Top 3 Sleeper Catchers for 2020 Fantasy Baseball Season

While the top fantasy baseball assets provide the floor for your team, finding sleepers in the later rounds is key to determining your ceiling.

Hunting for sleeper candidates, by definition, is a volatile task. For every sleeper that does turn into a great pick, there are two or three that go nowhere. However, this process is can be the difference between a first-place finish and stumbling to a losing season. That makes it crucial to hit on your sleeper picks.

With that in mind, here are three sleeper catchers that can make a big impact for your 2020 fantasy baseball team.

Catcher Sleepers for Fantasy Baseball

3. Robinson Chirinos, Texas Rangers

With so few catchers getting consistent playing time, it can pay to have one that's frequently in the lineup. Robinson Chirinos was tied for 10th at the position with 114 games played in 2019, and while his game has obvious holes (.238 batting average and a 28.6 percent strikeout rate), his power keeps him relevant in fantasy. The 35-year-old has posted a hard-hit rate below 39 percent only once in the last four seasons, hitting 39.5 percent with a matchup 39.5 percent fly-ball rate last year. This helped him to his third consecutive season with at least 17 home runs and his second with at least 55 RBI, and his .205 isolated power (ISO) put him above .200 for his fourth time in the last five seasons.

2. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

Buster Posey's production has been trending in the wrong direction for a few years, but his drop-off in 2019 seems to have fantasy players worried. I wouldn't read too deeply into the decline, though, given his 35.7 percent hard-hit rate and 13.4 percent soft-hit rate were a lot like what he notched in 2018 (36.3 percent and 13.8 percent) and in 2016 (36.1 percent, 15.0 percent). He was a little more swing-happy than we've seen him in the past (whiffing on 8.3 percent of the pitches he faced), but that rate still isn't in any sort of worrying territory. Posey finished top-12 among catchers in 2017 and 2018, and you shouldn't let last year's dud scare you off in the later rounds.

1. Tom Murphy, Seattle Mariners

Tom Murphy does have some obvious holes in his game. It took a move to the Seattle Mariners to get him to his first MLB season with at least 50 games, and he posted a 31.0 percent strikeout rate, bringing his career average to 34.4 percent. That comes with a career 15.1 percent swinging-strike rate. This love of taking hard swings comes through in his power production though, and he went yard 18 times in 76 games in 2019, notching a huge .262 with a .355 weighted on-base average (wOBA), bringing his career marks to .243 and .331, respectively. You're not going to get a sleeper catcher that doesn't come with red flags, but Murphy's power upside means you'd be well served to look past those concerns.

Don't forget to also check out our top-10 catcher rankings to see the top players at the position for 2020.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.