Catcher 2026 Fantasy Rankings

Cal Raleigh is coming off of an historic season where he hit the most home runs ever by a catcher and was the #2 player on the player rater. There is no where to go but down but even with regression, he should be the first catcher off the board. He is a great bet for power and counting categories, but the contact skills gives him an average floor is much lower than what we saw in 2025.

A year after his breakout season, William Contreras took a step back, hitting just .260/.355/.399 with 17 home runs and six stolen bases. Some of that regression was likely injury related as he played through a finger fracture that is now been fixed through surgery. He should rebound now that he is healthy and return to being an elite option.

Shea Langeliers has made massive gains in each of the last two seasons in contact skills going from 78% to 83% to 85% while not sacrificing power or his approach. Hitting in Sacramento is a dream location for him and the A’s should continue to improve.

You can make the argument that Ben Rice should be the #2 catcher in fantasy since he isn’t actually catching this season. He could have the most plate appearances for a cathereligible player if the Yankees do not bring in anyone to compete with him. His combination of power and contact skills along with the home park could make for a massive season.

Drake Baldwin is coming off of winning Rookie of the Year in the National League and there is more upside in the bat. He showcased his great approach and contact skills, but with a launch angle tweak, he could have a massive breakout. His bat speed, average exit velocity, and hard hit percentage were all in the top 85 percentile so if he could elevate some, he could push his homers in the mid twenties which would be some nice upside for a high floor catcher.

Agustin Ramirez showed a better hit tool than expected and the power was as advertised. We can’t sleep on the speed, either, as he went a very solid 16-for-19 on the basepaths. He is not a very good catcher defensively and likely will lose eligibility there at some point, but that is a problem for future seasons. He will get extra PAs at DH which will allow him to rack up plate appearances, but the Marlins supporting cast is meager which will hurt the runs and RBIs.

Hunter Goodman has elite power but the approach and swing and miss can be a problem for him. Hitting in Colorado will help because of the BABIP inflation and the lack of competition for the role, but the batting average downside is real and he will regress there in 2026.

Being the old man of the group isn’t a bad thing. Salvador Perez is about as consistent as can be. He has back-to-back healthy season with at least 27 home runs and 100 RBIs. The ceiling may not be as high as the rest of the tier, but you don’t get much safer than Sal.

When Yainer Diaz hit 23 home runs in just 377 plate appearances in 2023, people thought a full season breakout was coming, but in the last two seasons he has shown that power output was likely an outlier. He still has a high floor because of his fantastic contact ability, but the ceiling dropping a bit is why he is no longer in higher tiers.

Adley Rutschman lost a lot of time last year to injury and really struggled when he was on the field. If healthy, then he is likely to rebound to the levels we saw in 2023 and 2024 at least. There is still upside in the bat from his prospect pedigree and initial call up, but we can no longer project he will automatically get there.

Will Smith is about as safe as they come. You can can bank on high teens/low 20s home runs with a good average and great counting stats hitting in the top half of the Dodgers lineup. He actually had the second best barrel rate and hard hit percentages of his career, but it didn’t translate into more power. The downside is that he will never accumulate like other catchers because Ohtani blocks off the designated hitter spot.

Alejandro Kirk makes a lot of contact and there is some power in the bat, but that makes it a high floor profile rather than one that is super enticing for shallower one catcher formats.

Ivan Herrera won’t even be catcher eligible in most formats because he missed so much time with an elbow injury. He is expected to catch some, but will likely reside mostly at DH. The lack of pop limits his ceiling, but there is nice floor as long as he is healthy and he should be able to accumulate a lot of plate appearances at DH.

When Gabriel Moreno hit four home runs in the 2023 postseason people got really excited that a massive breakout was coming. That was a mistake, but he is a great defensive catcher with a very good hit tool. He did show a bit more pop with a career-high .433 SLG and 9 HRs, but his .281 AVG points to his high floor as even his career-low .266 from 2023 was tied for 5th-highest at Catcher (min. 350 PA).

