Michael Barrett is having a season we all hoped he would have. This however is where fantasy baseball can help sometimes in projecting out a players performance during the season.

Yahoo Fantasy Baseball has an article from fanball.com called Trend or Mirage, which discusses what the future usually holds for catchers during the season.

In addition, this week's Trend and Mirage broaches a very simple question: What in the world has gotten into major league catchers? Nothing against Michael Barrett, but where does the .259 career hitter get off with a .313 average, eight homers, 36 RBI, and 22 runs in mid June?

....

A closer look at the split statistics of games most productive catchers reveals that the physical demands of catching in the majors are so arduous that most backstops cannot sustain their offense over the course of an entire season. In his career, Pudge has hit 27 points higher before the All-Star break and has 54 more home runs and 209 more RBIs before the midsummer classic.

Similarly, Mike Piazza has hit 12 points higher in the first half of the baseball season with 46 more dingers and 88 more runs driven in. Veteran Paul Lo Duca, currently sixth in the National League with a .343 average, hits .319 before the halfway point compared to .255 after it.

Even Jason Kendall, Javy Lopez, and Jorge Posada—three of the few catchers whose average has historically maintained or slightly improved after the All-Star break—have power totals that are far higher early in the year, just like Pudge and Piazza above.

That, of course, is a result of the fact that all of the players above have played in far more games in the first half of the season than in the second, when injuries and fatigue demand time off far more often. The six veterans above have played in a combined 4,023 games before the midpoint of the season and only 3,047 games after it.

....

As for Barrett, Cubs manager Dusty Baker may have gone too far after his receiver won Saturday's game with a two-run, walk-off double. He installed the catcher with a lifetime .315 on-base percentage in Sunday's leadoff spot, where he responded with an 0-for-5 effort. That could be the beginning of the end.

As the season goes on Barretts number will probably begin to tail off. If he finishes with anything above .270 it will be a much better improvement over other players from previous Cubs teams. In fact Barrett has done more this season to already put him ahead of Miller, Hundley, and Girardi combined over the last couple years.

I doubt his 0-5 in the leadoff spot was the beginning of the end, he is hitting well now, might as well go with it. But don't get disappointed if those numbers do drop off as the season goes on. Even the best catchers in the game cant do it.

Barrett has made a believer out of me, I never expected this much out of him. I can honestly say I was flat wrong about him. The most critical part of his game that I worried about early in the season was his defense and he has improved dramatically over the last couple months in that area.