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Eric's top catcher (C) dynasty fantasy baseball rankings, risers, breakouts heading into 2026. His updated catcher rankings for fantasy baseball dynasty leagues.
Remember when the catcher position in fantasy baseball was mostly a barren wasteland? Not anymore.
Sure, it's still not as high-powered as other positions on the field, but the current talent at the position is more exciting than it's been in a long time. We have a good blend of reliable veterans, rising young talent, and an exciting crop of catching prospects. This position is certainly on the rise, and I'm expecting that rise to continue in 2026 and beyond.
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Catcher Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball
Age in parentheses
1. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (29)
A catcher hitting 60 home runs in a season was something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. We truly just witnessed a magical season from Cal Raleigh, and one of the best power displays in the history of baseball, becoming the seventh player to hit 60 homers in a season and the 10th instance overall.
In addition to those 60 home runs, Raleigh scored 110 runs, drove in 125, walked 97 times, and slashed .247/.359/.589. Obviously, another 60-homer season is highly unlikely, but given that Raleigh has smacked at least 27 home runs in each of the last four seasons and at least 30 in each of the last three. Another 30-homer season is basically a lock if he plays a full season.
Raleigh posted a 19.5% barrel rate, 91.3 mph AVG EV, and a 49.6% hard-hit rate in 2025, while also having a career-best 13.8% walk rate and 26.7% strikeout rate. His contact skills remained below-average, but right in line with the last few seasons. Raleigh is in a tier of his own right now.
2. Ben Rice, New York Yankees (26)
In case you missed it, Ben Rice got up to 36 games played and 26 starts at the catcher position in 2025, meaning he'll have eligibility there on all platforms for 2026. Given how good his bat is, that's a beautiful thing.
In 530 plate appearances this past season, Rice slashed .255/.337/.499 with 74 runs, 65 RBI, 28 doubles, and 26 home runs. On top of that, Rice was one of just five hitters in 2025 to have an xBA above .290 and an xSLG above .575. The other four were Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Corey Seager, and George Springer.
As good as Rice's surface and expected stats were, his underlying metrics were even more impressive. I mean, just look at his Savant sliders below.
The area where Rice stood out the most was in the power department. On top of having a .499 SLG, .244 ISO, and a .550 xSLG, Rice produced a 93.3 mph AVG EV, 56.1% hard-hit rate, and a 15.4% barrel rate. All three of those were in the Top-8% of hitters this season. It also helped that he had an ideal 39.3% Sweet-Spot rate, 60.2% air rate, 44.4% pull rate, and a 25.2% Pull-Air rate.
Those angles with Rice's quality of contact metrics as a left-handed hitter in Yankee Stadium are a beautiful combination.
Rice was able to hit for power against all three pitch types as well, posting a SLG above .400 and an ISO above .175 against fastballs, breaking balls, and offspeed pitches.
He wasn't just hitting the ball hard; Rice was making plenty of contact as well. Rice only had a 13% whiff rate on fastballs and 19.4% on offspeed pitches. Breaking balls were the only area where Rice showed some swing-and-miss in 2025, recording a 36.6% whiff rate against them.
Overall, Rice finished 2025 with an 86% zone contact rate, 78.8% overall contact rate, and a 21.2% chase rate while walking at a 9.4% clip and only striking out in 18.9% of his plate appearances. All five of those metrics were better than the Major League average.
The only areas of Rice's 2025 profile that you can quarrel over are his 36.6% whiff rate against breaking balls and others will point to his .208 AVG against left-handed pitchers. However, a .221 BABIP against southpaws played a huge part in that average as Rice posted a .481 SLG, .273 ISO, 92.4 mph AVG EV, 54.7% hard-hit rate, 16% barrel rate, and an 82.6% zone contact rate against them. It's not a concern for me.
Given his blend of power, contact, approach, lineup, and home park, I'm all in on Rice in 2026 and beyond. It wouldn't shock me in the slightest if he's universally considered the No. 2 dynasty catcher behind Cal Raleigh by the end of the 2026 season.
