The state of the catcher position in Fantasy Baseball has never been stronger. Think I’m exaggerating? There are eight players who currently qualify for the batting title who have played at least half their games at catcher and have at least a league-average OPS, which is tied for the most in a season since 1977.
But that doesn’t even cover it, really. Because we’ve also had seeming breakouts from Ivan Herrera, Agustin Ramirez, or Drake Baldwin, among others. Overall, catchers this season have a 101 wRC+, the first time in at least the past 50 seasons where catches have, collectively, been above-average hitters.
Sure, it’s only May, so this will probably regress. But, with other young catchers like Dalton Rushing and Moises Ballesteros either establishing themselves on the verge of doing so, the youth movement at this position doesn’t look like it’s slowing down. Which means Fantasy Baseball players actually have tough decisions to make about their catchers right now.
In the past, we’ve joked that anyone with a pulse and a catcher’s mitt can be Fantasy relevant, so low was the bar for relevance. But that hasn’t been the case so far in 2025, where 18 different catchers have at least a 110 wRC+. Figuring out who to hang on to actually matters, so let’s take a look at nine of the biggest surprise breakouts at the position, ranking them in terms of how much I believe in their hot starts, starting with those I’m all-in on – which means I think they are top-12 players at the position moving forward, more or less – and moving down to the guys I don’t really buy, hot start or no:
I’m all-in
Ivan Herrera, Cardinals – I’ve made the William Contreras comp before, and like Contreras, Herrera was a relatively unheralded prospect who put up very good numbers at Triple-A without generating much attention from prospect hounds – in his case, Herrera hit .285/.413/.457 in 182 games at the Triple-A level. Catchers are often late bloomers, so I don’t hold his late-ish breakout against him much, especially when Herrera is now nearly 400 plate appearances into his MLB career with a .311/.384/.464 line. Do I think Herrera is a true-talent .311 hitter? Probably not, though his career .286 expected batting average would be more than good enough from a catcher with plus power. He has a good approach at the plate, hits the ball hard, and is showing no signs of slowing down after coming back from his knee injury. He has top-five upside, and he might not be far from it right now.
Agustin Ramirez, Marlins – There’s been a surprising amount of skepticism around Ramirez in some Fantasy circles, and I really don’t get it. He was a top-100 prospect coming into the season despite concerns that he wouldn’t stick at catcher, and since coming up, he has hit like a guy who is going to be a long-term MLB player whether he can catch or not. He is hitting .267/.333/.593 with underlying numbers that, if they don’t entirely back it up, still suggest he should be a very good hitter moving forward. Ramirez doesn’t have great plate discipline, but his 35.2% chase rate is offset by the fact that he’s making a lot of contact when he swings, especially in the strike zone, where he has a very strong 85.1% contact rate. And he’s putting up quality of contact metrics that would be good for any position, let alone a catcher – his .369 expected wOBA is the sixth-best mark in the league. Ramirez is No. 4 in Fantasy points since his promotion and while he’ll likely slow down I don’t see much reason to think the bottom is going to fall out. Even in points leagues, he looks like a top-12 option with how much time he’s spending at DH.
Hunter Goodman, Rockies – Goodman is another guy who put up big minor-league numbers but was never a top-100 prospect across the sport, and that pessimism seemed well-placed after two fruitless stints in the majors in 2023 and 2024. But he’s been basically an everyday player as a part-time catcher, and part-time DH for the Rockies, and he’s hit well so far. The .292 batting average is almost certainly unsustainable, but Goodman’s 23.5% strikeout rate is manageable, and there’s legitimate plus power here, so even if he hits more like .250, his playing time and pop will continue to play. He’s more of a No. 2 catcher than a must-start option in a once-catcher league, but even there, his playing time edge could push him into the top 12.
I’m half-in
Drake Baldwin, Braves – If there were no concerns about playing time, I’d be all the way bought in on Baldwin. He’s forced his way into a more or less even split with Sean Murphy, but where the three guys ahead of him have paths to more or less everyday PA, that just won’t be the case for Baldwin unless he picks up an outfield glove or Murphy or Marcell Ozuna suffers an injury. Baldwin is a top prospect in his own right, and he actually has better underlying numbers than Ramirez – he’s hitting the ball hard consistently in the air, and he’s doing it with good plate discipline, to boot. But it’s hard to call him a top-12 option at the position when the hope is he’ll get 50% of the PA moving forward. If that ever changes, he might be a top-five option.
Miguel Amaya, Cubs – I can buy that Amaya might be an above-average hitter for a catcher. I can buy that he might even be an average hitter among all hitters, which would be no small feat for the position. But, while he isn’t the most unsustainably hot catcher on his own team, he probably can’t keep this up, either. His .317 xwOBA doesn’t back his actual .364 mark up, though it would be enough to keep him Fantasy relevant in his own right in a good lineup. But Carson Kelly’s presence – more about him shortly – presents some playing time complications now that Seiya Suzuki figures to slide back in as the full-time DH. Amaya is a fine No. 2 option, but he probably isn’t much more than that.
Liam Hicks, Marlins – Here’s the biggest question with Hicks: Is this power legit? He had a phenomenal approach at the plate in the minors, walking 13% of the time while striking out just 12% of the time last season, albeit as a 25-year-old at Double-A. But he paid for that plate discipline sporting just a .094 Isolated Slugging percentage, which is pretty bad even for a catcher. His .220 ISO to date is a remarkable number, but I don’t see much reason to think it’s real. Not with an average exit velocity of just 85.7 mph and a hard-hit rate of just 29.7%. Hicks could still be a decent source of batting average thanks to how much contact he makes, and he’s been Miami’s best defensive catcher this season, so I do expect him to keep getting plenty of playing time. I’m just not sure he’s actually the difference maker his .280/.348/.500 line suggests.
Dillon Dingler, Tigers – I was surprised to find Dingler near the top of the catcher wOBA leaderboards. I was even more surprised to see that the underlying metrics mostly back it up. He’s managed to cut his strikeout rate from 34.5% to a much more manageable 27.4% mark, and he’s done it without sacrificing quality of contact. I don’t think Dingler is a star, certainly, and his .292 batting average feels pretty unsustainable, given his strikeout rates. In a different environment at the position, I might be inclined to push Dingler up into the top-15 with the growth he’s shown. But with catcher this deep, he’s more like a No. 2 option at best. There should be more power here moving forward, at least.
I don’t buy it
Carlos Narvaez, Red Sox – Narvaez entered the season with zero hype, but he’s been really solid for the Red Sox, helping them fill in during Connor Wong’s absence. He’s still playing plenty lately and has been hot, with 12 hits in his past eight games. But he was struggling before then, with a sub-.700 OPS, and his underlying stats don’t necessarily show many standout skills – there’s decent power here, but not great, and while his contact skills aren’t terrible, again, they aren’t great. In a different world, where help at the catcher position is harder to come buy, Narvaez is another guy I could talk myself into being pretty useful. In 2025? He looks like just a 15-team option. Which says something about the growth of the position.
Carson Kelly, Cubs – We’re already seeing the dropoff. For the first month or so of the season, Kelly looked like not just one of the best hitters at the position but one of the best hitters in the league, full stop. And it wasn’t just the results – the underlying data was incredible! But he’s fallen apart since the calendar turned over to May, with his expected wOBA dropping to .270 over his past 50 PA. Which was to be expected! Kelly is a 30-year-old in his 10th major-league season with a career expected wOBA of just .312; of course he wasn’t suddenly one of the best hitters in the entire league. He was just hot, and while it was fun while it lasted, I don’t actually think there’s much reason to roster Kelly in most leagues at this point.
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