Up this week are the May rest-of-season position rankings and overall top 300. In past years, I’ve listed players at the position at which they’re most valuable, but I’m changing that up this year and ranking the players at every eligible position.
Please excuse the temporary lack of comments at certain positions. I was recovering from getting my second vaccine dose on Monday and didn’t get as much done Tuesday as hoped. I plan to add additional player comments later today.
Click to see other May rankings:
Top 300 | SP | RP | OF | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | C | DH
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Catcher Rankings
| May | Catcher | Team | April |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.T. Realmuto | Phillies | 1 |
| 2 | Will Smith | Dodgers | 2 |
| 3 | Salvador Perez | Royals | 3 |
| 4 | Willson Contreras | Cubs | 5 |
| 5 | Carson Kelly | Diamondbacks | 22 |
| 6 | Gary Sanchez | Yankees | 4 |
| 7 | Travis d’Arnaud | Braves | 6 |
| 8 | Buster Posey | Giants | 15 |
| 9 | Sean Murphy | Athletics | 7 |
| 10 | Yasmani Grandal | White Sox | 11 |
| 11 | Christian Vazquez | Red Sox | 14 |
| 12 | Wilson Ramos | Tigers | 18 |
| 13 | Francisco Mejia | Rays | 8 |
| 14 | Austin Nola | Padres | 17 |
| 15 | Mitch Garver | Twins | 9 |
| 16 | Jorge Alfaro | Marlins | 12 |
| 17 | James McCann | Mets | 13 |
| 18 | Yadier Molina | Cardinals | 21 |
| 19 | Omar Narvaez | Brewers | 29 |
| 20 | Daulton Varsho | Diamondbacks | 10 |
| 21 | Alejandro Kirk | Blue Jays | 19 |
| 22 | Yan Gomes | Nationals | 24 |
| 23 | Tucker Barnhart | Reds | 35 |
| 24 | Dom Nunez | Rockies | 55 |
| 25 | Kyle Higashioka | Yankees | 30 |
| 26 | Jacob Stallings | Pirates | 28 |
| 27 | Pedro Severino | Orioles | 27 |
| 28 | Mike Zunino | Rays | 34 |
| 29 | Tom Murphy | Mariners | 20 |
| 30 | Max Stassi | Angels | 32 |
| 31 | Danny Jansen | Blue Jays | 23 |
| 32 | Ryan Jeffers | Twins | 26 |
| 33 | Willians Astudillo | Twins | 40 |
| 34 | Chance Sisco | Orioles | 25 |
| 35 | Roberto Perez | Indians | 47 |
| 36 | Luis Torrens | Mariners | 31 |
| 37 | Zack Collins | White Sox | n/a |
| 38 | Elias Diaz | Rockies | 16 |
| 39 | Tyler Stephenson | Reds | 53 |
| 40 | Austin Barnes | Dodgers | 38 |
| 41 | Sam Huff | Rangers | 37 |
| 42 | Kurt Suzuki | Angels | 36 |
| 43 | Jonah Heim | Rangers | 33 |
| 44 | Joey Bart | Giants | 39 |
| 45 | Jason Castro | Astros | 41 |
| 46 | Jose Trevino | Rangers | 43 |
| 47 | Andrew Knizner | Cardinals | 46 |
| 48 | Martin Maldonado | Astros | 44 |
| 49 | Victor Caratini | Padres | 45 |
| 50 | Manny Pina | Brewers | 42 |
Dropping off: Austin Allen (48th), Kevin Plawecki (49th), Austin Hedges (50th)
- I’m mostly buying into Carson Kelly’s start. Obviously, his .318/.500/.705 line won’t last, but it looks like he’s building on what he started two years ago in his first season with the Diamondbacks. I just wish his team were more confident and started batting him in the middle of the lineup regularly.
- The success enjoyed by Kelly and Pavin Smith to date seems like bad news for Daulton Varsho, who drops 10 spots. He still has an awful lot of fantasy upside, but it doesn’t look like the opportunity will be there any time soon.
- In ranking Francisco Mejia as a top-10 catcher this year, I don’t know if it ever occurred to me that Mike Zunino might actually hit. Zunino, though, already has four homers, and while he’s batting just .200, he’s sporting his best contact numbers since his rookie season in 2013. Zunino is the better defensive catcher, of course, so if he keeps this up, he’ll deserve to play most of the time. Mejia has been fine, but not really fine enough to make a strong case for DH at-bats.
- The Reds won’t be bailing on Tucker Barnhart behind the plate, but Tyler Stephenson has looked terrific in his opportunities, hitting .382/.432/.529 with excellent contact and exit velocity numbers in 37 plate appearances. If the Reds eventually opt to sell and move Barnhart, Stephenson could be a top-10 fantasy catcher right away.
- Yermin Mercedes would slot in sixth here in leagues in which he’s catcher eligible.
