Welcome back to Buy & Sell, where this week’s theme is: Catchers, Catchers, everywhere! This week was terrible for closers, but a great one for catchers, though everyone is rushing for Dalton and missing the variety of other catchers who look disappointing but are actually poised for big seasons. I swear there are other positions in here, too. But some of you will really not like my top sell call. And among the sells, more catchers, of course. With that said, on to the list!
BUY
10-team
Dillon Dingler (C, Detroit Tigers)
Dingler hits Dingers. Also dinks and dunks. He just hits everything. I regret skipping past him in many drafts despite noticing that last year’s solid line of a .278 AVG with 15 HR and a .425 in 469 PA actually was unlucky, with a .290 xBA and .475 xSLG. But every projection expected heavy regression for the 26-year-old rookie. But alas, Dingler has taken another leap forward this year, hitting an excellent .264/.346/.528 with 5 HR, but that’s not what I’m excited about. Look at his expected stats, with an elite, outrageous .326 xBA and .682 xSLG, from a catcher?! That’s what I’m excited about.
So if he’s still on your wire, add his expected stats and actual stats will probably converge somewhere in the middle, but I don’t think this is just some batted ball magic. He’s already an elite defender, but has improved in every aspect of his game, with his K% down, his BB% up, and most importantly, he’s jacked up his HardHit% to 55% and doubled his barrel rate, with a 20% this year among the league leaders and a massive jump from the 9% rate last year. While I think it’s unlikely he keeps hitting this well, I could see a Salvador Perez-like breakout (but with more walks and good defense, and hit .290 with 25 homers, with an outside shot of .300+ with 30 homers, which would make him a top 50 pick a bit higher than Shea Langeliers from 2025. He’s still only 51% rostered in Yahoo, so If he’s still on your wire, add him immediately, and if he’s on another team, try an aggressive trade offer for him before people realize he’s the next Ben Rice, so get Dingler and don’t be a dingus.
Ivan Herrera (C/UT, St. Louis Cardinals)
The three R’s in his last name stand for regression, regression, regression (the good kind). His stock has dipped since drafts, with a slump on top of the already cold feet just due to him starting the year as a non-catcher, leading to trickier roster management. But he’s already at 9 games at backstop, and 10 should be enough in-season eligibility to qualify in most leagues… and he’ll get more. But also, he’s just a good pure hitter, and even though his .221 AVG and 2 HR in 86 PA look paltry, his expected stats say he’s almost as good as last year, and actually has a walk rate 17% that’s better than his K% (15%). He’ll be fine, and you’ll be glad you stuck with him.
Honorary Mention: Cam Smith (OF, Houston Astros) – He’s cooled off after his torrid first two weeks, but the skills are still excellent, and his .241 AVG and .402 SLG% now present a buying opportunity since his xAVG of .284 and xSLG of .496 suggest the luck dragons rebounded too hard.
12-team
Dalton Rushing (C, Los Angeles Dodgers)
Dalton’s Crushing. But can he face the toughest competition of all: A spot in the Dodgers regular lineup? Maybe that’s why he’s still only rostered in 24% of leagues despite a stratospheric small sample of .414 and 7 homers in just 31 AB. It’s not a fluke, with the 62% HardHit% (95 mph AVG EV), but with big Money Will Smith at C and that amazing pitcher who can also hit at DH named Ohtani, there’s really not an opening unless he volunteers to play 2B. Maybe some teams would be willing to put him in the outfield because of a new rule that all Daltons/Daultons must go from catcher to outfield eventually, but I don’t think the Dodgers are the type of team willing to trot out a defense like that. So, what to do? I’d add as a spec play, if you’re okay with the fact you might have to cut him in two weeks, but if he gets traded, and an injury happens or life just finds a way, you’ll be glad you Dalton Rushed to get him before all the chips fell.
Luke Raley (1B/OF, Seattle Mariners)
The Ralegun is fully charged and firing on all cylinders (except for the strikeout rate one). He’s been dialing up the Gallo-meter by making absurdly hard contact but with an absurdly bad contact rate, but it’s worked to the tune of a .296 AVG and 5 HR backed with a wild .318 xBA and a .642 xSLG. This A-swing all the time approach won’t work forever, with a 54% contact% and a laughably bad 61% Z-Contact%, but he could still help win you the next couple weeks in H2H, and he’s only 30% rostered, so he can make a good power/speed stream.
