My Catcher Rankings

Top Catchers in 2024

After the recent list from MLB Network going viral and being filled with controversy and arguments like it always is, I decided to create mine. Obviously this is just my opinion and I’m taking into account everything including past performance but am mainly projecting for next season. This will take into account every team’s projected starter and backup as well as any free agents available and some third strings who are good enough to start on certain teams.

Adley Rutschman- Orioles

One of the best college catchers of all time climbs to the top of the rankings in just his second season. There are nearly no flaws in Adley Rutschman’s game. He’s one of the best defensive catchers in the league while being a top 5 hitting catcher in the league. He’s the main function in the Orioles steam roller of a team and ending their rebuild. He’s an on-base machine that doesn’t strike out and hit 20 homers last year. Not to mention he’s a switch hitter that doesn’t hit worse on either side. The crazy part is his expected numbers show he’s due for an even better offensive season and could put up a 6 WAR season next year. If there was one thing for him to get better on it’s his barrel and hard hit percentage is a little low and he hits a little too many fly balls compared to line drives but that’s just a slight nitpick. He’s still only 26 and heading into his third season in the league with a chance to compete for a championship. His ceiling’s a Hall of Famer while his floor is still a top 10 catcher. He’s going to be up top for years to come.

Sean Murphy- Braves

After years of being underrated and stuck in Oakland Sean Murphy finally escaped to Atlanta and had a great first season. He was known for his defense but the bat took a real step forward. In 2022 he showed he had power but couldn’t consistently hit the ball hard or barrel the ball at a more than average rate but in 2023 in the Braves hitting lab he broke out in every faucet of hitting. His barrel rate went up 6% and he learned to not chase dropping 6%. His wRC+ went up only 7 but his OPS went up .085 due to increased power and a higher walk rate. He didn’t lose his Gold Glove defense though as he’s in a battle with Rutschman, Heim, Moreno, and Bailey as the top catchers in the game and could be the best. There’s nothing pointing to him being worse next season heading into his prime.

Will Smith- Dodgers

A surprising step down offensively last season for Will Smith. In the past he was known as the best offensive catcher in the game but his wRC+ dropped from 128 in 2022 to 119. Still a great season but there were some major problems. Mainly his power took a dip dropping 5 homers with roughly the same at bats and more importantly his barrel percentage and hard hit rate dropped to below average. Weird for a player just turning 28 years old and with enough protection in the lineup to get good pitches. He struggles with pitches on the outer third of the zone missing a lot of them and hitting barely any for power. Which is weird because the last few seasons weren't a big issue. He still crushes inside pitches but pitchers try staying outside the inner third of the plate causing his decrease in power. He’s going to have to fix the issue if he wants to remain this high in the catcher hierarchy. His defense is worse than a lot of other catchers in his tier, having a weaker arm for the position and being a below average framer doesn’t help his value. Still a great catcher that any team could be looking to trade for with the Dodgers potentially looking at their younger options Dalton Rushing and Diego Cartaya who seem ready to go within the next two seasons.

William Contreras- Brewers

An absolute breakout season for the younger Contreras brother in his first season in Milwaukee. The Brewers did their usual catcher lab thing taking Contreras who was an awful defender in his limited games behind the plate in 2022 and turned into a stud. He still doesn’t have a great pop time but the framing and blocking turned from negative values into top 10 in the league. He continued to hit though, coming off an All Star season in 2022 solely based on hitting as a primary DH he improved in many places. Mainly his contact shot up which helped limit his strikeout problem. His barrel percentage did drop slightly as he focused on making contact but he still continuously hit the ball hard. There’s almost no flaws to his game and only being 26 he’ll continue to grow. He’s going to play a lot more DH again this season with the signing of Gary Sanchez so hopefully he can focus more on his power and become even better. Him and Adley Rutschman might be battling for the top two spots for years to come.

J.T. Realmuto- Phillies

The former unanimous top catcher in baseball, J.T. Realmuto took a major step back last season dropping to a 1.5 WAR last season. There’s not a lot of reasons for this; he just had a very weird year. His power decreased, he walked less, and he struck out more. That’s not a good formula for hitting and the reason he only had a 102 wRC+. That’s not the main reason though for his decrease in WAR it was his framing metrics falling off a cliff. He used to be one of the elite defense catcher in the league showing off his athleticism and glove in multiple ways. In 2022 his framing dropped to about league average showing some regression but not enough to warrant any big problems but in 2023 his framing was the third worst in the league. It could be some bad luck mixed in with framing metrics not being perfect but it could also be a sign of aging. Realmuto is already 32 and his power did drop which is always signs of aging but he still looks athletic and shows it on the base path with some of the best baserunning and speed by any catcher. If his numbers continue to drop both at the plate and behind it then it’ll be a massive deal for the Phillies as he’s getting paid slightly less than $24 million each of the next two seasons and the Phillies currently don’t have anyone to replace him. For now Realmuto is dropping down lists but is still one of the best in baseball.

Cal Raleigh- Mariners

His nickname is Big Dumper for a reason, the past two seasons Cal Raleigh has broken out as a top catcher in the game seemingly out of nowhere. He hit 30 homers last season and has unlimited power. He’s a barrel king at 12.6% last season and even greater in 2022. He also walks a decent amount, almost 10% the last two seasons. He’s susceptible to the strikeout like most power hitters in today's day and age but that’s not a big deal and doesn’t hinder him that much. He’s mainly striking out at a lot of curveballs in the dirt but when ones are hanging or left too much in the zone you can kiss it goodbye. It’s weird that he’s still a switch hitter. Honestly Raleigh is so much better from the left side than the right generating more power and making more contact on the left. He’s a great defender too, using a great arm to throw runners out despite an average pop time and being a top framer in the league. His only deficiency is that he’s not very athletic being a big 6’3” guy so he’s not a great blocker. If he can build on his contact a bit he’ll be even more of a star than he already is.

Willson Contreras- Cardinals

What a weird season for the successor to Yadier Molina, Willson Contreras. Signing a 5 year $87.5 million this offseason to be the first starting catcher for the Cardinals not named Yadier Molina since his first full time season in 2005. That’s obviously going to bring a lot of pressure and scrutiny by fans. After some struggles to start the season there were rumors of Cardinal’s pitchers not liking the way Contreras catches and he was going to be moved to the DH spot and play some outfield but after one DH day he was catching again and everything seemed fine. The Cardinals’ frustrations were justified as Contreras isn’t a great framer and doesn’t get his pitchers strikes but that’s what you're signing up for when you bring Conteras in. What you bring him in for is his great arm and crazy power bat. He consistently hits the ball hard at 47% and reached a max exit velocity of 117.5 mph the highest in his career and 8th highest in the league. He does chase and whiff a lot which leads to strikeouts but he walks 10.3% of the time. The dude just rakes to put it bluntly and will continue to. He’s been working on being a better receiver and if he can get better framing he’ll be a top 5 pitcher no matter what.

