Chad Young’s 2025 Tiered Ottoneu Rankings: Catcher
From the giant lists covering OF and MI to one of the shorter and least interesting lists – catcher. Last year, I was pretty excited about the catcher position and this year, I am not. In the intro to my rankings last year, I called out a number of young catchers that were emerging or ready to break out that left me feeling confident I could find catcher production. That didn’t so much work out.
The names I called out in that intro included Gabriel Moreno, Logan O’Hoppe, Yainer Diaz, Bo Naylor, and Keibert Ruiz. Between injury and poor performance, that group didn’t return quite the value I expected. And they weren’t the only ones who disappointed. This year, I am still intrigued by a number of those guys and expect to see them on my rosters, but my confidence isn’t as high as it was.
Last year, I was content to wait on catchers. This year, I am finding myself trying to lock up guys who are solid and reliable, if not stars. I won’t be able to get a Contreras on every roster, but I am not going to bank on a catcher breakout like I did last year. I might grab a breakout as my C2, but I will have a reliable bat on every roster.
Chad Young’s Tiered Ottoneu C Rankings
| Rank | Name | Ottoneu Positions | Tier | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Contreras | C | $21-$27 | He leads all catchers in both points and points per game over the last two seasons. |
| 2 | Willson Contreras | C | $15-$20 | Willson has been almost as good and now won’t have to deal with the wear-and-tear (and days off) of catching. |
| 3 | Adley Rutschman | C | $15-$20 | Last year was a down year, but I expect a nice bounceback, however with far fewer PA as the O’s try to keep him rested. |
| 4 | Yainer Diaz | C/1B | $10-$14 | Look for a bit of a power rebound. |
| 5 | Will Smith | C | $10-$14 | He might be a tier up if he got the playing time the guys ahead of him get. |
| 6 | Salvador Perez | C/1B | $6-$9 | I have never been a fan of Perez’s approach, but last year was maybe the best it has ever been. |
| 7 | Cal Raleigh | C | $6-$9 | The average is abysmal and the OBP only a bit better, but all those bombs will carry a C in Ottoneu. |
| 8 | Francisco Alvarez | C | $6-$9 | I still think there is a big breakout coming. |
| 9 | Gabriel Moreno | C | $6-$9 | He seems like a $3-$5 guy and projects like a $10-$14 guy so I think I would venture into this range for him. |
| 10 | Logan O’Hoppe | C | $3-$5 | He was incredibly good until August and then had a great last week, as well. |
| 11 | Shea Langeliers | C | $3-$5 | He might get a nice boost from the new park, and he was already a top 15 catcher. |
| 12 | Austin Wells | C | $3-$5 | A K-rate around 20% with a barrel rate around 10% is a recipe for success. |
| 13 | Alejandro Kirk | C | $3-$5 | Last year my $6-$9 tier went to #16 and this year it stops at #8 – I am going to end up overpaying for someone in this tier and it might be Kirk. |
| 14 | Tyler Stephenson | C | $3-$5 | I’d ideally use him as a platoon bat – his home wOBA has been .046 and .035 poiints higher than his road wOBA the last two seasons. |
| 15 | J.T. Realmuto | C | $3-$5 | He’s been steady the last two years and catchers rarely make positive leaps at his age. |
| 16 | Samuel Basallo | C/1B | $3-$5 | I would have him higher up if I felt there was a clear path to playing time. |
| 17 | Sean Murphy | C | $3-$5 | His hard-hit rate seemed to be coming back at the end of the year, but if you compare the “coming back” to what it used to be…well he still has a long way to go. |
| 18 | Ryan Jeffers | C | $3-$5 | Start him against every LHP and good RH matchups and you have a solid half your catcher spot. |
| 19 | Hunter Goodman | C/OF | $1-$2 | That max EV from a catcher in Coors? |
| 20 | Tyler Soderstrom | C/1B | $0-$1 | His barrel rate alone makes him intriguing; regular playing time and a new park just amp that up. |
| 21 | Ivan Herrera | C | $1-$2 | Among C with 200 PA last year, he was 7th in P/G. |
