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Kevin projects the top 10 fantasy baseball dynasty catchers going into the 2029 MLB season. His top MLB catcher prospects to increase their fantasy values for dynasty leagues include Samuel Basallo, Drake Baldwin, Carter Jensen, more
During the MLB offseason, I'll be running a Dynasty Crystal Ball series in which I project the top 10 players at each position for the 2029 season. In dynasty, it's important to understand the current value of players, but being able to project their value going forward is a way you can get ahead of the rest of your league mates.
We'll start with catcher, the position where the fantasy landscape has changed the most over the last few seasons. A few years ago, it seemed like there were six to eight good catchers, and the replacement-level production at the position was LOW. However, we've had such an immense influx of offensive talent at catcher recently. Now, you can probably punt catcher in most one-catcher leagues and still have a pretty good player in that spot in your lineup. In my 12-team, two-catcher dynasty league, I feel like almost every team in our league has two pretty good catchers.
Let's take a look at how the catcher position will look for dynasty in three years. A note about how I'm looking at positions for these rankings is that I'm giving my best assumption on what each player's primary position will be going into 2029 and only ranking them in one position.
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No. 10: Kyle Teel, Chicago White Sox
Age in 2029 (Around Opening Day): 27.11
I know there isn't a lot to be excited about as a White Sox fan lately, but Kyle Teel is looking like a franchise catcher for them. The centerpiece from Boston in the Garrett Crochet trade has been a solid hitter at every stage of his professional career.
He had a 170 WRC+ in his short debut after getting drafted in 2023. He followed that up with a solid 131 WRC+ in 2024 between Double-A and Triple-A. He started 2025 in Triple-A again after being and had a 130 WRC+ before getting the call to the majors.
When he got to Chicago, he kept producing. He had a 125 WRC+ and a .273 BA. His power upside isn't too high (he may cap out around 20 HRs at peak), but he has a good approach at the plate and will even chip in some speed, as he had 12 SBs in the minors in 2024 and 10 SBs in 2025 between Triple-A and the majors.
No. 9: Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies
Age in 2029: 29.46
Did the Rockies actually develop a really good hitter? Seems like that hasn't happened in a while, but Hunter Goodman was excellent in 2025. Fantasy managers have been clamoring for a Goodman breakout, having back-to-back 30+ HR seasons in the minors in 2022 and 2023.
However, he was pretty bad in his MLB stints in 2023 and 2024. He hit around the Mendoza Line, and there were questions about whether Goodman was even going to last as a big league player. He played catcher and the outfield, but he wasn't particularly good at either, along with his struggles at the plate.
The switch flipped in a big way for Goodman in 2025 as he had a 118 WRC+ with 31 HRs and a .278 BA. He also became a decent catcher behind the dish. All of this development in one year was exceptional, especially considering how poor the Rockies' player development has been of late.
If the underlying metrics matched the breakout, Goodman might be higher on this list. I don't really care that his home/road splits weren't ideal. He's going to be playing half of his games at Coors Field for the foreseeable future.
His quality of contact metrics were strong, but they weren't elite, and his plate discipline and contact metrics were quite bad, and I don't see that average holding strong into future years.
If Goodman regresses to a .240-.250 hitter, that will still be plenty serviceable given his power. He should also continue to get almost every day playing time for the Rockies between catcher and DH, as they don't exactly have a wealth of good offensive options. The hit tool question marks prevent me from putting him any higher.
No. 8: Shea Langeliers, Athletics
Age in 2029: 31.35
Many people in the fantasy community have called Shea Langeliers a "Baby Cal Raleigh" for a little while, so it was only fitting that when Raleigh had his monster breakout season, Langeliers had a breakout season as well.
Langeliers, or "Bang-eliers", has always hit for plenty of power as he was coming off a 29-HR season in 2024. He only bumped that up to 31 in 2025, but he did it while drastically improving his hit tool. He cut his K-rate from 27.2 percent in 2024 to 19.7 percent in 2025, and that led to him increasing his BA by 53 points to .277.