Francisco Alvarez- Mets

The top prospect heading into the season last year by MLB Pipeline, Fransico Alvarez had a strong first season. He’s known for his massive power hitting 25 homers last year and barreling the ball 12.8% of the time. He whiffs way too much though and can’t seem to figure out offspeed pitches and most breaking pitches. He’s only 22 and I believe he’s going to learn to hold off on pitches below the zone. If he can do that he’s going to lead all catchers in homers and fulfill his potential. Coming up through the minors Alvarez wasn’t known for his defense and surprisingly he was one of the top framers in the game. The only problem from his defense is his really bad arm. He has above average pop time but only threw out 15% of runners last season because of his arm. He has the potential to be a top 5 catcher within a few seasons but it’ll take a lot of work. I’m expecting a better season this year as last year he would have an unbelievable month then a terrible one over and over. I think he major All Star breakout will come in 2 seasons and he’ll be known as the future of the position.

Yanier Diaz- Astros

With Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado finally out of Houston Yanier Diaz will be the full time starter and not get his at bats taken by older worse players. Diaz had a really weird rookie season last year but still put up great numbers. He crushes the ball and showed his power hitting 23 homers and having a .256 ISO last year. He barrels the ball at a 12.2% rate and is on the trajectory to be a future top offensive catcher in the league. The weird thing about his bat is he chases at the highest rate of any player in baseball at 44% even though he only strikes out 19.6% of the time. He also walks at the lowest rate in baseball at 2.9%. To put that in a full season perspective he had 377 plate appearances last year and somehow only managed to walk 11 times. He’s never been a high on base guy throughout the minors which could mean if he gets in a bad and long slump he’s not going to be able to use walks as a way to produce so he could have some really bad months or even seasons. I think his power and contact ability will keep his hitting skills up though and he’ll be a near All Star player every year. Talking about his defense though it’s also very weird. He has an excellent pop time and throws a lot of runners out, 30% last season but his framing is terrible. The one bright side is because of Dusty Baker’s love for Martin Maldonado, Diaz only got to catch 60 games behind the plate last season so he could’ve just had a bad stretch of games. He’s said this offseason he’s been focusing on getting better at helping his pitching staff which should go with better framing numbers making him a positive defender. If he takes the jump defensively he should as well as keep up with his bat he’ll be a 2.5-3 WAR player this season.

Jonah Heim- Rangers

The World Series winning catcher just cracks the top 10 on my list in Jonah Heim who had a monster season last year with a 4.1 WAR. He’s a top framer in the league with a great arm to throw runners out and average blocking that easily won him the Gold Glove last season. He had a great season with the bat last season having a 103 wRC+ the first time in his career over 100. He led all catchers in RBI’s with 91 and was one of the driving forces in the World Series winning lineup even though he had a bad Postseason. He’s just very solid at everything having an average barrel rate, average strikeout rate, and walk rate. I don’t think his season will repeat with the same averages he had last season as he’s not been known for being a contact hitter. This should keep his wRC+ around 100 likely lower which will drop his WAR less than it was last season. He’s already 28 and will get pasted by the younger catcher lower then him probably by the end of next season.

Gabriel Moreno- Diamondbacks

Barely and I mean just barely outside the top 10 is Gold Glove winner and playoff hero Gabriel Moreno. I think a lot of people and outlets are getting ahead of themselves though with the ranking of Moreno. He’s still an otherworldly defender but does it differently than the next catcher Patrick Bailey. Moreno is actually a below average framer while Bailey is the best in the game. They are the two best in the league at throwing runners out but Moreno is an exceptional blocker while Bailey is only average. What makes Moreno a spot higher than Bailey is that he’s a good hitter. He’s susceptible to the down and away pitch and has to get better at laying off that but for the most part he’s a guy who makes high contact and doesn’t strikeout or whiff a lot. He’s not the biggest power hitter but in the 17 games he played in the playoffs he found a better power surge. I expect his power numbers to slightly increase and instead of hitting 7 homers like he did last season to jump up in the 10-15 range. If he can continue to grow with his bat as well as get better as a framer he’ll easily be a 3 WAR player and a top catcher.

Patrick Bailey- Giants

The best defensive player potentially in the league is rookie catcher Patrick Bailey. It’s incredible how good Bailey is compared to nearly everyone else. He’s the best framer in baseball with a crazy arm and pop time allowing him to throw out nearly 30% of runners. According to Baseball Savant he’s a bad blocker but there’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to be working on that over the next couple years. His bat though is questionable. He has decent power with a 10% barrel rate and hitting 7 homers in 97 games but his discipline at the plate is really bad. He whiffs a lot especially at sliders and surprisingly fastballs. This led to a 28% strikeout rate. His 6% walk rate doesn’t help either, leading his wRC+ to be only a 78. He didn’t spend a lot of time in the minors being the 13th overall pick in the 2020 draft and flying through each level only playing 14 games in each AA and AAA last season before being called up. He always had a high walk rate in every stop though even for the short amount of time and being 24 years old I expect it to grow within the next 2 seasons. With an improved back in at least the 80-90 wRC+ range like I and most projections have him being next season Bailey will be a 3 WAR player but just not as impactful as everyone in front of him.

Ryan Jeffers- Twins

The Twins are currently projected to have a starting catcher battle this Spring with Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez. I’m begging the Twins to start Jeffers because he's one of the most underrated hitters in the league. No casual baseball fan would’ve guessed he had a 138 wRC+. Jeffers has massive power and barrels the ball at a 11.6% rate. He also has a 10% walk rate that helps stabilize his high strikeout rates. He really struggles with high fastballs especially up and in but he kills everything else even had a 117 mph batted ball last season. His one question is his defense which was rated really bad by BaseballSavant but only below average by Fangraphs. It seemed last season Jeffers focused on throwing out runners more than framing which was above average the past two seasons which lead to him getting less calls. It seems during the offseason he’s been working on getting back to former defensive form, so the need for a defensive first catcher like Christian Vazquez.

