Catcher continues to become deeper each year as we see more and more catchers surpass the 80-game threshold in addition to the overall offensive talent at the position improving. That said, it’s still a position where there are steep drop-offs and a large number of players who are unlikely to play 100 games.
In single-catcher leagues, I’d feel fairly comfortable with any good value you can find in those first four tiers, but in two-catcher leagues, I definitely want someone in the top two tiers to anchor the position and get the volume I need. With the top of the position growing stronger and stronger, waiting on both catchers is simply not as viable a strategy as it once was.
Note on Tiers: While the players are ranked in the same order as they appear in the Top 300, the tiers have been reconstructed to better reflect how talent is distributed at the position.
Tier 1
1. William Contreras (C, MIL) — Back-to-back seasons as fantasy’s top backstop puts Contreras in a tier of his own at the position. The high ground-ball rate and low pull rate on fly balls keep the home run numbers a little lower than you’d expect for a guy with his power, but a total between 20-25 is more or less a lock to go with his .280 or better batting average and a boatload of counting stats that come from hitting in the heart of the order for the Brewers.
As with most power hitters, Contreras would benefit greatly from getting the ball in the air a bit more. His summer slump was mostly due to a huge spike in grounders (see below), and if he can avoid the extended stretches of 60% ground balls, we could see another step forward.
Ultimately, Contreras is a solid early pick due to his high volume and premier role, along with his impressive skills, when most catchers are lucky to have even one of those attributes.
Tier 2
2. Adley Rutschman (C, BAL) — Adley’s second half was a major bummer, especially considering just how well he played in the first half. As the process chart shows below, the drop-off was limited to power, as his ability to make contact was consistent, and his decision-making, while not ideal, is just fine considering his bat skills (our model considers swing decisions for the average player, not a player like Rutschman or Arraez who have a much better chance of making contact and getting on base against pitches around the edges and out of the zone).
It’s hard to get much of a read on why we saw such a dramatic shift at the start of July, but he lost about a tick and a half off his average exit velocity, and his slugging on fly balls dropped from .706 in games prior to July 1 to .268 after July 1.
I believe Adley can get right over the break regardless of what troubled him, and his bat skills provide an incredibly high floor over the course of a season. He could very well finish as baseball’s top catcher if he reverts to his first-half self, but even if he comes up short, Adley is well worth the investment at a draft cost that may never be this low again.
3. Cal Raleigh (C, SEA) — Cal Raleigh’s 91 home runs since the start of 2022 are the best among catchers, and no one comes really all that close (second place is Sal Perez, who trails by 18). The batting average will be awful, and the OBP won’t be all that useful either, despite a walk rate that should be at or near double digits, but thanks to his ample playing time and big-time pull power, he should be the favorite to lead all backstops in home runs.
4. Salvador Perez (C/1B, KCR) — Sal is still Sal, folks. He swings a lot, hits home runs, drives in runners, and plays every day. Sure, he’ll have some brutal stretches because those fly balls aren’t going quite far enough, but as long as the Royals can be even an average offense (they were 13th in run scoring in 2024), his 25 or more home runs should drive in over 100 runners, and he should once again be one of baseball’s most reliable backstops.
5. Yainer Diaz (C, HOU) — A horrendous May where Diaz had zero home runs and a .200 average likely sent him to the wire in many single-catcher leagues. Those troubles were put behind him swiftly and forcefully, though, as from the start of June, Diaz hit .324/.348/.482 and was fantasy’s best catcher in the second half. He hits the ball hard, especially for a catcher, though his ground ball rate tends to sit just above 50%, keeping the home run rate somewhat suppressed.
If he can find the fly ball rate he had back in 2023, Diaz could find his way to 30 home runs, 100 RBI, and a .280 or better batting average. Even if he doesn’t, the 26-year-old catcher should be able to build on his successful 2024 with great ratios, plenty of counting stats, and 20 home runs.
6. Willson Contreras (C, STL) — Contreras was excellent in the 84 games he appeared, hitting 15 home runs and slashing .262/.380/.468. Injuries took away most of his season, though, and reports from St. Louis suggest this will be Contreras’s last season with catcher eligibility.
