Chad Young’s Ottoneu Tiered C Rankings Follow Up

By now you are probably getting used to the cadence, but after sharing my tiered catcher rankings for 4×4 leagues yesterday, today you will get my FanGraphs Points leagues tiered catcher rankings, as well as thoughts on the position for other Ottoneu formats.

Given the shorter list of players being ranked at catcher vs. outfield and middle infield, there is a little less to cover here. But there are definitely some interesting variations between the formats worth noting. If you are interested in more detail on what makes players more or less valuable from format to format, I went into more detail on that in my middle infield follow up. I will again leave the FanGraphs Points rankings table for the end, so feel free to scroll down there if that is all you are looking for.

FanGraphs and SABR Points

As a reminder (details in the middle infield post), the biggest changes between 4×4 and FanGraphs points are time missed (which hurts more in 4×4), stolen bases (which matter in points), and batting average (which was a real impact in points, even if we think of these points leagues as OBP leagues). There’s a little caveat to this one at this position, which is that the volume effect is lessened for the catcher position in season-long leagues because of the ability to use two catchers on the same day. Ottoneu managers almost always carry multiple catchers with a plan to use at least two of them to get to 162 games played and the ability to stack two catchers on a single day means missed time is easier to make up for.

Also, SABR and FanGraphs Points use the same offensive scoring, so the this section is the same for both of them, but keep in mind that SABR leagues use different scoring for pitching which, in my experience, makes bats a bit more valuable overall, relative to FanGraphs Points.

• As noted above, not many catchers are impacted by the volume difference between 4×4 and Points leagues, but there are some platoon bats – Carson Kelly is the one that stands out – and some other part-timers – almost everyone who might play catcher in Pittsburgh, for example – who are at least a little more useful in Points.
• Given THE BAT X projects no catchers for more than 9 SB (and four of the five with 7+ SB are projected for 3 CS), there really isn’t any catcher whose points value is buoyed by steals. The one catcher this might not be fair for is Agustín Ramírez, who stole 16 bases with just 3 CS in 2025. If you give him credit for eight extra steals (he is projected for eight) without a single extra time being caught, that adds more than 0.1 P/G to his total.
• The boost for a higher average that players get in Points leagues helps move Gabriel Moreno up from 15th in 4×4 to 12th in points and Will Smith from 6th to 4th.
• Among players projected to be at least replacement level in both formats, and looking purely at THE BAT X projections (no adjustments made by me, simply converting projected production into dollars), the biggest movers coming to FanGraphs Points from 4×4 are:
  • Cal Raleigh (-$7), Ryan Jeffers (-$6), Salvador Perez (-$6), Adley Rutschman (-$4), Yainer Diaz (-$4), Ben Rice (+$3), Will Smith (+$2), Gabriel Moreno (+$1), and Iván Herrera (+$1).

Head-to-Head

The overview for head-to-head is that volume matters more than in season-long leagues. You have more games to fill (seven days a week all season rather than 162 games total) and that means platoon guys require more roster balance, injured players are harder to replace, and you generally need more depth. This has an odd effect at catcher, though. Head-to-head leagues only have one catcher slot in the lineup. As noted above, the second slot for a 162 game cap makes volume from an individual catcher a little less valuable. That notion is flipped on it’s head a bit for head-to-head.

Maxing out games at every spot can be the difference between winning and losing a head-to-head matchup, so carrying depth helps. But you need that depth to be depth you can deploy. At catcher, that can be hard to do. At most positions, we draft players assuming that, other than time off for injury, they will play almost everyday or be in a platoon that is based on the handedness of the opposing pitcher. Catchers get more days off and those days off are more likely to be day-game-after-night game or second-game-of-a-double-header type situations. Ten catchers had 130+ games played last year. For comparison, there were 19 at 1B (if you exclude players who are also eligible at other spots), about 26 each at 2B and SS (depending how you split up those positions – 52 total though). Third base is a little iffier – there were only 10 who don’t also have MI or OF eligibility but there are plenty of players playing regularly that qualify at third.

The point is that if you are looking for depth for a head-to-head league, and you want a player you can reliably count on to be in the lineup on the day your primary guy sits, you can find that pretty easily at third base. You can’t at catcher. If you have a bad backup MI who only gives you 4 P/G but plays almost every day, that player is worth four points to your team almost every time your starter gets a rest day. But if your similarly weak backup catcher only plays 100 game a year, there is a much greater chance that they day you need them, they aren’t available, and you take a zero. The same zero you would have taken by not carrying that catcher at all.

As a result, for head-to-head leagues, I find catcher depth to be less important, but catcher volume to be more important. Cal Raleigh, Salvador Perez, William Contreras and the other rare catchers who play 150+ games are, therefore, worth a ton. Catcher-eligible players who get playing time at another spot and therefore get volume like a player at another position are similarly very valuable. Ben Rice maybe the best example of that this year, but Agustin Ramírez, Moisés Ballesteros, and Iván Herrera all have a path to play their way into that type of role.

Catchers in part-time roles or more even time-shares – Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy, are potentially an example – are less valuable in this format, though they get more interesting if you have them both. At least then you guarantee one of them is in the lineup every time Atlanta plays.

This doesn’t show up well in the raw projections that I have been using for the final lists in each of these sections, so I am not going to share that list here. Instead, I will just say you need to make a strategic decision at catcher in head-to-head leagues: are you going to chase as many games as possible or just get a high-volume catcher and roll with them, using the additional roster spot for other needs? I prefer the latter, but this year in my head-to-head, I am keeping both Ballesteros and Baldwin, mostly because I am so high on both.

5×5

Steals and RBIs are the biggest driver of statistical difference between 5×5 and the other formats. Steals count in points but at a much lower rate, while RBI don’t count at all outside 5×5. The other big driver of value change is that with so many more ways to accrue value (no power but high average, stolen bases, empty power, etc.) the value curve is, in general, shallower. The top end guys are worth less and more players are worth at least a buck or two. Even way down at replacement level, there are just more options.

• As discussed above, steals aren’t a big factor at catcher, but the high steals-catchers that do exist – Ramírez and Raleigh – do both get a little boost in 5×5 relative to the rest of the field.
• Raleigh is again a beneficiary from the impact of RBI, as is Salvador Perez.
• The only catcher who really clearly benefits from the impact of batting average is Yainer Diaz. Other high average catchers (Will Smith and Gabriel Moreno stand out) are also high OBP, so there is no “gain” moving from points leagues (that already reward average someone and reward OBP, as well) to 5×5.
• Among players projected to be at least replacement level in both formats, and looking purely at THE BAT X projections (no adjustments made by me, simply converting projected production into dollars), the biggest movers coming to 5×5 from FanGraphs Points are:
  • Will Smith (-$10), Ben Rice (-$8), Iván Herrera (-$4), Gabriel Moreno (-$4), Alejandro Kirk (-$2), Salvador Perez (+$10), Cal Raleigh (+$8), Austin Wells (+$7), Agustín Ramírez (+$7), and Ryan Jeffers (+$6).

Chad Young’s Tiered C Rankings for FanGraphs Points