Honorary Mention: Ramon Laureano (OF, San Diego Padres) – He’s really not getting the flowers he deserves for continuing his elite batted ball data, but on top of that, he’s about to face a bunch of righties and play a series against Rockies pitchers in Mexico City. Giddyap.
Honorary Mention: Gary Sanchez (C, San Diego Padres) – I just added him here too because he also hits homers and has an opportunity to capitalize, though unlike Laureano, I consider this more of a streamer-short term play since his hot streaks are generally monumental but short-lived.
15-team
Oswald Peraza (2B/3B, Los Angeles Angels)
You gotta love a guy going from backup to a 15-team add. He got an opportunity thanks to Soler’s suspension, but it definitely seems he’s starting to edge out the strikeout-prone Moncada for 3B reps… and it’s not like he’s truly blocked at 2B either. He’s suddenly looking like a fine middle infielder after an impressive 2-week surge, and is now batting .284 with 4 homers and 3 SB in just 67 AB (75 PA). The expected stats do think Peraza is batting a bit over his skis as his whiff rate suggests the average will regress, but this is also a 25-year-old former top prospect who is getting regular run for the first time and his first success, and I think that could help him improve as he goes.
Even if he were to regress, his xBA of .267 and xSLG of .415 aren’t shabby for someone with his stolen base ability, as he could steal 15 bags and pop 10 more homers the rest of the way. In fact, every single one of his ROS projections on Fangraphs projects him for at least 10 HR and 10 SB ROS, with OOPSY, the most optimistic, saying he’ll hit .233 with 12 HR and 17 SB going forward. I still think that he could manage .240 or even .250 if he can keep up that 10% barrel rate, and his combination of strong SweetSpot% and the first double-digit Launch Angle of his career, combined with solid HardHit%, makes me think he will.
Leody Taveras (OF, Baltimore Orioles)
Another former prospect revived! Leody’s a bit older than Oswald, but he’s still not over the hill at age 27, and he seems like a completely different player than the offensive trainwreck he was in 2025, where he was one of the worst hitters in the league. So far, while the 61 PA sample is small, he is hitting an excellent .333/.433/.510 with 2 HR and 1 SB. It’s largely backed by Statcast, too, with a .280 xBA and .500 xSLG. But how is he doing this?
A look at his strikeout rate, HardHit%, and others suggests he’s not that far off from the solid but unspectacular hitter he was in 2024, but the big change is that he finally started pulling balls in the air, with his PullAir% up from his 14% career mark to a whopping 24%. Especially after leaving the hitters’ haven in Texas for the moved-in fences in Baltimore (which he can take advantage of as a switch-hitter), he can make the most of his fringe power. Most projections don’t have him stealing double-digit bags from here on out, but he did steal 23 bases in 2024, so there’s still a chance he can vault his way into the 12-team discussion.
Honorary Mention: Austin Wells (C, New York Yankees) – I know it’s been rough. You didn’t expect a .185 AVG and just 1 homer. But Statcast suggests he’s been one of baseball’s unluckiest hitters, with a .260 xBA and .426 xSLG. He has actually improved across the board under the hood, and it’s a great buy-low opportunity.
Honorary Mention: Richie Palacios (2B/OF, Tampa Bay Rays) – It’s not sexy, but Palacios racks up hits and runs with the occasional stolen base, and I love that he’s combining his elite contact rates with a suddenly extreme 27% PullAir%. Maybe he could be the next Isaac Paredes, but with speed! Okay, that is sexy. It’s Paluscious.
Deep Leagues
Bo Naylor (C, Cleveland Guardians)
I know it looks bad, but don’t drive the final Nayl in the coffin. Why yes, I am going to mention YET ANOTHER CATCHER. Unlike Wells, Naylor likely wasn’t drafted in your shallower leagues, especially one-catcher formats, and if he was, he was probably cut for one of the litany of other options with his putrid start. But despite his awful line of .130/.203/.204 with just 1 HR in 59 PA, similar to Austin Wells, Naylor has actually improved in several aspects of his game. That’s not an easy sell given that with how bad he’s been, he could improve and still be bad, but hear me out.
