3 Breakout Catchers for 2023 by Paul Sporer March 9, 2023 Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Several emerging backstops have given the position a bit of a renaissance right now and it feels the deepest it has been in quite some time. While that does offer more options lean on for quality production, it also means you need more production from the position to compete with your leaguemates. Here are 3 catchers I like to put up quality numbers behind the dish this year: First Basemen Second Basemen Third Basemen Shortstops Tyler Stephenson | CIN My Projection: .288/.359/.477, 19 HR, 72 R, 77 RBI, 1 SB in 506 PA Stephenson was on his way to a breakout in 2022 before injuries derailed him and limited him to just 50 games. I’m right back on the train for 2023! The 26-year-old hasn’t delivered a ton of power yet (.158 ISO), but his 6’4, 225-pound frame says more in on the way, especially in that ballpark. The Reds also plan to utilize his bat more by way of starts at 1B and DH ($) which is always great for catcher-eligible bat. Power is plentiful in the upper rungs of the catcher ranks, pairing it with the batting average is what makes Stephenson special. Gabriel Moreno | ARI My Projection: .286/.349/.428, 9 HR, 46 R, 58 RBI, 3 SB in 373 PA I had my money on Danny Jansen getting traded from Toronto to clear their backstop logjam… turned out it was Moreno in the big Daulton Varsho trade. There isn’t an obvious spot for Moreno to play every day with Carson Kelly likely locked into the starting role, but he has bounced around the diamond a bit in the majors and minors which could be his avenue to finding more time. While limited, he has time at 1B, 2B, 3B, and OF over his career and of course the NL now has the DH which offers yet another spot. His bat is good enough to make a big impact in the 373 PA I have him down for with the upside to be so much more if they do carve out a role north of 400 PA for Moreno. The 23-year-old hit .310/.365/.479 with 10 HR and 8 SB per 400 PA in the minors. Moreno is a great fit in 2-catcher formats where the lesser volume won’t put you at a disadvantage against your leaguemates. Logan O’Hoppe | LAA My Projection: .253/.343/.431, 13 HR, 46 R, 52 RBI, 2 SB in 400 PA I became a big fan of O’Hoppe after seeing him at the 2021 Fall League but of course worried about his path as he was stuck behind J.T. Realmuto in Philadelphia. The summer trade to Los Angeles put him back on my short-term radar and I wasn’t surprised to see him get a little sip of espresso at the end of the season (16 PA in 5 games). I did grow a little concerned in the early offseason as some reports seeme to suggest that Matt Thaiss could overtake him for the backup catcher role because Thaiss is out of options, but I’ve moved off that worry when it became clear that O’Hoppe is fully in the mix for the starting role. Manager Phil Nevin did make it a point say we shouldn’t read into O’Hoppe consistently catching Shohei Ohtani before he left for the WBC, but I think Nevin might just be throwing his fantasy leaguemates off the scent of his rookie catcher so he can acquire O’Hoppe at a great draft price. Orrr we take him at face value and he just wants the 23-year-old rookie to get comfortable with the team’s best pitcher. Either/or. March 10th Edit: I am not as in on O’Hoppe at his recent draft surge. I obviously should’ve checked ADPs before including him, but I just didn’t realize he was being pushed up as much as he is right now. He’s going as C15 in March Rotowire Online Championships (12-team redraft leagues) which is just too high for me. He was more in the C19-22 range in Draft Champions leagues (15-team, 50 round draft & hold) and I was much more comfortable with that. At current prices, I’d have recommended someone like Nick Fortes in this space instead of O’Hoppe. Fortes is going at C28, a price I love!