Alejandro Kirk- Blue Jays

One of the many reasons for the Blue Jays disappointing season last year was the let down second full season of Alejandro Kirk. In his first year as a starter in 2022 Kirk had a 129 wRC+ and put up a 3.9 WAR. He had a hard hit rate of 45.4% and even from his short 5’8” frame he hit 14 homers. Then in 2023 those numbers dropped to a 38% hard hit rate and only hit 8 homers. His wRC+ was only 96 and his WAR dropped to 1.6. What he did keep up though was his insanely low whiff and strikeout rate. He makes crazy contact especially when chasing but unlike Luis Campusano, Kirk still walks 10% of the time leading to a great on base percentage. Kirk is an elite defender especially at block with his short frame but the downgrade is a slow pop time and bad arm. He’s surprisingly young at only 25 years old and will continue to grow. Even if he has the same disappointing year he’ll have a 2 WAR at worst this season as the starting catcher this season.

Luis Campusano- Padres

This is probably my hottest take of the entire list, Luis Campusano seems to be a budding star in San Diego. He had multiple injuries last season that held him to only 49 games plus the emergence of Gary Sanchez limited playing time. In those limited games though he had a 134 wRC+ and a 1.1 WAR. He doesn’t whiff or strikeout and has a high contact rate that makes up for his high chase rate. Just like young catcher Keibert Ruiz who’s lower down the list Campusano has a low walk rate. He needs to learn to lay off pitches that he won’t make hard contact on which’ll lead to more walks. He has the raw pull power to hit 20 homers in San Diego but if he can hold back or push low and outside pitches the other way he’ll become an elite catching bat. Like a lot of offensive catchers his main flaw is his defense which was terrible last season in every aspect. If he continues to flourish at the plate though like I believe he really can he’ll stay in this range of catchers even without the defense.

Keibert Ruiz- Nationals

After being traded from the Dodgers in the Trea Turner/Max Scherzer trade in 2021 deadline Keibert Ruiz has spent the last two seasons as the Nationals full time starter even earning an 8 year $50 million extension with a club option for 2 more years at the end. Ruiz had a weird season last year. He was one of the best contact bats in the league with a zone contact percentage of 92%, this had him have one of the lowest strikeout rates in the league. He chases a lot but he makes contact when chasing so it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have great consistent power but managed to hit 18 homers last season. The surprising thing is he doesn’t walk at all only 5.5% of the time. Sure he makes contact leading to less walks but he doesn’t consistently make good contact so he should take more pitches and chase less so he walks more. The main concern isn’t the bat which will be around 100 wRC+ and being a switch hitting catcher helps but his defense. He has an awful pop time and can’t throw out runners, he isn’t athletic enough behind the plate to block pitches, and his framing is in the bottom 5 in the league. If he can’t figure it out within the next 2-3 years he’ll likely be moved to full time DH or first as he finishes out his contract.

Logan O’Hoppe- Angels

Acquired from the Phillies in the Brandon Marsh trade at the 2022 deadline, Logan O’Hoppe was expected to be the full time catcher last season for the Angels and started off April hitting well but had to have shoulder surgery and was out until late August. He came back and played really bad for about a month but then for the final month of the season he reverted back to his April form and played well. O’Hoppe kills the ball with a 15.6% barrel rate and that’s what he’s known for. Last season he had a high strikeout rate and low walk rate but going back to his minor league years that was never the case. I’d expect in his first full healthy season where he’s basically a rookie those numbers will get better. He’s going to hit over a 100 wRC+ easily and with hitting 14 homers last year in only 51 games he’ll easily hit over 20 this year and become one of the best power hitting catchers in the league. His problem is his awful defense. He’s an average blocker but a bad framer and has the worst pop time in the league leading to him only catching 5 runners out of 36 runners. He’s only 24 and going to grow but has to get better defensively fast before he’s moved to first or a corner outfield spot.

Bo Naylor- Guardians

I am so excited for the first full season of top prospect Bo Naylor. He doesn’t have the best hit tool making his batting average hang in the .230-.240 range but he has massive power. In just 67 games he had a .232 ISO and hit 11 home runs. He surprisingly had a low hard hit rate last season which could be cause for concern. His plate discipline though will keep him a positive batter through his worst stretches. His 13% walk rate and super low whiff and chase rate make him a dangerous on base machine. He’s going to be an above 100 wRC+ hitter and hit around 15 homers but his defense is also special. He’s an above average framer, average blocker, and has a great pop time to throw runners out. He’s super athletic and will continue to grow and climb this list as he matures and gets comfortable. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s comfortably in the top 15 or even top 10 by the end of next season.

Danny Jansen- Blue Jays

Easily the best backup catcher in the league Jansen was in a ton of rumors this offseason for needy catcher teams but nothing ended up happening and he’s still in Toronto. Kirk is the better player and will be so much better than Jansen but for now the Blue Jays have two solid catchers holding down the middle of the order. Jansen’s at bats will likely drop next season than expected with the signing of Justin Turner and many other good hitters taking turns in the DH role there seems to be less of a need for Jansen. I’d expect with 2024 being a contract year for Jansen for him to either be traded at the deadline or sign with a new team next winter but for this season Jansen’s going to do what he does best and hit. Since 2020 Jansen has been over 105 in wRC+ in a limited role. He’s a solid defensive catcher but not great at throwing out runners, one of the reasons he’s been moved to a DH role. Hitting though Jansen consistently barrel’s the ball and doesn’t strikeout. He has massive pull side power leading to 17 homers last season. Hopefully he can showcase his talents as a starter after this season where he’ll climb this list with more opportunities.

Tyler Stephenson- Reds

This one’s going to be hard to talk about for me. This is my catcher, the guy I’ve believed in since he was first on the rise in the Reds system but I’m very worried about Tyler Stephenson. He was surprisingly a negative player according to Fangraphs last season. When he came up in 2021 for his first full season he was great, a slightly below average defender but rarely struck out and posted a 111 wRC+. Then in 2022 expecting to be the full time starter he was constantly injured and only played 50 games but had a 135 wRC+ and put up a 1.6 WAR. Expectations were high for 2023 where he would be fully healthy but everything went wrong. He only put up a 85 wRC+ losing the contact skills that made him a top prospect. His defense got even worse becoming a bottom 10 defensive catcher in the league only slightly better than Salvador Perez who I’ll complain about later. He showed though he can still hit the ball hard with a max exit velocity of 111 mph but he’s never been known to consistently barrel the ball up but in 2023 he actually made slight improvements in both barrel percentage and hard hit rate so that’s not the problem. What did significantly drop was in contact, his zone contact dropped 8% since 2021 and his chase contact by almost 10% dropping both below the MLB average. This led to his whiff and strikeout rate by almost 10%. It could be due to his broken collarbone he suffered in 2022 as he now struggles to reach the outside pitch as well as down and inside which he didn’t struggle as much in 2021 but I feel like that’s not the case as his swing looks nearly the same. This is a make or break year for Stephenson as the Reds aren’t in the window to wait for Stephenson to figure it out both offensively and defensively. He’ll definitely be better than last season but I can’t see him making it back to a 100 wRC+.