| 22 | Danny Jansen | C | $1-$2 | A poor man’s Jeffers, with added injury risk. |
| 23 | Bo Naylor | C | $1-$2 | He will rebound and his K-rate will determine how far he up he bounces. |
| 24 | Keibert Ruiz | C | $1-$2 | This is the year I give up on Ruiz, so he’ll probably put up a huge season. |
| 25 | David Fry | C/1B/OF | $1-$2 | I am torn on whether or not he is worth a stash, given he might just be a small-side platoon guy. |
| 26 | Joey Bart | C | $1-$2 | I am skeptical of the performance and think the Pirates will want to give other guys a look. |
| 27 | Dalton Rushing | C/OF | $0-$1 | The Dodgers apparently see him primarily as a C still and that might make it hard to find time. |
| 28 | Kyle Teel | C | $0-$1 | Catchers prospects are always iffy, and it is unclear who is, in fact, the future backstop on the southside. |
| 29 | Harry Ford | C | $0-$1 | Catcher prospects are always iffy and he needs to climb past Raleigh, which won’t be easy. |
| 30 | Edgar Quero | C | $0-$1 | These three could have honestly gone in almost any order. |
| 31 | Moises Ballesteros | C | $0-$1 | I get the sense they want him to stay behind the plate and I suspect that means a slow process, without much of a look this year. |
| 32 | Freddy Fermin | C | $0-$1 | He is probably closer to the primary catcher than the backup and that puts him on my radar. |
| 33 | Henry Davis | C | $0-$1 | He’s crushed the high minors, so you can’t ignore the possiblity he puts it together. |
| 34 | Endy Rodriguez | Util | $0-$1 | I have no idea how they make it work with Davis, Rodriguez and Bart, and so I am mostly going to stay away. |
| 35 | Connor Wong | C/1B | $0-$1 | Is it rude to be this down on him after last year? Maybe, but I am gonna do it anyway. |
| 36 | Ben Rice | C/1B | $0-$1 | He really didn’t perform as badly as the results suggest, but I don’t know how soon he gets another real look. |
| 37 | Luis Campusano | C | $0-$1 | I suppose the low K-rate should give him a high floor, but it hasn’t worked that way. |
| 38 | Agustin Ramirez | C/1B | $0-$1 | Intriguing bat and there is nothing stopping him from taking the job when he is ready. |
| 39 | Ethan Salas | C | $0-$1 | He’s so young and the bat is clearly not close. |
| 40 | Jonah Heim | C | $0-$1 | Higashioka may cut into his time and the bat just hasn’t been that good anyway. |
| 41 | Drake Baldwin | C | $0-$1 | Unless Murphy really stumbles or misses time, he is just waiting his turn. |
| 42 | Adrian Del Castillo | C | $0-$1 | I like the talent, but he is not supplanting Moreno. |
| 43 | Diego Cartaya | C | $0-$1 | Man, what a downward slide he has been on. |
| 44 | Mitch Garver | C | $0-$1 | Odd year Garver isn’t a real thing, right? |
| 45 | Miguel Amaya | C | $0-$1 | I don’t really think he can hit enough. |
| 46 | Travis d’Arnaud | C | $0 | He’s a fine backup for O’Hoppe but I can’t see much fantasy value. |
| 47 | Patrick Bailey | C | $0 | I am pretty sure he cannot hit enough. |
| 48 | Elias Diaz | C | $0 | Absolutely cratered last year and now doesn’t have a job (and probably won’t have Coors). |
| 49 | Jeferson Quero | Util | $0 | Intriguing prospect but no clear path and I hate waiting on catchers. |
| 50 | Carter Jensen | C | $0 | Needs quite a bit more seasoning, I think, before I am looking too closely. |
| 51 | Josue Briceno | Util | $0 | Same as above, but even moreso. |
| 52 | Mickey Gasper | C/1B | $0 | I don’t really see how he fits in. |
A long-time fantasy baseball veteran and one of the creators of ottoneu, Chad Young's writes for RotoGraphs and PitcherList, and can be heard on the ottobot podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @chadyoung.
Cal Raleigh has had a BB% of 9-11% the last three seasons and bad BABIP luck. A little batting average variance in the positive direction would do wonders for his fantasy game.
I’m not sure he’s had bad luck – it’s a fly ball heavy approach and he doesn’t run well at all. I think he’s run low BABIPs because he’s going to keep running low BABIPs. I could see some rebound but I don’t expect a meaningful jump.