2025 Positional Power Rankings: Catcher

Since the start of the 21st century, Cal Raleigh ranks second among primary catchers in home runs per plate appearance and third in adjusted ISO, feats made all the more impressive by the fact that he calls T-Mobile Park home. He hit 34 long balls in 2024, breaking the Mariners’ single-season record for home runs by a catcher, which he previously set the year before – and the year before that. He is also the only catcher on our splits leaderboard with a career ISO above .200 from both sides of the plate. TL;DR, the Big Dumper is a big thumper.

Touted as a bat-first backstop in his prospect days, Raleigh has established himself as an equally skilled defender. His framing is top-notch, and he has an aptitude for nabbing would-be basestealers. Just as important is his durability. He has never gone on the injured list and has increased his playing time in each season of his career. Over the past three years, no one has caught more games. With all that going for him, it’s no wonder that Raleigh’s picture is at the top of this piece.

Mitch Garver was a major disappointment in his first year with Seattle, but on the bright side, he avoided the IL for the first time since his rookie campaign. Even if he can’t slug like the everyday DH the Mariners hoped he would be, he only needs to hit a little better than he did last season to be a capable second-string catcher.

Patrick Bailey’s WAR projection ranks sixth among NL players, trailing only a handful of superstars with nine-figure contracts. Even more impressive, our Depth Charts have him posting a five-win season despite a projected 91 wRC+. Only one player in major league history, Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio, has ever finished a season with a wRC+ that low and still managed to produce at least 5.0 WAR. That’s absurd! Bailey is such a talented defender that his 50th-percentile projections are practically unprecedented.

Thanks to his virtuosic framing, Bailey has been the most valuable defensive player in the majors in each of his first two seasons. He has been worth an average of 5.2 WAR per 162 games, even with a 79 career wRC+. Of course, we don’t expect him to play all 162 in 2025, but the projections foresee a notable offensive improvement that would bring him over the 5.0 WAR threshold. That’s not so far-fetched, considering the wide gap between his career wOBA (.281) and xwOBA (.316) and the fact that he’s still green; he won’t turn 26 for another two months.

The Tom Murphy signing isn’t working out so well for San Francisco, and after missing almost all of 2024 with a knee sprain, he’ll be back on the IL to start 2025. That isn’t ideal, but the Giants have Sam Huff and Max Stassi to provide further depth. More to the point, their starter is so good that they’ll try not to use their backup very often anyway.

Adley Rutschman was a five-win player in each of his first two seasons, and he played at a five-win pace through the first three months of 2024. But his bat abandoned him at the end of June – perhaps connected to a sharp foul ball that struck his right hand – and the player who had ranked sixth in WAR since his debut turned into a replacement-level husk. It surely didn’t help that his framing was uncharacteristically mediocre throughout the year, nor that his offense was considerably worse on days he was catching as opposed to playing DH.

Fortunately for the Orioles, our Depth Charts are confident that Rutschman’s second half was little more than a blip on the radar. His projected .347 OBP leads AL catchers, as does his 123 wRC+. His defensive projections are also comfortably above average. Still, his defense (and his ability to hit whilst playing defense) will be something to monitor in 2025.

The Orioles have always been cautious with Rutschman’s playing time, and the fact that they signed Gary Sánchez suggests that isn’t going to change. Sánchez is a competent catcher with plus power who should allow Brandon Hyde to give Rutschman as many starts at DH as he needs to stay fresh. Samuel Basallo, the top catching prospect in baseball, could also potentially debut this year. That said, as long as Rustchman and Sánchez are healthy, the 20-year-old Basallo will only make it to the majors if he forces the issue.

Alejandro Kirk made a name for himself with a 155 wRC+ first half in 2022. Ever since, he has been a steady 95 wRC+ guy. In that light, his offensive projections for 2025 might look a little too rosy. Steamer is especially high on his bat (122 wRC+), but ZiPS is also optimistic (109 wRC+). Why might that be? For one thing, we can’t forget how well Kirk hit leading up to his All-Star appearance. Furthermore, he has consistently underperformed his xwOBAs in the two and a half years since. He is also among the younger starting catchers in the league, which should, in theory, mean that he remains on an upward trajectory. Still, a projected 115 wRC+ might seem lofty for a hitter with high contact rates but increasingly unspectacular swing decisions and a low pull rate on balls in the air. On the other hand, if every projection were entirely unsurprising, we wouldn’t have much use for projections at all.