Travis d’Arnaud- Braves

The second highest backup on this list is Travis D’Arnaud. A fan favorite teammate who was great about Sean Murphy taking over the starting job and helped him get comfortable with the team and city. After coming out of his best season of his career in 2022 d’Arnaud’s 2023 was a slight disappointment. He did miss a month at the start of the season after a big collision at the plate causing a concussion. He still hit the ball hard to all parts of the field and improved his chase rate and walk rate slightly. He got a bit unlikely having a low BABIP and much higher expected numbers than his actual numbers. His defense took a slight step back from the elite season he had in 2022 but he only played in 63 games as a catcher. He could definitely start on around half the teams in the league but already being 35 and a backup ranks him lower than his talent should be on this list.

Jake Rogers- Tigers

The Tigers had a revelation at their catcher position last season with Jake Rogers. He produced a 2.2 WAR putting up 21 homers and a 97 wRC+. He hits the ball really hard at a 45.6% rate and plays a great catcher especially framing. He doesn’t have a great arm or pop time leading to him not being great at throwing out runners but he’s so good at everything else he’s a plus defender. He really struggles hitting fastballs high leading to a 32.5% strikeout percentage his main issue. He has to walk more and whiff less to be able to stay a starter behind the plate for the entire season. Looking at fangraphs projections I feel like they are downplaying his playing time only putting him around 330-350 at bats in 90 games. With his backup being Carson Kelly I’d expect him to play a lot more and with a decent bat and great defense he should reach a 2 WAR.

Logan O’Hoppe- Angels

Freddy Fermin- Royals

I’m begging for the Royals to finally wake up from their dream and move Salvador Perez to DH and make Freddy Fermin their primary catcher for next season. Fermin is really aggressive with an 80% zone swing percentage which does make his chase and walk rate look bad but he can make up for it with a great contact bat that leads to a lot of good things happening. He has some decent power hitting 9 homers last season in only 70 games as well as a 9.9 barrel rate. He does have some trouble catching up to a lot of heat and can’t pull them a lot like he really wants to do. He’s a very average defender miles better than Perez at least. A lot of the projection systems have Fermin declining next season but I think he can keep his wRC+ around league average while playing solid defense to exceed all the projections.

Austin Wells- Yankees

After spending most of the season climbing through AA and AAA Austin Wells made his debut and played 19 games in the last month of the season. A top prospect for the Yankees, Wells played great, showing off his power hitting 4 homers. He graded out slightly below average behind the plate and should be working on that in the offseason. For some reason his walk rate was only a measly 4% even though in the minors it never dropped below 11% anywhere. For a guy known for his plate disciple he will have a way better rate and on base percentage next season. He needs to get better at making contact both chasing and in the zone to up his average and I believe he could do that getting around .230-.240 next season with 15 homers. Playing an average backstop like he’s shown he can do that’ll produce a 2 WAR player. He should be the Yankees catcher for a number of years.

Salvador Perez- Royals

Somehow a catcher for the Royals in Salvador Perez has become one of the most controversial players in baseball. This offseason and many before there has been debates all over the internet about whether Perez is a top catcher in the league and if he’s a Hall of Famer. One side argues that Perez consistently puts up over 20 homers a year while hitting over .250 and doesn’t care about anything else while the other side argues his defense is so bad he’s a near negative to his team. That came to a reality last season as Perez put up a -0.3 WAR. Perez has never been good at anything behind the plate, allowing 40 or more stolen bases many times in his career. Last year he allowed 54 runners to advance while only throwing out 9. His framing is bottom 10 in the league while his blocking is also in the bottom half of the league. What he’s done in the past to inflate his WAR is mash at the plate, putting up an above 100 wRC+ from 2020-2022. Last season though he had the worst hitting season of his career at an 86 wRC+. His barrel percentage dropped almost 3% along with his hard hit rate dropping caused his slugging to drop 40 points. His plate discipline doesn’t help him either, having the worst chase rate and walk rate among all qualified hitters in the league. With still 2 years left on his 4 year $82 million deal he signed in 2022 he could end up being a balloon of a contract similar to Albert Pujols if the Royals don’t stick him at the DH position for the rest of his career.

Shea Langeliers- A’s

Acquired in the Matt Olson deal, former top prospect Shea Langeliers had his first full season in the majors last season and the numbers are volatile. Defensively he was one of the best at throwing runners out with a massive arm and great pop time but his blocking and framing were so bad he was nearly a negative defender. His Defensive Runs Saved on Fangraphs was -13 and for a catcher that’s really, really bad. As a young catcher he’s hopefully working on these all offseason. Looking at his offense there’s a lot to like. He hits the ball hard consistently with a 44.3% hard hit rate and 11.3 barrel percentage there’s a lot to like with his power, slugging 22 homers in cavernous Oakland Coliseum. His struggles come from plate discipline chasing way too much especially at changeups and curveballs leading to a 29.2% strikeout rate. He also struggled with heat, only hitting .173 against them last season. With the state of the A’s currently and in the near future Langeliers is likely going to get a million opportunities to show he can fix his deficiencies defensively and offensively to become what he was meant to be as a top prospect. For next season though he has the power to hit 25+ homers and have a near 100 wRC+ if he can fix his contact slightly putting him on a great upward trajectory.

Gary Sanchez- Brewers

What a major bounce back season for Blake Snell’s personal catcher Gary Sanchez. A season that saw him not get signed until the season started then get cut by the Mets and get picked up by a Padres team needing catching. Towards the end of his time with the Yankees Sanchez was known as a big middle of the order power bat who can’t play defense at all and chases at a drastically high rate. He then jumped to Minnesota and had his worst full year of his career but his underlying numbers were still really good. He had a 13.5% barrel percentage and his defense took a major step up. It’s surprising he took so long to sign with a team and the Mets cut him. Once he got to San Diego though he played great in only 75 games. He put up a 111 wRC+ and played his best defense of his career, especially framing. There’s a reason the Cy Young wanted him as his catcher every five days. His walk percentage might’ve gotten worse but his strikeout rate got better and his barrel rate somehow got even better. This led to him being one of the top catchers on the market but he just signed with the Brewers for $7 million next season and a mutual option for 2025. I don’t understand this move from either side as the Brewers already have a top catcher in the game who’s going to play everyday and Sanchez should want a chance to start which he could’ve got in Pittsburgh but instead he becomes a backup again. They could go with the 3 catcher strategy and use Sanchez as a mainly DH which would make sense. He would definitely be higher up this list if not for a decrease in expected playing time making him way less valuable.