3. Samuel Basallo, Baltimore Orioles (21)
After emerging as one of the best catching prospects in the game in 2023 and 2024, Samuel Basallo cemented his status as the top dog at this position in 2025. In 76 Triple-A games before his promotion, Basallo slashed .270/.377/.589 with 17 doubles and 23 home runs. He smacked four more home runs in 31 games with Baltimore down the stretch, but slashed just .165/.229/.330 in 118 plate appearances.
As we've come to expect from Basallo, his quality of contact metrics was top-notch in 2025, posting a 94.2 mph AVG EV, 57.4% hard-hit rate, and a 21% barrel rate in Triple-A before recording an 8.9% barrel rate and 43% hard-hit rate with Baltimore. However, his contact rates were a bit below average, with a 69.4% contact rate in Triple-A and 70.6% in the majors.
However, Basallo's 81.7% zone contact rate in Triple-A was decent.
Even if he's more of a .260 hitter long-term than a .280 hitter, that average should come with plenty of home runs, potentially including some 30-homer seasons. With Adley Rutschman set to return in 2026, Basallo could see himself splitting time between catcher, first base, and designated hitter.
EDIT: Pete Alonso signed with Baltimore after this article published. Alonso in town throws a wrinkle into the playing time picture for Basallo, who will probably get the bulk of his time at DH in 2026.
4. William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers (27)
The overall .260/.355/.399 slash line wasn't what we had come to expect from William Contreras, but he certainly looked like the Contreras of old in the second half when he was fully healthy. Contreras slashed .281/.361/.472 after the All-Star break with 12 doubles and 11 home runs. Most of that damage came in August when he cranked six doubles and nine home runs in 140 plate appearances with a .279/.371/.549 slash line.
While we saw a slight decrease in his quality of contact metrics, Contreras still had a 91.1 mph AVG EV and 48.5% hard-hit rate. He also improved his strikeout (18.2%) and walk (12.7%) rates to career-best marks while increasing his zone contact rate to 82.9% and his overall contact rate to 75.8%. Contreras is still a Top-5 option for me, and I'm expecting a nice bounce-back in 2026.
5. Agustin Ramirez, Miami Marlins (24)
The 2025 season was filled with plenty of exciting young catchers, with Agustín Ramírez being one of the most impressive. In 585 plate appearances, Ramírez slashed .231/.287/.413 with 33 doubles, 21 home runs, and 16 steals. He was the only rookie catcher in the history of baseball to go 20/15, and was one of just 13 players to have at least 30 doubles, 20 home runs, and 15 steals in 2025.
Let's start with that power/speed blend. Is Ramírez a burner? Absolutely not. Is he even an above-average runner? Also no. But what Ramírez has shown is the willingness to run with solid efficiency as well. Given what we saw from him in 2025 and in the minors, expecting double-digit steals annually in the early part of his career is reasonable.
Those steals should come with 20-30 home runs annually as well, and I'm not counting out a 30-homer season from Ramírez either. Ramírez posted an 11% barrel rate, 90.8 mph AVG EV, and 47% hard-hit rate in his rookie season with a 116.9 mph Max EV. He also had an 89th percentile bat speed and a solid 18..5% Pull Air rate, even with a lower 54.2% overall air rate. If he's able to trim the ground-ball rate a bit, additional home runs in 2026 and beyond are likely.
Ramírez can hit for power against all three pitch types, too, posting a .170 ISO and a 90 mph EV or higher against each. His power was especially potent on the other two-thirds of the zone, as well as down on the inner-third.
When you see Ramírez's .231 AVG, you might think he's a below-average contact bat. Well, that's not the case as Ramírez posted an 86.3% zone contact rate and 74.5% overall while only striking out 19.3% of the time. His problem is that he's a bit aggressive with a 49.9% swing rate, 6.2% walk rate, and a 32% chase rate.
The OBP might never be impactful, but I do believe we see his average tick up to over .250 in 2026 and beyond, along with around 25 home runs and 10-15 steals annually. And if you like expected metrics, Ramírez had a .270 xBA and .466 xSLG this season, both considerably higher than his surface AVG and SLG. A .253 BABIP played a part in that low average too.
For 2026, I have Ramírez as a Top-10 catcher and solidly in the top of tier-3. It wouldn't surprise me if he finished as high as the No. 2 overall catcher behind Cal Raleigh, either. That's the level of upside we're talking about here with Ramírez. Long-term, the tools are here to be a Top-5 catcher for dynasty leagues.
6. Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (24)
What a rookie season for Drake Baldwin. The 24-year-old rookie was blocked by Sean Murphy at catcher and Marcell Ozuna at DH, but injuries to Murphy (again), along with Baldwin's bat forcing the issue, allowed him to rack up 446 plate appearances in 2025. In those plate appearances, Baldwin slashed .274/.341/.469 with 56 runs, 18 doubles, 19 home runs, and 80 RBI while only striking out 15.2% of the time.
Baldwin finished ninth in fWAR among catchers and fourth in fWAR among rookies.
In my eyes, everything Baldwin did in 2025 is legit, and he's probably just getting started. While he was never treated as an elite prospect when in the minor leagues, Baldwin's metrics under the hood were always impressive and intriguing, which made him a popular favorite among many prospect evaluators, myself included.
We saw all of those skills translate over into his first major league season in 2025, and those tools are why I'm so high on him long-term and why you should be as well.
It's hard to pick one place to start, as Baldwin stood out nearly across the board offensively in 2025. His quality of contact metrics was well above league average, finishing with a 91.7 mph AVG EV, 49.6% hard-hit rate, and an 11% barrel rate. The AVG EV and hard-hit rate were both in the Top-15% of hitters this season, and Baldwin also had a 90th percentile bat speed and an AVG EV above 89 mph on all three pitch types.
However, Baldwin only slugged .263 with a .075 ISO, .188 AVG, and one home run against offspeed pitches this season. So while the AVG EV against offspeed pitches was solid, Baldwin was limited against them in general, largely due to his 53.8% ground-ball rate on offspeed offerings.
Meanwhile, Baldwin mashed fastballs and breaking balls, hitting over .270 with a SLG over .500 against both pitch types. Baldwin was already pushing 20 home runs in 446 plate appearances as a rookie. If he can trim the ground-ball rate a bit, a 25-30 homer season over 550 plate appearances is definitely in play.
As I mentioned above, Baldwin didn't just stand out in the quality of contact department in 2025. He also had an above-average 85.9% zone contact rate, 80.5% overall contact rate, and a 15.2% strikeout rate. Out of the 251 qualified hitters on Savant, Baldwin's .282 xBA was the 33rd best mark overall and third among catchers, trailing only Dillon Dingler (.301) and Alejandro Kirk (.290).
Baldwin also had the fourth-highest xSLG among catchers at .493.
There's no reason to think that Baldwin's rookie season wasn't legitimate. Outside of the one area I nitpicked with the offspeed issues, Baldwin's profile is rock-solid across the board. He looks like an annual Top-10 or Top-5 catcher to me!
7. Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies (26)
After hitting at or below the Mendoza Line in each of his first two major league seasons, Hunter Goodman took his game to new heights in 2025 with a major breakout season. In 579 plate appearances, Goodman slashed .278/.323/.520 with 31 home runs, 91 RBI, and 73 runs scored.
Goodman ranked tied for second in home runs, third in RBI, and tied for fourth in runs scored at the catcher position while also ranking third in SLG and fourth in ISO among catchers with at least 400 plate appearances. He trailed Raleigh and Shea Langeliers in both SLG and ISO, with Rice sneaking ahead of him in ISO as well.
When you see my Goodman ranking in my dynasty catcher rankings article (seventh), that might seem too low given the season he just had. But as I've mentioned in various places, this catcher position is loaded with exciting young talent, many of whom I feel a little safer investing in moving forward. And Goodman is still in Tier-2; it's just a bigger tier, with everyone pretty close together in my overall rankings.
I'm a Goodman fan in general, but again, I slightly prefer the profiles of Baldwin, Ramírez, and Rice moving forward.
In the power department, Goodman's upside has always been there, but he was able to tap into it more consistently this past season. His 12.8% barrel rate matches his 2024 mark, but Goodman increased his AVG EV from 88.2 mph to 90.8 mph and his hard-hit rate from 39.6% to 46.9%. He also increased his already good 20.8% Pull-Air rate to an elite 25.4%.
This wasn't just a product of Coors Field either. Goodman's AVG was much higher at home, but he slugged over .510 both at home and on the road, with 18 of his 31 home runs coming away from Coors Field.
