Fantasy Baseball Draftable Catchers: William Contreras, Adley Rutschman, Will Smith, Salvador Perez and More
A look at fantasy catchers based on ESPN rankings and who is seen as a daily starter as we enter 2025.
Fantasy sports are all about value. Draft season is my favorite time of year because we are focused on the best way to build a team rather than just the best players. Without knowing how the draft will unfold, owners must be ready to pivot and merge strategies in real time based on what happens around them.
Player tiers are great for this practice. If you need both a first baseman and a shortstop when your pick comes up in the seventh round, our tiers tell you that there are many more good fantasy first basemen available than shortstops, helping push you toward filling the SS spot earlier.
I am going through each position to establish those tiers as we reach spring training. The goal is to determine which players are seen at the top of their respective positions and where the cut-off between daily starter and streaming player falls. This has more to do with rankings than anything else, and it is a good idea of how many guys are worth targeting in your draft.
Let's start with catcher, one of the hardest positions at which to find consistent production. Rankings are based on ESPN's points leagues, and most stats are from MLB.com.
Top Tier
- William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers, ranked 25th overall
- Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles, 28th
This truly is the cream of the crop. If you want an advantage at a slim position, splurge on either Contreras or Rutschman in the second or third round; this is kind of like grabbing prime Gronk or Travis Kelce early at tight end.
Contreras was traded from the Braves to the Brewers before the 2023 season, and he has developed into a true offensive star at catcher. He has been around 40 doubles and 20 home runs in each season while batting around .285. Contreras scored 99 runs and had 92 RBI last year, numbers that will always be among the leaders at catcher.
Rutschman entered the league as a top prospect and has mostly held up to the standard in his first three seasons. His slash numbers took a fairly big dive last season, with his OPS dropping 100 points from the previous two years. It's likely he will see a bounce back and results closer to 2022-23, but it's worth being conscious of his down year.
Mid-Tier Guys
- Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers, 54th
- Yainer Diaz, Houston Astros, 71st
- Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals, 86th
Smith stands out here, as the rankings suggest; he could be in a tier of his own, really. Hitting in the middle of the Dodgers lineup will present plenty of RBI and run scoring opportunities, and Smith holds up his end as well. He has been very consistent the past four seasons, averaging close to 130 games with around 75 runs and RBI, 22 home runs and doubles, and a .260 batting average.
Diaz has really come on strong the past two seasons, combining for 51 doubles, 39 home runs, and a batting average over .290. He strikes out a lot and doesn't walk much (181 to 35), but Diaz is a strong contributor at a tough offensive position.
Perez might be my favorite option if you miss out on the top two guys. He is also eligible at first base, and I love multi-positional players. He has been very close to Smith in offensive production recently, with less walks but more power numbers. He also plays more games than almost any other catcher because he also patrols first and will DH.
Borderline Starters
- Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners, 93rd
- Keibert Ruiz, Washington Nationals, 104th
- Willson Contreras, St. Louis Cardinals, 126th
This is the final group that is seen as daily starters. That doesn't mean no other players at the position will reach that level, but this is the preseason perception at the position. Everyone after this point is a matchup-based player, maybe better as a streamer depending on who he is playing; these guys might fall into that category as well.
Raleigh was part of one of the worst lineups in baseball last season: Seattle was in the bottom 10 in runs scored, hits, doubles, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS. They ranked high in home runs but also struck out the most of any team; that's a profile that fits Raleigh perfectly. He hit 34 home runs last season but racked up 176 Ks. Don't count on high-level production, but the power is real if you are in the 10th round and find your team with a lack of pop.
Ruiz averaged around 22 doubles and 15 home runs over the past two seasons. He also struck out less than one-third as much as Raleigh. Ruiz is a lower version of the guys in the previous tier rather than a high-ceiling home run guy, like Raleigh.
Contreras is another veteran who sits around that 20/20 range with doubles and homers. He only appeared in about half the games last season largely because of a broken arm suffered when he was struck with a bat while catching. Contreras will likely appear at DH often along with his catching duties, making him a player with an OK floor (though maybe a low ceiling).
Early Streamers
There are plenty more players who will be worth a spot in your lineup at some point during the season, but there's no reason to reach after this point. Focus on grabbing high-upside players or multi-position guys to fill out your bench and plan to treat catcher as a streaming position. You'll likely run into a daily option, at least for a stretch of the season, so don't worry about drafting your year-long guy.
- Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez, Pittsburgh Pirates @ Miami Marlins
- Danny Jansen, Tampa Bay Rays vs Colorado Rockies
- Logan O'Hoppe, Los Angeles Angels @ Chicago White Sox
These guys have three of the best matchups to start the season. They are players to draft late if you miss out on one of the eight "draftable" catchers.
Bart is likely the starter in Pittsburgh to begin the season, but the higher ceiling might belong to Rodriguez or Henry Davis, the top overall pick in 2021. Davis has hit plenty of bumps, though, and Bart is the guy to go with early from the Pirates.
The Rockies gave up more runs than any team last season. It's logical to tie that to playing half their games at Coors Field, but Colorado pitchers gave up more runs in away games than any other team also. Jansen is a strong streamer even though the opening games are in Tampa instead of Denver.
O'Hoppe gets the pleasure of starting the season against the team that set a record for the most losses ever last season. The White Sox traded Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox, so opening day won't be too scary for Angel hitters.