Ivan Herrera- Cardinals

Later when I get to Cubs backup catcher Miguel Amaya I’ll talk about how Cubs fans believe he’s the next great catcher but really it’s someone else in their division Cardinals backup Ivan Herrera. Spending most of the season in AAA Herrera put up a 147 wRC+ there before being called up for only 13 games in 2023 where he continued to rake. Now months later he’s still hot, putting up a 1.484 OPS and leading his Panama team in the Caribbean Series through the first 5 games. He brings solid power with great contact skills at the plate and behind the plate he was average at best but that was enough to put up a 0.5 WAR in only 13 games. Going into this season as the certified backup with Andrew Knizner leaving, I expect Herrera to continue to perform behind Wilson Conteras and learn from him to continue the Cardinals catching legacy for years to come.

Rene Pinto- Rays

All offseason I have seen Rays fans begging and pleading for their front office to sign another catcher to move Rene Pinto to a backup role. Obviously signing a guy like Gary Sanchez would’ve been a current upgrade to a squad trying to win the division and their backup catching options could use some help but Pinto is a young player who put up an underrated season in 2023. After starting the season in AAA Pinto was called up for only 39 games after the struggles of Christian Bethancourt and Francisco Mejia and put up a 98 wRC+. He consistently barreled the ball with 15.9% barrel rate and played solid enough defense to stick around. His biggest concern is his plate discipline striking out at a 32% rate and walking at an insanely low 1.9%. He’s never been known for walking but has kept his rate in the 5-7% range throughout most of the minors so after getting settled in full time I’d expect it to grow next season. He started his Big League season off hot but continued to get worse as the season went on which is concerning for next season but I believe he can continue to grow defensively where he was rated positively framing and just needs to work on his blocking as well as continue to swing the bat with power to put up a solid season.

Henry Davis- Pirates

After the Pirates selected Henry Davis with the first overall pick in the 2021 draft there were high expectations for him being a top 30 prospect with a ton of potential. For the most part he showed what he was capable of dominating every stop up to the Majors making it last season. His defense behind the plate isn’t what he’s known for and with Endy Rodriguez making his way to the Majors with him, Davis was forced to use his big arm in right field last season for the Pirates only catching 2 games. Now with Rodriguez sidelined with an elbow injury all of 2024 the Pirates plan for Davis to move back behind the plate. I’m not expecting this to go well for a guy who’s only ever caught 2 Major League games to be expected to catch five days a week is a big jump and he’s not good defensively in the first place His bat will play though as he has a short compact swing that brings out his massive raw power he showed at times last seasons with homers off of Shohei Ohtani and Alex Cobb that went over 410 ft. He struggled to make consistent hard contact though and struck out way too much leading to only a 76 wRC+ last season. The Pirates brought in Yasmani Grandal to take over a lot of the burden for Davis learning the position back. I expect Davis to figure it out throughout the season and become at least a 90 wRC+ batter but if he can’t or the defensive struggles and gets moved back to the outfield the Pirates have a major problem on their hands.

Yan Gomes- Cubs

After the loss of Conteras last offseason the Cubs decided to roll with Yan Gomes as their starter for 2023 and he did okay. He’s a very average catcher in almost every category. Last season he put up a 95 wRC+ with solid defensive numbers. In the past he was known as a good defender but now being 36 years old his defense has dropped off especially framing but he’s still a good blocker and has the arm to counter his bad pop time to throw runners out. Even with a high chase rate he limits his strikeouts and makes a lot of contact leading to only a 5% walk rate last season. I’d expect this to be his last season in Chicago entering the last season of his contract and he should slightly decrease his productivity from what it was last season but still exceed a 1 WAR and be a solid starter.

Tom Murphy- Giants

One of the more underrated signings of the offseason came from the Giants locking up Tom Murphy to a 2 year $8 million contract with a club option for a 3rd year. Murphy might not be the most known free agent but he’s shown that he can really hit. Last season in 47 games he had a 140 wRC+. There lies the reason Murphy signed for such a small contract, he can’t stay healthy. After a solid first season as the catcher for the Mariners in 2021 his 2022 was ended by a shoulder injury and his 2023 was cut short with a broken thumb. The Giants are trying to keep him healthy and go with a ying and yang approach at catcher with starter Patrick Bailey being one of the premier young defensive catchers in the league but a lackluster hitter and Murphy being the exact opposite. Murphy’s one of the worst defensive catchers in the league but once back in 2019 Murphy had a great arm and was an above average framer. If Bailey can teach him anything about framing it’s about to be a great year for Murphy.

Kyle Higashioka- Padres

In the biggest moves of the offseason when the Yankees acquired Juan Soto one of the players going back to San Diego was Higashioka. A fan favorite that’s a solid all around catcher who’s had some great moments in New York. He hits the ball hard really often with a lot of barrels. His main offensive pitfall is his high chase and whiff percentage leading to a lot of strikeouts. He struggles with offspeed and breaking pitches but can mash fastballs. He’s a top framer in the game leading to always high defensive ratings. If he’s not traded to a team like the Marlins, Red Sox, or Marlins he’ll battle with Luis Campusano for the starting spot and will likely start early in the season while Campusano gets his footing in the league. Even with the split time Higashioka is going to put together a solid 10 homer season with great defense.

Christian Vazquez- Twins

An awful year last season offensively for Vazquez with only a 65 wRC+. After being traded from his longtime home of Boston to help the Astros win the World Series Vazquez cashed in with a 3 year $30 million deal in Minnesota. Now being signed as the future starting catcher Vazquez seems to be becoming the backup and maybe even cut as Twins fans are starting to ask if prospect Jair Camargo should become the backup. Last season Vazquez went from being known as a low whiff and strikeout hitter to the exact opposite. His zone and chase contact percentage dropped by 10%. He really struggled with breaking balls not even getting a hit on a curveball all season. His defense brings him into a positive player though as he’s above average at everything a catcher needs. If he does end up being let go by the Twins I’m sure a catching needy team will immediately pick him up.