Even if you’re skeptical of Kirk’s bat, his glove is undeniable. Over the last three years, he ranks first among catchers in DRS and third in FRV. The only question about his work behind the plate is how much of it he’ll be able to offer. For most of his Jays tenure, Kirk shared his job with Danny Jansen; he has never caught more than 775 innings in a season. But now that journeyman Tyler Heineman is the only other backstop on Toronto’s 40-man, this team will need more from Kirk than ever before.

The Jays like Heineman. They’ve signed him, traded for him, and claimed him – all in the last three years. Still, this is a player in his age-34 season who has switched teams 13 times in a 13-year professional career. Christian Bethancourt and Ali Sánchez are also in the organization, though neither is any more promising an option.

The version of William Contreras that turned into a master framer when he first joined the Brewers retreated into the shadows somewhat in 2024. Thankfully for Contreras, he was the best offensive catcher in baseball last year, and it wasn’t particularly close. He also set a new career-high in plate appearances; his 679 trips to the dish were the most by a primary NL catcher since Johnny Bench in 1974. (It helps that Contreras got to play 35 games at DH.) So despite his more middling defense, he finished with upwards of 5.0 WAR for the second season in a row. Milwaukee would rank higher on this list if we didn’t expect him to play a good amount of DH again in 2025.

Eric Haase is uninspiring, even as backup catchers go. He has some pop in his bat, but his discipline and contact skills are atrocious, and his defense might be even worse. Top 100 prospect Jeferson Quero could eventually unseat Haase, but he’ll need to prove himself at Triple-A first. Quero was supposed to get that chance last year, but he suffered a season-ending labrum injury in the top of the first inning on Opening Day of the minor league season. He’ll need that shoulder back to full strength if he’s going to make the most of his two most important tools: big power and a cannon of an arm behind the plate.

Gabriel Moreno took several small steps forward in 2024 compared to the season before. He struck out less, walked more, hit fewer groundballs, and brought his framing runs up into positive territory. As a result, he increased his WAR by a quarter of a win despite playing fewer games than he did in 2023. Still, we’re talking about an incremental improvement, which is why it’s so exciting to see that the projections have him rocketing up to four-win status in 2025. Last year, the D-backs ranked 11th on our catcher power rankings, with Moreno projected for 3.3 WAR. This year, that WAR projection is almost a full win higher. Projection-wise, Moreno finds himself in the same ballpark as his All-Star teammates Ketel Marte (4.4 WAR) and Corbin Carroll (4.2).

The D-backs currently have four catchers on the 40-man. Top 100 prospect Adrian Del Castillo is the most exciting of the backup options, and if he keeps hitting like he did last year, he could earn enough reps at DH to carve out a semi-regular role in 2025. However, his remaining options years (and poor spring) put him at a disadvantage. Neither Jose Herrera nor René Pinto has options left, which means the D-backs risk losing them if they don’t make the Opening Day roster. Herrera hasn’t done much to establish himself over his three seasons with Arizona, but he has more big league experience than Pinto – and more experience with the D-backs’ pitching staff – making him the front-runner for the backup role.

Austin Wells got off to a rough start last year, putting up a 73 wRC+ through the end of May. Then his bat heated up with the weather, and he was arguably the best catcher in the AL by the end of August. He trailed Cal Raleigh for the lead in WAR by less than two-tenths of a win – in 34 fewer games. With the fall weather, however, came a fall in production, and Wells saw his wRC+ drop from 126 on August 31 to 105 by the end of the year.

The good news for Wells is that projection systems, unlike humans, don’t let hot and cold streaks cloud the complete picture. Thanks to his scorching summer and excellent framing, he finished with strong overall numbers, especially for a rookie catcher. The Yankees’ position on this list is a reminder that Wells had a promising season, no matter how it started or how it came to close.