The boring answer is just take one look at his Statcast page. His Whiff% this year is actually excellent, and his 22% should improve given that whiff rate. He’s hitting the ball harder than ever. He’s still hitting a high PullAir% like usual, but this year he’s actually also hitting barrels with a 13% barrel rate supported by a 46% HardHit% and a 41% LA SweetSpot%. And unlike other catchers, where you could say their expected stats being so much better is because they’re slow as a three-toed sloth on quaaludes, Naylor actually has above-average sprint speed. And with him finally doing all the other things right and getting on base more, once his luck turns around, that could result in more stolen base attempts, possibly even reaching double digits. I think he could definitely hit .230 with 15 HR and 7 SB the rest of the way, which would be a massive deep league find. He’s actually a free agent in my 30-team dynasty league and I’m going to add him as soon as I can.
Kyle Karros (3B, Colorado Rockies)
Get ready to embrace Kyle-orado. Playing half his games at Coorros field. Okay, that second one didn’t work as well, but it did make me hungry for Churros. He really hasn’t impressed so far, hitting just .206 with 1 HR and 2 SB in 63 AB, but he’s showed a lot of things I like. The big one, of course, is power. His 108 mph MaxEV last year (and that’s rounding up) and his 1% Barrel made me pessimistic he’d be more than a role player, but this year, he’s looked totally different with a 112 mph Max EV and 9% Barrel%, combined with a 45% HardHit%. The fact that he managed that while keeping his contact% the exact same (a solid 74%) makes me think he’s a great buy-low, because there’s a lot more to love.
What else? Well, for one, I love his high walk rate (seems mostly sustainable), decent contact rate, and good ability to launch the ball, combined with playing half his games in Coors Field. Maybe I’m getting greedy, but if he could pull more of those flyballs, that would be fantastic. Still, his .272 xBA and .432 xSLG suggest better times ahead, and with the Mexico City series on the horizon, it could come quickly. I think he’s borderline viable in 15-team league OBP formats.
Honorary Mention: Matt Vierling (OF, Detroit Tigers) – It’s not anything flashy, but he’s got runway playing in the OF with Parker Meadows out for a good while, and he seems healthy enough to give you a decent batting average with a handful of homers, which may be more than what else you’ll find on the rather barren waiver wires.
SELL
10-team
Jarren Duran (OF, Boston Red Sox)
Save a prayer for Duran, because it seems he’s come undone. I’m sure you could say my call to drop him is a reflex (okay, fine, I’ll stop with the Duran Duran jokes) given that he was drafted in the top 80 players, and I almost never advocate for cutting a Top 100 player this early in the season. But in the case of Duran, it’s not merely his performance, which has been total garbage time (.162 with 1 HR and 3 SB in 75 AB), but it’s also a change in his role. There were rumors of him getting platooned in the offseason, and in late March most would laugh in my face if I told you Oneil Cruz wasn’t platooned and actually decent vs. lefties, but the Spring Training superstar Duran would be platooned. But that’s what happened.
Now, you can have good hitters who are useful in fantasy despite platoons, sort of like Mickey Moniak from last year. But speaking of being bad… Duran struggled at times last year, but he was hitting the ball very hard with solid contact rates, and that’s why I believed he’d turn it around, even though he didn’t fully. But this year, his bat speed is down some, and his HardHit% and Barrel% are down much more… but that’s not even the biggest issue. The biggest issue is the god-awful whiff rate, which just two years ago was near league-average at 11%, then 12% in 2025, and now it’s 17%. Yeah, generally you don’t want your table-setter hitter having a Gallo-esque contact% of 64%, so really, the fact he’s stuck out only a career-worst 29% (outside of rookie debut) is actually lucky. It seems he’s losing his grip with a few angry outbursts, and honestly, he could be going through some mental health struggles, as he’s opened up about those in the past, and the Fenway Faithful can be ferocious on the failing. There really are better power/speed plays on a 10-team wire, and I’d rather take a chance on Cam Smith, Lawrence Butler, or Jakob Marsee if they’re around.