In this new era of catchers who play a ton of games. Willson’s history of playing 110-130 games is slightly less impressive than it used to be, but the move out from behind the plate to first base and DH should help him stay healthy and perhaps even hit 600 plate appearances for the first time in his career.
A healthy Contreras should hit at least 20 home runs, and with the extra plate appearances, 25 should also be possible. Injury risk still exists, though, so you may opt for a different approach at catcher if you’re not looking to stream that spot in-season.
7. Will Smith (C, LAD) — Smith had a bummer of a second half, hitting just .206/.295/.331 with just five home runs and 20 RBI in 48 games. Thanks to his stellar first half, though, he still finished as a top-5 catcher in 2024, just as he did in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Competition is as fierce as ever and may keep him from a fifth consecutive top-five finish, but Smith should be able to hit another 20 home runs and drive in about 75 runners with a decent batting average.
Tier 3
8. Shea Langeliers (C, ATH) — Shea Langeliers isn’t a complicated guy to analyze — he’s a power-first pull-hitting catcher who is predictably streaky due to his aggressive approach and limited contact ability. Langeliers took a step forward in 2024, which was most noticeable in his performance against breaking balls (see the charts below).
If Langeliers can be an average to above-average hitter against breakers, he should continue to be a top-eight catcher. If he loses that net-positive approach, the dips could be too much to bear in shallow leagues. However, I don’t expect that result, as he steadily improved throughout 2024.
I could have just said, “he’s a poor man’s Cal Raleigh,” and likely given you the same intended impression, but I didn’t.
9. Logan O’Hoppe (C, LAA) — O’Hoppe is one of the biggest movers between my early top 200 and now. I originally was concerned about the strikeout rate and poor second half, but looking more closely, O’Hoppe really just suffered from a single horrific month. In August, O’Hoppe posted a wRC+ of -7 and slashed .099/.163/.176, but in every other month, O’Hoppe had an OPS no lower than .729, including an OPS of .791 in September.
While the spiked strikeout rate in August (44.9%) is somewhat concerning, the fact we saw O’Hoppe make adjustments and improve significantly by September makes me feel a lot better about O’Hoppe as a consistent catcher for fantasy.
10. Francisco Alvarez (C, NYM) — Alvarez should get a shot at 120 games this season behind the dish, and there’s plenty of power upside here if the late-season adjustments he made at the plate can carry into 2025. Alvarez got in touch with J.D. Martinez and headed off to Maven Baseball Lab to improve his mechanics and approach. While many players make these changes in the offseason, Alvarez is one I’ll be watching closely to see if these changes can lead to getting the ball up in the air more consistently as high groundball rates have suppressed his power potential. If we see those results at all this spring, it may be a sign that a big year is in store.
11. J.T. Realmuto (C, PHI) — This ranking for J.T. Realmuto might be a little low, but he will be 34 years old, has a lot of tread on those tires, and was fairly up and down last season. Realmuto also abruptly stopped stealing, which used to be a hallmark of his contributions as a catcher. If Realmuto can stay healthy, then he’ll likely be a bargain on draft day in single-catcher formats where he’s likely to slip as most teams will already have a backstop on the roster. It’s a bit counter-intuitive to call a soon-to-be 34-year-old catcher an upside play, but that’s what J.T. Realmuto is based on ADP and projections.
12. Tyler Stephenson (C, CIN) — Stephenson’s final line looked awesome, but a huge chunk of his value came in a single 40-game stretch where he hit 12 of his 19 home runs, scored 32 of his 69 runs, and picked up 29 of his 69 RBI. The other 98 games were much less exciting. Players who have these extreme hot streaks that carry their entire season are tough to judge for the following year, especially in head-to-head formats, but Stephenson’s playing time and upside are good enough to look past the concentrated production while we hope for a steadier stream of stats in 2025.
Tier 4
13. Gabriel Moreno (C, ARI) — The slap-hitting Moreno had a slightly disappointing batting average last year compared to his career average, but the big step forward in walks suggests he can continue to provide excellent ratios (for a catcher). He’s not going to provide much juice in any category outside of those ratios, though, so Moreno is a guy you only target if you are either in a points league or you find yourself really unstable in the ratios department.
