Fantasy baseball busts: Players to fade at catcher for 2023 MLB season

Catcher can be one of the toughest positions to draft for in fantasy baseball due to the volatile nature of the position. While there’s a strong upper-tier of players, the middle-class is all but gone, replace instead with aging, inconsistent players or younger players who haven’t proven anything. Here are three players to potentially avoid while drafting a catcher.

Fantasy baseball busts: Catcher

Yasmani Grandal, White Sox

ADP: 271

After struggling for most of last season, Grandal is emerging as a trendy bounce-back pick this season. While he’s proven that he has the power to make a fantasy impact (he mashed 23 home runs in 2021, and had previously hit 20+ home runs in four season), those days might be in rearview mirror for Grandal, who missed ninety games last season with a back injury.

Omar Narvaez, Mets

ADP: 496

The Mets signed Narvaez to a one-year contract in the offseason to serve as a stopgap option in preparation for the full-time promotion of top prospect Francisco Alvarez. Until then, Narvaez will serve in a platoon with Tomas Nido. No need to take a chance on him having a bounce-back season in 2023.

Carson Kelly, Diamondbacks

ADP: 460

The former prized prospect in the Paul Goldschmidt trade, it’s getting late early for Kelly in the desert. Last year, Kelly hit .211 in 104 games while dealing with injuries, and Arizona went out in the offseason and traded for top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno. Kelly’s failed to hit above .240 in any of his four seasons with Arizona — that won’t change this year.

Other candidates: Sean Murphy, Atlanta Braves, Willson Contreras, St. Louis Cardinals