As for contact and approach, Goodman is an aggressive hitter with below-average but not terrible contact skills. His 80.1% zone and 68% overall contact rates are passable given his power and home ballpark, where he's going to run a higher BABIP. However, his chase rate has been above 35% in each of his three major league seasons, and he's yet to walk more than 6.5% of the time in any season.
On the bright side, Goodman's strikeout rate dipped from 28.6% in 2024 to 26.3% this season. Moving forward, Goodman looks like a Top-10 catcher for years to come, and a Tier-2 (Tier-3 at worst) staple.
8. Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers (30)
It feels weird to rank Will Smith this low, but given how much young talent is at this position and that Smith will be 31 at the start of next season, he slid a bit in these rankings. That doesn't mean Smith still isn't one of the best short-term options in the game and an excellent target for contending dynasty teams, though, because he absolutely still is.
While Smith was limited to 436 plate appearances, he still connected for 17 home runs and slashed .296/.404/.497. Pound for pound, this was Smith's best offensive season since 2021-2022, with him posting new career highs in AVG and OBP. For win-now teams, Smith can still be considered a Top-5 option at this catcher position.
9. Shea Langeliers, Athletics (28)
After Raleigh, Langeliers is in the running for the second-best fantasy season for a catcher in 2025. In 523 plate appearances, Langeliers set new career-best marks with 31 home runs, 73 runs scored, 32 doubles, seven steals, while also driving in 72 runs. All three marks in his slash line were new career highs as well, with a .277 AVG, .325 OBP, and .536 SLG.
Langeliers was one of just 16 players to have over 30 doubles and 30 home runs in 2025. The only other catcher to do it was Salvador Perez.
Entering 2025, power was the one area we knew we would get from Langeliers, and he came as advertised in that area. For the third season in a row, Langeliers exceeded 20 home runs, and his quality of contact metrics were right in line with the previous two seasons, finishing with an 11% barrel rate, 90.8 mph AVG EV, and a 44.8% hard-hit rate. His .396 xwOBACON was the second-best mark of his career, trailing only his .423 mark from last season.
Langeliers was able to hit for power against all three pitch types as well. He had a .641 SLG and 92.7 mph AVG EV against fastballs, and a 91.5 mph AVG EV against offspeed pitches. However, he only had one home run off offspeed pitches, but that came with a lofty .417 AVG and .542 SLG. Breaking balls were the toughest for Langeliers to handle in 2025, as he hit only .197 with a .376 SLG and 87.8 mph AVG EV off them, but he did manage eight home runs against breaking balls, so he wasn't a total zero against them.
Langeliers also hits the ball at ideal angles with a 62.7% air rate, 41% pull rate, and a 21.9% pull air rate in 2025. His average launch angle was over 16 degrees for the fourth straight season.
So what changed for Langeliers to take his entire slash line to new heights this season? The short answer is that Langeliers put the bat on the ball much more frequently in 2025.
Langeliers has steadily improved at the plate year after year, and 2025 was no different. After posting an 80.3% zone contact rate and 70.8% overall contact rate in 2024, those improved to 83.9% and 74.9% respectively, in 2025. However, the most significant improvement came in the strikeout rate department. After being above 27% in each of his first three seasons, Langeliers dropped his strikeout rate to 19.7% while also trimming his swinging-strike rate from 13.1% to 11.9%.
Is the 2025 version from Langeliers here to stay? If the answer to that question is yes, then he's going to be a Top-5 caliber catcher. However, even if there is some slight regression, Langeliers should still be at least a Top-10 catcher moving forward.
10. Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles (27)
Out of all catchers, Rutschman is the most difficult for me to rank right now. This ranking could look way too high or way too low by this time next season. On the surface, Rutschman has had an OPS under .710 in each of the last two seasons. In 2025, he slashed just .220/.307/.366 with nine home runs in 365 plate appearances.
Even with the subpar season, I'm optimistic that we'll see a better version of Rutschman in 2026. His quality of contact metrics was in line with previous seasons, and he still had elite contact rates and a great approach. Maybe he's not a Top-3 guy anymore, but I wouldn't be surprised if Rutschman pushed Top-5 value once again.
If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.
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