Omar Narvaez- Mets

I know a lot of Mets fans hate Narvaez mainly for being injured and under performing his 2 year $15 million deal he signed last offseason. I like Narvaez because he’s a hell of a framer and didn’t get a chance to show it last season. He always walks at a decent rate and usually limits his strikeouts. His main deficiency is he can’t barrel the ball up, only having a max exit velocity of 105 last season is really bad and could be a massive cause for concern. He hasn’t hit above .211 in the last two seasons but his expected numbers and low BABIP tell a story of him just getting unlucky. I believe next year in a full season as the backup catcher without injuries I think Narvaez will be back to at least a 1 WAR player as he was in 2022.

Christian Bethancourt- Marlins

Looking at Bethancourt’s stats last season you’d think I was crazy to put Bethancourt this high but I believe he can take advantage of his opportunity in Miami and come back better to his 2022 form. He’s currently playing in the Caribbean series and excelling for team Panama being their DH or catcher on any given day. He showed in 2022 that he has the power and swing to produce at an above average level production. He’s an average framer but awful blocker. His arm though is one of the best behind the plate to go along with his elite pop time he throws a lot of runners out. Him and Forte will battle it out in Spring for the starting role and I have no doubt Bethancourt will win it.

Jose Trevino- Yankees

It was a deep fall for Trevino after winning the Platinum Glove in 2022 mainly due to the wrist surgery he had in July limiting him to 55 games. His defense did take a step back from other worldly to elite but that’s likely due to the wrist injury that was bugging him before the surgery. In his first year in New York he put together a solid season hitting with a 92 wRC+ but the underlying numbers showed a likely step back for 2023 and that’s what happened, only putting up a 58 wRC+. If he can rebound from his wrist injury he should be back to his Platinum Glove defense but I don’t expect his offense to ever get back to what it was in 2022. He’s basically a better hitting version of Austin Hedges.

Victor Caratini- Astros

I talked about Caratini when he signed his new deal with the Astros two months ago. At the time I loved the signing and I still do. Caratini is in the top tier of backup catchers and should be a great option behind Yanier Diaz for the Astros. He’s a solid enough hitter who hits the ball hard even without a good barrel rate and is a tough out having great chase and whiff rates. If he can continue to be a slightly below average hitter in Houston he’ll live up to his deal. He’s also a great pitch framer coming from the catching system of the Brewers. He’ll pair perfectly with the offense first Diaz.

Nick Fortes- Marlins

Currently the projected starter for the Marlins next season Nick Fortes needs a big season. Last season Fortes had 53 wRC+ being in the same area as Tucker Barnhart and Garrett Stubbs. He has too good of a bat to hit that low as seen from his 97 wRC+ in 2022. He improved defensively mainly framing and walking better but he lost his formally above average pop time decreasing by .09 seconds which is a long time for catchers. He’s a tough out as he rarely strikes out and has incredible zone contact which leads to him walking less. He hasn’t shown any power but his swing should improve next season which the Marlins need.

Max Stassi- White Sox

This is the real wildcard in the entire rankings. Stassi missed all of last season after first dealing with a hip injury during the Spring but during the season his son was born 14 weeks early and he decided to spend his entire season by his wife’s side. After going through that his son is doing great and he has decided to return to baseball. He was traded twice, once from the Angels to the Braves then again to the White Sox where he’ll battle with Martin Maldonado for the starting spot. As I’ll describe with Maldonado’s write up he should easily win the position and could excel becoming a real option for a team next offseason or at the deadline. In the past he has put some great seasons together both defensively and offensively. In 2018-2021 he was one of the best framers in the league but in 2022 he took a step back in every catching category becoming an average defender. In 2021 he had an excellent offensive season hitting 13 homers in only 87 games and having a 105 wRC+ but like his defense his bat dropped off in 2022 but he did get majorly unlucky according to his .239 BABIP. He’s a guy that’s hard to not root for especially on a team like the White Sox who have rarely anything to root for. I believe he could again become a solid starter but based on his time away from the game and last full season there’s nothing to show he can get back to the highs of 2018-2021.

Luke Maile- Reds

The Reds backup is the definition of slightly below average at just about everything. If his framing was better he’d be a great defensive catcher but it hasn’t been above average since 2018 in Toronto. He’s a below average hitter for his career but has shown some power. If he could get his walk rate up and make a little more contact he’s a solid backup option but currently can’t rank above a lot of them.

Austin Hedges- Guardians

Based on other defense first catchers at the bottom of this list it’s shocking to me how high Austin Hedges is ranked here but he is so good defensively that he can be the worst hitter in the league and still be a positive player. He’s the best framer and blocker in the league and can still throw runners out despite his declining pop time. There’s a reason after being booed in Pittsburgh for being so bad at the plate he was picked up by the Rangers and won a World Series with them. He’s an excellent clubhouse leader, being talked highly about by every teammate. Now heading back to Cleveland he’ll become a mentor for Bo Naylor as he improves defensively. With David Fry likely making the Guardians roster as a utility player who can also play catcher, Hedges doesn’t even need to play the 80 games he did last year to become a positive impact on the team.

Matt Thaiss- Angels

This is the bottom of the solid backup catcher tier that’s been the last 15 spots. Thaiss does some things well. He’s got a great walk rate of 11.7% and doesn’t chase at all. Surprisingly neither of those lead to him not striking out with his 27% strikeout rate. This is mainly due to his incredibly low zone contact percentage because he can’t catch up to fastballs. He also gets fooled on changeups way too much but if you leave a hanging slider or curveball he’ll barrel it up. He’s a slightly below average defender mainly due to his bad framing but with O’Hoppe likely being healthy this season Thaiss won’t play as much as he did last season and he’ll become a positive player again.

Elias Diaz- Rockies

The All Star Game MVP being this low is going to shock the casual baseball fan but when looking back as his season as a whole was terrible. He had a few good months in the season but after that his offense went down the toilet. His former elite defense was also very bad, mainly his framing which was at the bottom of the league. His BABIP and expected numbers show a major drop off likely from the Coors effect. Diaz has never been a barrel hitter with low power, chases at a lot of pitches, and doesn’t walk a lot. There’s nothing to look forward to for Rockies fans already and Diaz makes that even worse.

Riley Adams- Nationals

Randomly last season Riley Adams had a great offensive season backing up Keibert Ruiz. He put up a 116 wRC+ in 44 games. I can’t see that happening again based on his high BABIP and bad underlying numbers. He has an average hard hit rate but a low walk and high strikeout rate is rarely ever going to work. Defensively he can’t frame very well but has a great pop time to throw runners out. I have a feeling the Nationals will likely move on from Adams during next season for a younger player with more potential like Drew Millas who got a taste of the Big Leagues last season.