Samuel Basallo is a top tier prospect that made his debut in 2025. There is a ton of power in the bat and the question is whether he will make enough contact to unlock at the Major League level. the minor league numbers say he should, but there may be some growing pains, but the upside is tremendous. With the addition of Pete Alonso, he will need to hit to keep his spot, but I believe he will.

Francisco Alvarez has been great when he is on the field, but he has struggled with that since 2023. If he can stay healthy, there is 25-30 homer power. There are few catchers that have his power profile at the position, but he is best served for shallower formats where there is replacement value on the wire.

Austin Wells is built for Yankees Stadium where he can pull the ball in the air to the short porch. He makes better in-zone contact than his average suggests, so there is a chance that he could begin to make gains there, but I wouldn’t project that.

I love J.T. Realmuto, but the skills have been degrading for a while and unless he ends up back in Philly, the park and lineup are likely going to be worse than it was for him in 2025. There is still a safe floor up the ceiling is lowering quickly.

If Tyler Stephenson had not missed so much time with injury, his line would have looked a lot more similar to his good 2024 season as opposed to his paltry 2023 one. However, his contact skills took a hit with his swinging strike rate rising and his Z-Contact dropping to its lowest mark of his career. He should bounceback some if healthy, but there are red flags here.

Sean Murphy has fallen off since coming to Atlanta and he likely isn’t regaining his pre-Braves form, but maybe if he gets a change of scenery via trade, he could become closer to the guy we saw in Oakland.

Carter Jensen is a top 50 prospect that debuted in 2025 and looked the part in a very small sample. The problem is playing time. With Sal Perez locked in behind the plate and a number of players that will be rotating at DH in Kansas City, it’s hard to find 400 plate appearance for the rookie. If he can find those plate appearances, then there is some upside for a guy that went 20/10 with a .290/.377/.501 line at AAA last season.

Kyle Teel is a former top prospect, but he is more of a real life asset that a fantasy one. His power profile projects him to be more of a teens homer guy and there isn’t a great hit tool in the profile either. He will accumulate some, but he will also be sharing the position.

Harry Ford is a top 50 prospect who debuted in 2025, but was only given eight plate appearances in a small cup of coffee in the Majors. The 22-year-old was fantastic in AAA in 2025, hitting .283/.408/.460 with 16 home runs and seven stolen bases in 458 plate appearances. He was moved this offseason to Washington where he could find himself on the opening day roster, sharing duties with Ruiz. There is some decent upside, but his power is still developing some.

There isn’t a lot of upside in Freddy Fermin’s bat, but he has shown he can be a high floor accumulator when given playing time and now that he has escaped Sal Perez’s shadow and moved onto sunny San Diego, he should just get that.

Injuries derailed Keibert Ruiz’s season in 2025 and now there is competition for the role with Ford being acquired via trade this offseason. There wasn’t a ton of upside before and now there is a lower floor if he cannot accumulate as easily.

Edgar Quero is a former top 100 prospect, but he shares the role with Teel and is not as good of a defender. There isn’t much of a carrying tool for fantasy in the profile so he needs to get a lot of plate appearances in order to accumulate.

I understand why some people love Bo Naylor. While a good pop-good approach-no hit tool profile is not usually a problem in fantasy, but when you are on a team that loves Austin Hedges for his defense so much that you get stuck under 415 plate appearances, then the low ceiling/low floor combo isn’t as enticing.

Patrick Bailey is a premium defender behind the plate, but the offensive skills have never caught up to the defense. However, he will accumulate because he does not miss any games.

Jonah Heim’s value will be dependent on where he signs.

Dalton Rushing has talent, but he needs a trade more than anyone in baseball. He will never supplant Will Smith and with Ohtani on the team, he won’t get PAs at DH.

Danny Jansen has never lived up to the early career hype, but he will play and can accumulate for deeper formats as long as he’s healthy.

Joe Mack is a top 50 prospect that has power and is fantastic behind the plate. However, he really struggles with contact. His defense should prevent him from becoming a AAAA player, but there is a chance he spends the entire season in AAA trying to improve his hit tool.

Jeferson Quero is one of the Brewers top prospects and will be ready for the Majors at some point this season, but with Contreras in tow, I don’t know if there will be enough plate appearances to matter in 2026.