14. Ryan Jeffers (C, MIN) — Let’s start with the good news: Jeffers hits the ball hard and improved his strikeout rate significantly in 2024. He also stayed mostly healthy for the entire season. The bad news, if you want to call it that, is the performance is incredibly uneven as he oscillates between awesome and droppable in seemingly random intervals. Last season, Jeffers had three months of the season where he slugged .536 or better and three months where he slugged .361 or worse (and two of those were under .250!).
I suspect much of the up-and-down performance stems from his sub-par decision-making. if he can clean that up, we’ll have a breakout catcher. Unfortunately, Jeffers has not shown any signs that this will be changing, so for now he’s merely one of the higher upside streamers who you’ll likely be forced to drop for weeks at a time.
15. Austin Wells (C, NYY) — Wells performed admirably for a rookie catcher in his first full season, showing strong plate discipline and sustained success for most of the summer (though he fell off at the end of the year). Wells is lined up to be the primary catcher for the Yankees all season long and his ability to hit the ball in the air combined with his left-handedness could lead to a top-10 season at catcher if he can replicate what he did in the second half last year. Young catchers are always a gamble though, so he makes a better late-round flyer in single-catcher leagues.
16. Joey Bart (C, PIT) — Bart comes into 2025 as the starting backstop for the Bucs after an excellent first season in Pittsburgh. While Bart doesn’t hit the ball exceptionally hard, his reduced strikeout and pop-up rates combined with a pull-heavy approach helps him get the most out of what he has. Bart should play somewhere between 110-120 games in Pittsburgh (most projections think it will be less than 100 but I’m a bit more bullish) and with that playing time he can put up fine numbers for a catcher. As long as the strikeouts and pop-ups stay down, Bart has a shot at being a top 12-15 catcher.
17. Alejandro Kirk (C, TOR) — Kirk is looking at a high workload behind the dish this season as the clear top backstop in Toronto, which oddly enough might hurt his playing time as he’ll get fewer games at DH and likely need more days off. That said, he should still get to about 400 plate appearances which is what we’d consider full-time for a catcher at this point in the draft.
I was never a believer in the power surge we saw in June of 2022, and sure enough, he has never hit seven home runs in a single month again. In fact, Kirk has never hit more than three home runs in a month besides that one magical stretch.
Kirk should be durable and put up a decent batting average for a catcher, and if you’re looking for a higher floor then he’s worth a look in the last round of your single-catcher leagues. Those in two-catcher leagues or points leagues will value Kirk’s volume and contact ability even more and should probably raise him up a tier.
18. Endy Rodríguez (C, PIT) — Rodríguez graduated from most prospects list as a highly-regarded catcher, though injuries have gotten his career off to a slow start. Endy struggled in his first tour of duty back in 2023 and missed almost all of 2024 with injury, so it’s nearly impossible to confident about a projection on his 2025. While the results were poor in 2023, he did show an ability to make decent decisions at the plate and contact ability, though the power was entirely absent.
If Endy can bring his power forward in his second shot at major league playing time, he could find his way into the top-12 catcher discussion as he should be able to find plenty of playing time at multiple positions and be a solid (if unspectacular) hitter. It’s worth a gamble as a last-round flyer in single-catcher formats if you want to go for upside instead of floor.
19. Keibert Ruiz (C, WSN) — Ruiz’s batting average cratered in 2024 due to many line drives turning into fly balls, and while that’s a good thing for many hitters, Ruiz does not make hard enough contact to pull it off. If he can return to his slap-hitting ways, he should hit .250 with about 15 home runs and 110-120 combined runs and RBI. Ruiz is another example of a catcher with a low ceiling and high floor, though if he keeps hitting the ball in the air he won’t be rosterable in single-catcher formats. He’s solid in points leagues, though, due to the contact skills and very low strikeout rate.
