Here are the July Rankings. Players are ranked for the remainder of the season based on how I believe they’ll perform in 5x5 leagues. Players are also listed at the positions where they’re most valuable, so if you don’t see that third baseman you’re looking for, he’s probably listed at second or short.
Click to see other July rankings:
Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B
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Catcher Rankings
| July | Catcher | Team | 2014 | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Santana | Indians | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | Joe Mauer | Twins | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Jonathan Lucroy | Brewers | 9 | 8 | 5 |
| 4 | Buster Posey | Giants | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Yadier Molina | Cardinals | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Brian McCann | Yankees | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Evan Gattis | Braves | 11 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Salvador Perez | Royals | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| 9 | Devin Mesoraco | Reds | 21 | 17 | 10 |
| 10 | Miguel Montero | Diamondbacks | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| 11 | Wilin Rosario | Rockies | 4 | 10 | 8 |
| 12 | Wilson Ramos | Nationals | 10 | 12 | 12 |
| 13 | Derek Norris | Athletics | 25 | 20 | 15 |
| 14 | Yan Gomes | Indians | 16 | 14 | 14 |
| 15 | Jason Castro | Astros | 14 | 13 | 13 |
| 16 | Russell Martin | Pirates | 18 | 22 | 17 |
| 17 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Marlins | 17 | 16 | 18 |
| 18 | Dioner Navarro | Blue Jays | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 19 | A.J. Pierzynski | Red Sox | 13 | 15 | 16 |
| 20 | Stephen Vogt | Athletics | 38 | NR | 45 |
| 21 | Carlos Ruiz | Phillies | 23 | 19 | 21 |
| 22 | Alex Avila | Tigers | 15 | 24 | 20 |
| 23 | John Jaso | Athletics | 28 | 32 | 24 |
| 24 | Travis d'Arnaud | Mets | 24 | 25 | 30 |
| 25 | Mike Zunino | Mariners | 27 | 26 | 26 |
| 26 | Welington Castillo | Cubs | 22 | 23 | 25 |
| 27 | Geovany Soto | Rangers | 30 | 31 | 29 |
| 28 | Kurt Suzuki | Twins | 34 | 30 | 31 |
| 29 | Yasmani Grandal | Padres | 32 | 28 | 27 |
| 30 | Chris Iannetta | Angels | 29 | 29 | 28 |
| 31 | A.J. Ellis | Dodgers | 26 | 35 | 36 |
| 32 | Josmil Pinto | Twins | 19 | 18 | 19 |
| 33 | Hank Conger | Angels | 31 | 34 | 34 |
| 34 | Tyler Flowers | White Sox | 36 | 33 | 33 |
| 35 | Caleb Joseph | Orioles | NR | NR | NR |
| 36 | Ryan Hanigan | Rays | 35 | 27 | 32 |
| 37 | Robinson Chirinos | Rangers | 42 1B | 38 | NR |
| 38 | Michael McKenry | Rockies | 53 | NR | NR |
| 39 | Rene Rivera | Padres | 101 | NR | 43 |
| 40 | Hector Sanchez | Giants | 39 | 40 | 38 |
| 41 | George Kottaras | Indians | 47 | NR | 42 |
| 42 | Brayan Pena | Reds | 40 | 37 | 37 |
| 43 | Christian Bethancourt | Braves | 75 | NR | NR |
| 44 | Jesus Montero | Mariners | 41 | 39 | 41 |
| 45 | Christian Vazquez | Red Sox | 88 | NR | NR |
| 46 | Nick Hundley | Orioles | 37 | 43 | 35 |
Dropping off: Matt Wieters (23rd), Jordan Pacheco (39th), Josh Thole (40th), David Ross (44th)
- Mauer finally seems to have turned it around, but so has Santana, just with a lot more power. With a .320 average and six homers in June, he moves ahead of Mauer for now. Of course, Lucroy has outplayed them both and it’s possible that will continue. Still, a good part of the reason that I was so high on Mauer and Santana going in was that they wouldn’t accrue the wear and tear catchers do over the course of the year. The second half is when that should start to show up.
- I think the Red Sox will dump Pierzynski and move on to Christian Vazquez at some point, but since another team might pick up Pierzynski and continue to use him as a starter, I didn’t drop him out of the top 20, at least not yet. It’s not that Vazquez would be any sort of offensive upgrade for Boston, but he’s a difference maker on defense and Pierzynski has been a bust with the bat anyway. Vazquez is currently hitting .265/.318/.361 with two homers in 219 at-bats in Triple-A, so even if he does get the call, he’d strictly be an AL-only guy.
- Just as the talk of the Braves shifting Gattis to left field and calling up Bethancourt to catch died down, Bethancourt was called up Sunday anyway because of Gattis’s upper back spasms. The 22-year-old Bethancourt was hitting .273/.304/.372 with three homers in 231 at-bats in Triple-A. He had picked it up as the year has gone on, hitting .203 in April, .271 in May and .329 in June.
Shifting Gattis to left would give the Braves a much stronger defensive catcher, but it’d come at the cost of the outfield defense and I doubt it would help offensively, either. B.J. Upton has been a disaster once again, but I don’t think Bethancourt would be a good bet to outhit him the rest of the way. If the move does come, Bethancourt would move up to the 30-35 range in the rankings. Gattis would jump to No. 5, since he’d no longer need the occasional day off.