Dishonorable Mention: Jeremiah Jackson (2B/OF, Baltimore Orioles) – Sorry if I hate fun, but Jackson has gotten so much buzz that he’s even been scooped in shallow leagues, hitting .297 with 5 HR, 1 SB, and a whopping 17 RBI in just 75 AB. But I think the window of opportunity for flipping him is closing soon, as I don’t see much in his peripherals to suggest this is just a hot streak. I don’t like his 54% GB%, and I think his hyper-agressive 61% Swing% will get exploited.
12-team
Yainer Diaz (C, Houston Astros)
Well, so many catchers went up, someone had to go down, no? The thing is, I know that Yainer will be better than this. Because I know that he is also someone who just plain hates hitting in April. He has a .226 career AVG and a putrid 68 wRC+ over his career. So why would I say drop someone who will improve? Because, well, I don’t feel like waiting. I’m mostly kidding.
See, Yainer every year only starts hitting around June, so you really don’t want the roster pain ’til then, especially with lots of good alternatives (granted, two of the ones who went behind him in drafts, Kirk and Moreno, are on the IL). But that aside, I haven’t liked Yainer’s overall trajectory of the barrel rate and quality of contact trending downwards. He’s compensated by lowering his K rate, but the quality of the contact has been so bad that he’s in danger of becoming the next Keibert Ruiz with lots of poor-quality contact. But I’m also at least mildly concerned by the god-awful 3% PullAir% (career 14%) and 27% HardHit%. That’s just in the 8th percentile. Last year was his first year for HardHit%, and it was in the 45th percentile. Even at his worst last year, Yainer didn’t seem this weak. So yeah, I’d be willing to drop outright or sell on name value, maybe for Dingler (I’d add more with another player) or for Wells.
Dishonorable Mention: Gleyber Torres (2B, Detroit Tigers) – A lot of what I said about Yainer also applies to Gleybaby, as his bat speed is down 3 mph from 70 mph (23rd percentile) in 2025 to just 67 mph (3rd percentile). It shows too, with his HardHit% of 23% and Avg. EV of 83, making Luis Arraez look jacked. That’s not going to work for power with half his games in Detroit.
15-team
Josh Lowe (OF, Los Angeles Angels)
I thought last year was bad, but he’s found a new Lowe. He does have 3 taters and 1 nabbed bag, but everything else has been truly awful, with a .159 AVG that’s completely validated by his .162 xBA. One look at his Statcast page tells you pretty much everything you need to know. Everything is ice-blue (last year, there was at least more light blue), other than his bat speed, which alone doesn’t even really mean much. It’s possible that he’s still trying to play through an achy oblique, as he was sidelined in the Spring with it, and I do always red-flag players with oblique issues early on since they are notoriously tricky. But in any case, he’s hardly even running, and his sprint speed has declined notably every year since 2023, when it was in the 85th percentile. Now it’s below league average for the first time in the 48th percentile. Would it be too bold to say that Wenceel Perez could outproduce him the rest of the year (if they finally let him play)? No, I don’t think that’s too bold.
Dishonorable Mention: Mark Vientos (3B, New York Mets) – For about three days, he was the talk of the town after seeming to have landed a regular role, but it was apparently a mirage, and he certainly didn’t help with his poorly-timed slump. He could always break out again with another chance, but you can’t go on rostering a benchwarmer banking on that.
Deep Leagues
Rhys Hoskins (1B, Cleveland Guardians)
It seemed like a good match on paper, as it really seemed Hoskins just needed a chance, and the Guardians’ offense seemed desperate for power. Hoskins has improved his contact this year, but he just isn’t squaring up the ball. Normally, I’d say this seems like a buy-low, but the Guardians seem to already be moving on, and benched him in two straight games, so I’d take my chance on another power spec.
Dishonorable Mention: Ryan McMahon (3B, New York Yankees) – D.J. LeMahieu and Trevor Story showed us that sometimes players who were good for Colorado can also succeed outside of Colorado. Unfortunately, Ryan McMahon is not one of them.