Tier 5
20. Agustín Ramírez (C, MIA) — Ramirez breaks the usual mold of right-handed power-hitting prospects in that he has kept his strikeout rates low in the minors, striking out less than 20% of the time in every season since hitting low-A. Given that the Marlins’ 26-man roster contains two of the worst offensive catchers in the game, Ramirez has a shot at winning a job out of spring training to catch and DH on off days. It’s far from a given that he’ll win the job, but if he does, he instantly becomes an interesting addition, given the volume and opportunity. Ramirez needs to find ways to get the ball in the air more consistently than he did in 2024, and if he does, he could be a 20-home run catcher who doesn’t kill your ratios.
21. Sean Murphy (C, ATL) — In 111 games since the 2023 All-Star Break, Murphy is hitting .181/.294/.323 with a ton of weak grounders rolled to the shortstop. If you believe Murphy has been held back by injury (something he referred to himself, though only since the start of 2024), he’s a fantastic last-round scoop for your catcher spot. If it’s more than that, he’s a streamer who shouldn’t be drafted.
22. Bo Naylor (C, CLE) — Strikeouts plagued Naylor’s first full season with the Guardians, though we did see flashes of power in the summer months. Naylor should get another year of a full catching workload and has the upside to hit 20 home runs, though he needs to recapture the plate discipline he had in 2023 to break out. There was so much to be excited about in Naylor’s decision-making in 2023, and to his credit, it didn’t entirely fall part in 2024 (though it wasn’t all that interesting). If he can inch back towards above-average, Naylor could be a force.
23. Miguel Amaya (C, CHC) — Amaya exploded in late summer last year, hitting .324/.367/.539 with five home runs and 37 combined runs and RBI across 35 games between July and August. Amaya did little else to be excited about in the other months of the season, but he’ll be the primary catcher for the Cubs, though Carson Kelly will be waiting in the wings if Amaya struggles. For some more analysis on Amaya, check out Mark Steubinger’s catcher sleeper article.
24. Connor Wong (C, BOS) — Wong had a ton of playing time for a catcher between 2023 and 2024, playing in 126 games both seasons. His 2024 was particularly impressive as he hit .280 and his 13 home runs while stealing eight bases. Unfortunately, the Statcast data suggests he’s doubtful to repeat that batting average or home run total, and the extra 30 starts he received at first, second, DH, and left field will likely not be available, thanks to new additions over the offseason.
25. Patrick Bailey (C, SFG) — Bailey endured an absolutely miserable stretch of performance in August, putting up an unbelievable .168 OPS. Yes, I said OPS, from a line of .063/.090/.078. He went back to being useful in deeper formats in September, but I doubt Bailey will ever repeat the plus power he showcased in the early months of 2024. Bailey is more of a slappy hitter who should be able to hit .260 and play a ton of games (even during that ludicrously awful August, they gave him 64 plate appearances) but is unlikely to provide a whole lot else of interest.
Tier 6
26. Jonah Heim (C, TEX) — Heim’s career year in 2023 isn’t likely to return, and neither are the starts at DH he’s picked up in the last few seasons, but there still should be quite a bit of volume and double-digit home runs with a .230 batting average and 50 RBI if that’s all you need. He’s a low-grade second catcher.
27. Hunter Goodman (C/OF, COL) — Goodman doesn’t have a clear path to regular playing time and likely won’t hit his weight, but he’s catcher-eligible, has the pop to hit 20 home runs, and plays half his games in Coors.
28. Iván Herrera (C, STL) — Looking for a last-round catcher? Mark Steubinger’s recently published list of sleepers at catcher highlights Herrera as a potential option.
29. Luis Campusano (C, SDP) — Campusano is more of an option for points leagues than anything else due to the low strikeout rate, and the addition of Elias Díaz muddies the waters in terms of playing time. If he manages to play 80 games, he’s a capable second option or a streamer when he gets starts in Coors.
30. Danny Jansen (C, TBR) — Jansen’s extreme fly ball tendencies give him 15-17 home run upside and also make him a huge batting average drag. The batted ball metrics took a massive step backward in 2024, though, as he lost a couple ticks off the average exit velocity, four points in his barrel rate, and over eight points in his hard-hit rate, putting even more risk on an already limited profile.
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Photos by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Doug Carlin (@Bdougals on Twitter)