Yasmani Grandal- Free Agent

Just a few days before I was going to publish this on Superbowl Sunday the Pirates decided to swoop in and sign Yasmani Grandal to battle Henry Davis for the starting job. For a Pirates team that seems to be punting next season, Grandal is a decent piece that could become a solid return if they can find a suitor at the deadline but that’s a big if. He’s been absolutely terrible the past two seasons when he’s on the field. He went from being a top 5 catcher in the league in 2021 hitting balls hard all over the field racking up 23 homers and a 157 wRC+. He’s been ruined by back, knee, and hamstring injuries ever since then stealing his power from him. His once great eye at the plate and discipline to not chance was also zapped in 2023 dropping his walk rate by 3%. He’s the worst at throwing out runners in the league but still a solid framer and blocker leading to average defense stats. He could come back to his on base ways but the power is gone and likely not coming back.

Tyler Soderstrom- A’s

A top 25 prospect according to some scouts, Soderstrom made his debut last season for the A’s and was disappointing. This is a prospect I don’t see anything special about. Sure he has massive power as he showed last year hitting 24 homers between AAA and the Majors but there’s nothing else to look forward to. He has to change his approach, chasing too many pitches that show in his strikeout rate and never having a walk rate above 8% since low A in his first professional season. He’s not good enough defensively to stick at catcher and will likely make the move to first or a corner outfield spot. I think this season he’ll continue to struggle and likely be sent between AAA Vegas and Oakland multiple times while he tries to figure it out.

Connor Wong- Red Sox

The last player left in the historic Mookie Betts trade Connor Wong brings an interesting take on the catcher position. He’s able to play both second and third along with catching and is a small catcher at 6’1” 190 pounds. He has great speed on the bases and a massive arm that allows him to throw out a ton of runners. Everything else defensively he’s awful at leading to his defense to be below average. In the box Wong has a crazy 33.3% strikeout rate. He has the raw power to play in the majors reaching 113 mph as his top exit velocity but with an average exit velocity of 89 mph he hasn’t been able to show his power a lot. This is where I have to question the Red Sox. There is no reason they should be going into a season with Wong and Reese McGuire or 35 year old Roberto Perez being their only options behind the plate. I understand why Sox fans are so mad as this decision is a move for a non contending and non trying team. They are basically relying on Kyle Teel, their first round pick last draft to become the Star he could be in 2025 but he could end up being a corner outfielder by the time he reaches the

Carson Kelly- Tigers

What a career it has been for Carson Kelly. The main prospect going back to the Diamondbacks in the Paul Goldschmidt trade has had some solid seasons but dealt with a lot of injuries leading to the awful 52 games he played in last season for the Diamondbacks and Tigers. In his best seasons he had a high walk rate while showing some power hitting 18 homers in 2019 and 13 in 2021 but in the last two seasons his discipline has vanished having a 26.5% strikeout rate last season with only 2 homers in 151 at bats. He’s still an average defender even though he has gotten worse since 2019 mainly due to injury. If he can get to 200 at bats somehow next season for Detroit he’ll be a better hitter and with average defense he’ll be a slightly positive player.

Austin Barnes- Dodgers

After his best season since 2017 during the 2022 season Austin Barnes was the second worst hitter with at least 200 at bats last season. For his career he’s never been known as a great hitter but always been a tough out with a low strikeout rate and high walk rate but in 2023 those went from the top among catchers to just around league average. This dropped his on base percentage by .86 points. His defense which had been above average in the past turned to some of the worst by catchers, especially his blocking ability. I’d expect especially in a contract year that Barnes slightly improves this season and turns back into the player he was in 2021, below average with the bat but an average backup catcher.

Seby Zavala- Mariners

After a surprisingly good season in 2022 putting up a 1.9 WAR in only 61 games mainly thanks to his great defense and 110 wRC+ he struggled last season with nearly everything dropping. This led to him getting cut and picked up by the Diamondback for a few games before getting traded to the Mariners for All Star Eugenio Suarez. He’s shown that he has the potential to find power hitting 7 homers last season and having a max exit velocity of 109 in the top half of Major Leaguers but he has struggled to make contact especially on fastballs which can’t happen. His defense is still great behind the plate but he took a step back last season at throwing runners out. The Mariners think highly of him trading him for Suarez but I don’t see him hitting over .200 ever again.

Reese McGuire- Red Sox

There’s nothing with Reese McGuire to look forward to this season. His calling tag was his rocket arm that made him a legit threat to throw runners out but in 2023 he was below average in that category and is only average at framing and blocking. With the bat there’s even less. He has shown no power only hitting 1 homer last season and no discipline with only a 5.3% walk rate. He hit .267 last season mainly just through singles up the middle and bloops down the lines leading to a .366 BABIP and .207 expected average signaling a steep drop off this season. As a Red Sox fan you have to be asking why they haven’t addressed why they didn’t address the catcher position this offseason and are putting all their marbles on Kyle Teel being the real thing.

James McCann- Orioles

The most overpaid player on this list McCann is heading into his last season of his 4 year $40.6 million deal he signed with the Mets before getting traded to Baltimore to backup Adley Ruschman. At the time of the signing it didn’t look that bad with McCann coming off two great seasons for the White Sox with the bat but he immediately turned back into the hitter he was during his first years in the league in Detroit losing the barrels that helped him make the All Star team in 2019. In his first year in Baltimore he improved just a bit with his hard hit rate and barrel percentage growing slightly but his defense getting slightly worse. He isn’t the worst backup in the league but he doesn’t provide much especially with the pushed back wall of Camden Yards holding a lot of his could-be homers.

Korey Lee- White Sox

Another glove first catcher towards the bottom but Lee could be the best with the bat out of all of them. He has a canon for an arm and with his above average pop time he throws a lot of runners out. He’s not awful at framing or blocking making him a solid all around catcher. He’s never going to be a high on base or average batter but he has enough power to hit about 15 homers a year. The problem is in his 36 MLB games he has 9 hits making it idiotic to send him out there any day of the week. By the end of the season if he can’t take the job away from Martin Maldonado then it’ll be a failure but I’m willing to bet on him to take the job from him and become a solid backup who can also play some outfield.