Shea Langeliers DEMOLISHES a GRAND SLAM ☄️ pic.twitter.com/w1lZxAgGve
— MLB (@MLB) August 26, 2025
Langeliers' improved hit tool, combined with his power, should make him a top-5 catcher in the short term. Like many catchers when they hit their 30s, though, you have to worry about some regression just due to the toll that the position takes on their bodies.
No. 7: William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers
Age in 2029: 31.25
William Contreras came into this season as the consensus top catcher in dynasty. He was coming off three straight great seasons at the plate with a 139, 126, and 132 WRC+, respectively. He was a strong source of batting average and counting stats, along with solid power.
However, Contreras dealt with an injured finger that really hampered his production in 2025. He only had a 113 WRC+, and all of his power metrics were down across the board.
I'm willing to give Contreras a bit of a mulligan on this season, given he was playing through that finger injury, and he was actually looking like his usual self in the second half of the season, as he had a 133 WRC+ and 11 of his 17 HRs.
I wouldn't say I'm much lower on Contreras than I was coming into 2025. He is being lowered primarily due to how many catchers had great seasons. Similar to Langeliers, he'll be in his early 30s at this point in the future, so you'll have to fear for a production fall-off nearing.
No. 6: Ivan Herrera, St. Louis Cardinals
Age in 2029: 28.82
Ivan Herrera was a popular breakout candidate this past season following his strong stint in the majors in 2024, when he had a 128 WRC+ in 259 PAs. Despite dealing with a few injuries, he was even better with the bat in 2025, posting a 137 WRC+ and 19 HRs in 452 PAs. While hitting for more power, he also cut his K-rate to 18.6 percent.
Herrera is actually the only player on this list that will go into 2026 without catcher eligibility (in most formats), as he mostly played DH in 2025. Some might think he'll regress a bit offensively due to having to catch more, but that should be offset by him just being healthier in 2026.
Overall, Herrera has one of the best combinations of power and average at the catcher position and should continue to be a strong option there for years to come.
No. 5: Carter Jensen, Kansas City Royals
Age in 2029: 25.73
Carter Jensen was a huge late-season riser for me that may have flown a bit under the radar. His short stint in the majors combined with his really strong season in the minors (especially at Triple-A) got me really excited about this young catcher's potential going forward.
In his 21-year-old season, he had a 136 WRC+ between Double-A and Triple-A with 20 HRs and 10 SBs. He also had a solid approach at the plate with a 24.8 percent K-rate and 12.2 percent BB-rate. His production really spiked when he moved up to Triple-A, as he had a 167 WRC+ with 14 of his 20 HRs in only 43 games.
Jensen got a late-season cup of coffee in the majors, and he more than made the most of his opportunity. He had a 159 WRC+ with three HRs in 69 PAs. However, he was really impressive under the hood. He improved his K-rate to 17.4 percent while still walking at a strong 13.0 percent clip. He obviously didn't qualify for any leaderboards, but his savant page was red across the board.
I won't go as far as to say that Jensen will make fans in Kansas City forget about Salvador Perez, but he should at least continue the team tradition of top-hitting catchers in the very near future.
No. 4: Rainiel Rodriguez, St. Louis Cardinals
Age in 2029: 22.23
This is probably the boldest prediction in this ranking. Rainiel Rodriguez is an 18-year-old who is still in the lower minors. How can I possibly predict that he will be this good? In a year or two, I think Rodriguez will be viewed in the fantasy community like how we view Samuel Basallo now. His bat is that special.
In his first year stateside, Rodriguez had a 162 WRC+ in the Complex, Low-A, and a small taste of High-A. He had 20 HRs while demonstrating extremely strong plate skills. He walked 14.7 percent of the time while only striking out 17.7 percent of the time.
