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One of the most important aspects to building a championship roster in fantasy baseball is drafting breakout players. Catcher is one of the hardest positions for a player to break out in. Challenge accepted.
Yes, the men who don the "tools of ignorance" often struggle with the bat. Given the immense defensive responsibility, meetings with pitchers, and overall wear and tear on the body, it's easy to see why hitting isn't always the most important thing MLB teams look for in a catcher. Still, we need to start one (or two!) every week in fantasy leagues. Sure, you could pay up for an established stud like J.T. Realmuto or Adley Rutschman, but that strategy may leave your squad weaker at other positions.
The best way to gain an age at the C spot is to identify a breakout candidate who could greatly outperform his average draft position (ADP). Below, we've got four high-upside catchers who have breakout potential without breaking the bank on draft day. Be sure to also check all of our preseason fantasy baseball rankings for roto, points, H2H, dynasty, best ball, prospects and more, which you will see referenced below.
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Undervalued Catchers for Fantasy Baseball Drafts
Francisco Alvarez – New York Mets
If power is what you seek, look no further than Francisco Alvarez, who cranked 25 homers as a 21-year-old last season. Now, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for Alvarez, as he hit .209 with a woeful .284 on-base percentage. This is why a youngster with his prospect pedigree is going outside the top-150 overall in fantasy drafts.
Still, entering just his age-22 season, there is hope Alvarez could truly put it all together and become the top-five catcher MLB scouts believe he could be. First off, Alvarez crushes baseballs like few other catchers can. His 114.1 mph max exit velocity was 91st percentile in all of baseball and he was also significantly better than the league average in hard-hit rate (44.8%) and average exit velocity (90.1 mph). None of that should be a surprise, though, as we knew Alvarez could mash as he regularly slugged over .500 at each level of the minors.
What we need to see for a true breakout from Alvarez is improved batting average and on-base skills, which very well could happen now that he’s got a full MLB season under his belt. Throughout his time in the minors, Alvarez walked A LOT. During his first big league season, it was not so much as his 8% BB% was well below his career norms.
| Year | Games | Level | BB% | BB/K |
| 2021 | 84 | A+ | 12.0% | 0.49 |
| 2022 | 67 | AA | 12.2% | 0.51 |
| 2022 | 45 | AAA | 17.1% | 0.65 |
| 2023 | 123 | MLB | 8.0% | 0.31 |
If Alvarez can walk a bit more, strike out a bit less, he can provide a decent batting average with a legitimate 30-35 homer upside.
Logan O'Hoppe – Los Angeles Angels
It can be argued that Logan O'Hoppe already broke out last September, but since his ADP is nearly 200 overall, it appears that much of the sports world was busy with football instead of watching the Angels cruise to fourth place in the AL West. O'Hoppe crushed it in the season’s final month as he blasted nine homers and slugged .500 to firmly grab hold of the starting catcher job heading into 2024.
| Month | Games | Runs | HR | RBI | OPS | wRC+ |
| September | 16 | 16 | 9 | 15 | .931 | 153 |
As great as his September numbers were, O’Hoppe still only batted .236 with a .296 OBP last season. Of course, he only accrued 199 PA thanks to midseason shoulder surgery. That injury, plus his pedestrian full-season stats, are no doubt why O'Hoppe is falling in drafts this season. We’ve all heard the adage that we shouldn’t put too much weight on September stats, but in O'Hoppe’s case, it appears that his hot finish wasn’t a fluke.
The 24-year-old former prospect has a long track record of success in the minors as he clubbed 26 homers in his last full minor league season in 2022. He also posted elite batted-ball metrics to fully support his strong finish. O'Hoppe led the league in barrels-per-PA among catchers with at least 100 batted-ball events. He also posted great exit velocities as his 90.5 mph average exit velocity, 46.7% hard-hit rate, and 110.4 max exit velocity were better than league average among all hitters.
O'Hoppe is healthy now and the Angels are all in on him as their starting catcher. He’s a diamond in the rough as the 15th catcher off draft boards, on average.
Bo Naylor – Cleveland Guardians
Guardians prospect Bo Naylor split last season between the majors and minors, but finished the season strong with the big-league club and enters 2024 as the clear-cut starter in Cleveland. Between both levels, Naylor swatted 24 homers with 25 doubles and seemed to get better as the season progressed as he slashed .304/.444/.607 with the Guardians in September.
Bo Naylor slashed .304/.444/.607 over last season's final month.
While the success came as no surprise to @_BoNaylor_ or to Josh, both brothers remain grateful for how their @CleGuardians teammates embraced and supported Bo from day one. #ForTheLand | #GuardsSpring | @DreKnott pic.twitter.com/X7TPlOkOf7
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) February 21, 2024
The best part about Naylor’s game for fantasy is his incredible ability to hit the ball in the air. His 21-degree launch angle was the highest in the league among catchers and led to a whopping 50% fly ball rate. Toss in a sturdy 12.6% career walk rate and Naylor has high on-base ability combined with enormous power potential. That’s a match made in heaven for fantasy managers.
Austin Wells – New York Yankees
File this under the “deep league only” section, but in two-catcher formats, there are worse options than the projected starter for the Yankees. Austin Wells is the seventh-ranked prospect in the Yankees organization, and he flashed major upside in cup-of-coffee to end last season.
In just 19 games, Wells swatted four homers and slugged .486 while posting solid batted-ball skills. Wells’ left-handed swing is tailor-made for the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium as he hit fly balls over 40% of the time throughout his minor league career. Toss in double-digit walk rates throughout every minor league stop and Wells could provide a decent run total as an everyday player in a strong Yankee lineup.
Wells is essentially free on draft day with an ADP outside the top-300 overall players and as the 25th catcher off the board. It’s worth a late-round pick to see if he can break out into the player New York believes he can be.
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