any MLB club can support a fantasy closer, so long as it's one guy in a dedicated role.
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