The 2024 STS MiLB Player of the Year: Catcher

Written by: Darren “Doc” Eisenhauer
Intro by: RFF

Scout the Statline has had one clear objective since it’s inception three years ago: to help YOU, our followers gain a strategic advantage in the ever-changing world of fantasy baseball. We achieve this through our advanced predictive data model, which analyzes players and prospects of various ages and levels using extensive research known as Peak Projections. This model incorporates MLB equivalencies and aging curves in its calculations, allowing us to project future statistical outcomes for thousands of players based on their current performances on a daily basis.

With that said, we invite you to join us on our victory lap for the 2024 season as we celebrate our success in identifying the top MiLB prospects in the game today. Our talented writers will recap the winners of the Player of the Year award at each position, determined by our User poll (via Twitter/X), the Scout the Statline Staff, and our Peak Projections Model.

This particular piece, the MiLB Player of the Year for the Catcher position is authored by Darren “Doc” Eisenhauer. In a remarkably brief period of time, Doc has established himself as one of the most prominent figures in the fantasy baseball world. He not only serves as the wordsmith behind our immensely popular weekly publication, “Sunday Smoke” but he is also one of the co-hosts of our weekly StS podcast, “Dynasty Dingers” which is accessible on YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify. If you have not done so already, you are encouraged to follow him on X, @DocHollidayDyna.

THE PEAK PROJECTIONS MODEL WINNER

Samuel Basallo.

The dude’s a stud, and it seems like every human being agrees…
…heck, even robots can’t deny Slammy B is the best catching prospect in baseball!

As you can see above, our StS Peak Projections model has Basallo head and shoulders above the rest of the fantasy catchers, crowning him as the best overall prospect in baseball – and I happen to agree.

How about the comp, by the way?
Juan Soto?!

Maybe he’ll never reach such an elite level, but it speaks volumes of this kid’s plate discipline that he’s been able to maintain strong walk rates while rocketing all the way up to AAA.

Oh, and Samuel Basallo has also been learning the most difficult position in baseball.

When he wasn’t adjusting to advanced pitching as a batter, he was busy getting down and dirty behind the plate as a catcher. That means he had to crouch down and learn 400+ innings of game-calling for each pitcher at multiple levels of the upper minors, mostly as a teenager.
Insanity.

Now, some people don’t actually believe Basallo will remain behind the plate in MLB, so they leave him off their lists entirely. While it’s unlikely he’ll supplant Adley Rutschman in Baltimore, I wouldn’t be shocked if they rotated SB in just enough to ensure Adley stays in good health deep into his career.

That means Basallo would have enough action to remain catcher-eligible, while taking even less wear-and-tear than Mr. Rutschman, all within a powerful lineup.
It’s a lot of fun to dream on, and it’s backed up by numbers as well: Basallo played more catcher than 1B or DH at both AA and AAA this year, which means the Orioles are planning on doing just what I’m predicting.

THE StS STAFF WINNER

But hey, let’s take a look how the other StS staff felt about this one:

Welcome to a top-secret screenshot of the StS Slack channel…where apparently not everyone is a big Basallo fan!

To be fair, Edgar Quero had a fantastic season as well, and represents a glimmer of hope within the dark White Sox’ franchise.
Moises Ballesteros is a fun bowling ball of a player, but I think his fantasy upside is more of a Pablo Sandoval-type. Certainly useful, but he’s never gonna be your MVP.
I do think Agustin Ramirez has similar upside to Basallo, but I am a little concerned about the Marlins’ ability to get the most out of him. On the flip side, at least he’ll get a shot with the slugger-deprived Marlins sooner than later!

THE USER POLL WINNER

Our StS X poll was interesting, but I don’t think they nailed anything other than handing Basallo the triple-crown of awards as 2024’s best catcher prospect.

Dalton Rushing is an ascending dynasty asset, but unlike Basallo, the Dodgers are playing Rushing exclusively in the outfield as of late – meaning his catching days could very well be done.
Frankly, I’d rather have Edgar Quero than Ballesteros when it comes to fantasy – so I’m at a disagreement with how all that played out.

But it goes without saying, Samuel Basallo has established himself as an elite dynasty baseball prospect, with the ability and expectation for even further growth as he matures as a 20 year-old next season. Expect a 2025 major league debut from this stud!