Miguel Amaya- Cubs

After the departure of Willson Contreras last offseason the Cubs were in a hole with no future at the position. Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart held down the position not very well until Barnhart was cut and Miguel Amaya came up to become the part time catcher. Amays is a young player that Cubs fans seem to be really excited about saying things like 2024 is the year he’ll breakout and become the Cubs future but I don’t see it. Throughout the minors he always had an above average walk percentage but once he reached the Majors last season it shrunk to 7.7%. Once he got to AA his strikeout percentage spiked and continued to be high in the Majors. He’s struggled to hit any breaking balls and could rarely find the average raw power he’s shown in the past. He does play an average catcher which could elevate his ranking but doesn’t do anything special and will likely allow a lot of runners to steal. He’ll have to make a major adjustment to focus on his plate discipline and power this season to make the jump Cubs fans are expecting.

Tucker Barnhart- Diamondbacks

The two time Gold Glover had a disastrous 2023 with the Cubs only playing 47 games and put up a 53 wRC+ the worst of his career while also declining behind the plate which used to be his calling card. With the Reds Barnhart was the best blocker in the league and even with a bad pop time had an incredible arm that was still able to get runners out. His only downfall was his framing but as he continued to work it got better and better. Once he was traded to Detroit before the 2022 season he continued being great behind the plate but his bat declined before it got even worse in Chicago. In 2023 his catching also started to drop off as his once elite arm and blocking ability turned into below average. I believe in Arizona Tucker can come back to his ways of being an elite defensive catcher but the bat is likely nothing as he’s already 33.

Andrew Knizner- Rangers

When Yadier Molina was going through his last couple seasons he was mentoring the backup Andrew Knizner who would get a lot of playing time for a backup with Molina dealing with injuries. It seems like Molina’s stellar defensive ability didn’t rub off on Knizner as he’s only gotten worse defensively since his debut in 2019. He did find some power last season elevating his wRC+ to 92 after it hadn’t been above 79 his entire career. Luckily he won’t have to play much with Jonah Heim playing nearly everyday because there is basically no upside here.

Ali Sanchez- Pirates

With the injury to Endy Rodriguez like I’ve already said the Pirates are planning to move Henry Davis back from the outfield to his original position at catcher but that opens up the backup catcher role which is currently being projected to longtime journeyman minor leaguer Ali Sanchez. Sanchez spent all of last season in AAA for the Diamondbacks where he put up decent offensive numbers and played a solid enough backstop. The Pirates signed Sanchez this offseason to a minor league deal because of his decent season and he’ll battle it out with last season's backup Jason Delay in camp. Delay was great defensively but left a lot of question marks around his bat which has never been anything to watch. I believe if Sanchez just hits average in Spring and during the season he’ll win the backup job. Pittsburgh will likely find a better backup option before the end of Spring especially with the Mets recent DFA of Tyler Heineman who’s spent parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons in the Pirates system and is better behind the plate than both Delay and Sanchez.

Garrett Stubbs- Phillies

Stubbs is what you think of when thinking of a backup catcher. A guy who doesn’t play a lot but brings the energy and that is exactly what he does. He’s not awful being the plate learning to get a great pop time from teammate JT Realmuto but at the plate but at the plate there’s nothing to like. He brings no power having one of the lowest average exit velocity in the league and most of his few hits are just slapped in right field or down the line the opposite way. He showed in the WBC for team Israel last season that he can be a leader and spark plug if needed with his high energy. With Realmuto in front of him he won’t have to play much and if he can get his walk rate back up to what it was in 2022 then he’ll be a positive player.

Eric Haase- Brewers

A catcher that looked like he was the future for the Tigers just a few years ago is now signing a $1 million deal with the Brewers after a horrific season. In 2021 after getting his first chance to really play a lot for the Tigers Haase hit 22 homers with a 100 wRC+. His defense wasn’t great for a catcher but he was just below average and his bat made up for it. The next season in 2022 his homers went down to 14 even though he played in 12 more games but he dropped his strikeout rate and made more contact leading his wRC+ to rise to 110. Then 2023 came and he made a slight swing change bending his knees more and that seemed to suck the power out of him hitting only 4 homers and having a 42 wRC+. His defense was slightly worse and he was DFA’d before being picked up by Cleveland before the end of the season where he only played 3 games. The Brewers seem to be banking on their catching lab which has churned out career years for multiple catchers in the past 5 years both offensively and defensively. If Haase can get back to even half of what he was in 2021 and 2022 he’ll be a positive addition for the Brew Crew but I can only see his defense getting better, the bat seems to have lost everything. With the signing of Gary Sanchez though Haase will have to fight for a roster spot with Sanchez expected to take over backup catching and the DH role.

Alex Jackson- Rays

Currently Rob Brantly is the projected backup catcher for the Rays and if I believed he wins the job then he would be at the bottom of this list but after a solid year in AAA I believe Alex Jackson will win it out of Spring. This isn’t to say that the Rays won’t go out and sign a backup like Curt Casali or bring in Gary Sanchez to start as they should but with the current roster Jackson seems to be the guy. He’s been through multiple stints in the bigs for the Braves, Marlins, and Brewers since 2019 after being the sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft but spent all of last season in the Brewers AAA before being traded to the Rays at the deadline and spending the rest of the season in their AAA. He’s always been a guy who hits well at AAA especially in the power department but once he gets up to the Majors everything goes wrong. He’s a pretty good defender with great raw power hitting a 471 ft homer last season in AAA. With the Rays development magic he definitely could become a solid player but has shown no signs of Major League production.

Martin Maldonado- White Sox

This is a player I don’t understand. He played in 117 games last season for the Astros even though Yanier Diaz was becoming one of the best hitting catchers in the sport Dusty Baker still played Maldonado almost every day. In past years it could be argued that Maldonado was still valuable based on his defense but his framing was so bad in 2023 that his defensive value was deep in the negatives and his hitting has only ever been positive in the shortened 2020 season. Now at 37 Maldonado signs a $4 million deal with the White Sox to battle with Max Stassi for the starting position. The only reason he’s above Stallings is he can still throw runners out and will likely hit around 15 homers in Chicago given around 100 games. There's nothing to look forward to here for Sox fans.

Jacob Stallings- Rockies

Somebody had to be at the bottom and it’s new Rockie Jacob Stallings. After winning a Gold Glove in 2021 and still putting up solid offensive numbers with a 92 wRC+. With the Marlins needing a catcher it seemed like Stallings could be an average catcher but once he got to Miami his defense dropped off a cliff and he went from above average strikeout and walk rates to below average. Now after being allowed to seek free agency Stallings signs a $1.5 million deal with the Rockies to back up Elias Diaz. Being in Coors Field now I’d expect his offensive numbers to rise slightly but he’ll still be one of the worst catcher hitters with the only thing going for him being a great blocker. That’s why he falls at the bottom of my catcher’s list.

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