It's rare for a young hitter to demonstrate this much power while not having a hole in their swing. Remember- he is only 18 years old doing this.
Rainiel Rodriguez's 2025 campaign has been historic
Since 2006, only nine 18-year-olds have had min. 250 PAs and a 150 wRC+ in a season:
Trout
Harper
Stanton
Wander Franco
Jackson Chourio
Samuel Basallo
Tatis Jr.
Freddie Freeman
Rainiel RodriguezWe're witnessing a future star pic.twitter.com/G9jQU9sO4I
— Adam Akbani (@AdamAkbani) September 2, 2025
There are questions about whether Rodriguez will remain behind the plate, as his bat might be too advanced to wait for his defense to develop. However, I'm betting on him remaining behind the plate, either in a C/DH platoon with Herrera or as the lead backstop and Herrera shipped off elsewhere.
No. 3: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
Age in 2029: 32.33
Not sure what else there is to say about Cal Raleigh after his 2025 season. Hitting 60 HRs in a season as a catcher is utterly absurd, and he was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, league winners in fantasy this season.
Raleigh's magical season was built on a perfect blend of strong contact metrics and a dedicated pulled-fly-ball approach. Raleigh had a 99th percentile barrel rate of 19.5 percent, and he had the second-highest pulled fly-ball rate of 38.4 percent.
Do I think Raleigh will ever hit 60 HRs again? Probably not. However, hitting 40 HRs a season going forward doesn't seem unreasonable, even though his prior career high was only 34, since he's "found the recipe" for monster HR numbers.
The only thing keeping Raleigh from the top of this list is the "catcher in their 30s" hit that I factored in for him, Contreras, and Langeliers.
No. 2: Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves
Age in 2029: 27.99
Drake Baldwin was an interesting two-catcher option coming into 2025. He didn't have the most exciting prospect pedigree, but he was coming off a strong season in the high minors, where he had a 125 WRC+ with solid power and a great approach at the plate.
However, it was unclear how much opportunity he'd have with Sean Murphy as the primary catcher and Marcell Ozuna as the everyday DH in Atlanta. When Murphy went down with an early-season injury, it suddenly opened up a golden opportunity for Baldwin to show what he could do.
He made the most of his opportunity by essentially replicating his final minor league season in the majors. He had a 125 WRC+ with 19 HRs and struck out only 15.2 percent of the time. Under the hood, everything supported his breakout as he had excellent quality of contact metrics.
Baldwin should continue to improve a bit, but his playing-time upside gets really exciting going forward, as he should be an everyday player in the near future for the Braves between catcher and DH, while Ozuna likely won't factor into the long-term picture in Atlanta.
No. 1: Samuel Basallo, Baltimore Orioles
Age in 2029: 24.62
Basallo's slow start to his major league career might have some managers worried about his future. If his manager in your league is worried at all, this is a great buy-low opportunity for a future star. If he had gotten off to a hot start to his MLB career, he might be in the conversation for top dynasty catcher right now with Cal Raleigh.
His 55 WRC+ in his first month in the majors was obviously disappointing, but Basallo didn't look overwhelmed by major league pitching, and he was very unlucky with a .187 BABIP.
Prior to his call-up, he was having a monster season at Triple-A with a 151 WRC+ and 23 HRs in only 76 games. He did all of this in his 20-year-old season. Basallo's ability to excel as a young hitter throughout his minor league career is a strong indicator that he'll become a strong major league hitter soon.
The Orioles clearly believe in Basallo as well, as they've already signed him to an extension, and there are rumors that they're shopping Adley Rutschman this offseason. Expect him to hit a lot of home runs in the middle of the Orioles lineup for years to come with a solid batting average.
It’s Basallo time in Baltimore. PSA to all baseballs: write your will and call your loved ones.https://t.co/5Mb1H0SMOY https://t.co/esjNI6m8pA pic.twitter.com/X3tAWXnBaN
— Prospect Savant (@ProspectSavant) August 17, 2025
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