Knowing that Wells could cover the bulk of the catching reps in 2025, the Yankees traded Jose Trevino this winter. As a result, their depth isn’t as strong as it might have been. J.C. Escarra and Ben Rice are on the 40-man, and both can catch; the Yankees seem particularly high on Escarra this spring. Keep in mind, however, that neither has catching experience at the big league level, and both bat left-handed – as does Wells. So NRI (and RHB) Alex Jackson has a case to break camp. His lackluster projections are honestly quite optimistic, considering his 29 wRC+ in 124 career games in the majors.

Jake Rogers is a middle class man’s Patrick Bailey, a Gold Glove-caliber defender who puts up offensive numbers that wouldn’t be tolerated at any other position. He’s not quite on Bailey’s level (no one is), but the projections make a convincing case that he’s the second-best defender among this year’s crop of starting catchers. The only thing to like about his bat is his power, but that’s not nothing. He’s strong enough to post double-digit homers while playing half his games at Comerica Park. Thanks to his glove and his pop, Rogers is a top-10 catcher by projected WAR, even though we expect him to play far less often than everyone ranked above him.

Why do we have a top-10 catcher projected for just 60% of his team’s playing time? Because the Tigers’ second-string backstop is Dillon Dingler. In 2021, we ranked Dingler as Detroit’s no. 6 prospect, 18 spots ahead of Rogers. In 2022, Dingler made his way onto our Top 100 list, while Rogers spent the season on the shelf. In other words, it wasn’t so long ago that Dingler looked like the more promising of the two. While his stock has slipped in recent years, it’s not a bad idea for the Tigers to give him a proper chance to prove himself as more than just a backup. Much like Rogers, he has the skills to offer plus defense and a bit of pop.

Yainer Diaz struggles with balls and strikes, whether he’s at the plate or behind it. His framing is poor, and his plate discipline is even worse. It’s a good thing, then, that he’s so strong (he throws fast and hits hard) and doesn’t let the ball get past him (he blocks well and makes plenty of contact). That skill set helped him produce a three-win season in his first full big league campaign.

Diaz hits well enough to fill in at DH or first base as needed. And while his glove isn’t exactly a liability, it won’t be missed when he’s covering another position. Victor Caratini turned into a strong framer in Milwaukee’s catching factory, and he brought the lessons he learned with him to Houston last year. He’s no slouch with the stick either, and even though it seems unlikely he’ll reproduce his career-best 113 wRC+ from last season, our projections see him as a roughly league-average bat.

The Astros ranked fifth in catcher WAR last season, thanks to an impressive performance from both members of the Diaz/Caratini combo. We expect another strong showing from the duo in 2025.

Over Sean Murphy’s first five seasons, he recorded more than 15 WAR. The only players who outproduced him on a WAR-per-PA basis (min. 500 PA) were Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Mookie Betts. That stat is slightly misleading – Murphy “only” ranked 20th in WAR per game – but regardless, it’s not hyperbole to say he entered 2024 as one of the best players in baseball.

Unfortunately, an Opening Day oblique strain shelved him for two months, and upon his return, he lost his way. His quality of contact, which had improved steadily from 2021-23, was severely diminished. His defense, while still an asset, was far less impressive than usual. He finished with a 78 wRC+ and just 0.8 WAR in 72 games.

Our Depth Charts are hedging their bets on Murphy, forecasting something between his 2023 and ‘24 performances, but his attempt to bounce back in 2025 will be delayed by a cracked rib. While he’s out, Atlanta’s top prospect (and the no. 11 overall prospect in baseball), Drake Baldwin, will get a chance to grab hold of a big league role. Baldwin hit well at Triple-A last year and has kept it up this spring. Meanwhile, the defensive improvements he’s made since being drafted offer hope that he’ll continue to refine his glovework. That puts him in a good position to break camp and make his major league debut on Opening Day. If he does, how quickly he adjusts to the majors will determine how badly the Braves miss Travis d’Arnaud. Atlanta would love not to need much from Chadwick Tromp (the only other catcher currently on the 40-man), Curt Casali, or Sandy León, but they’re around if it’s determined that Baldwin needs more time at Triple-A.

Tyler Stephenson was excellent in 2024, doubling his career WAR in just 138 games. Our Depth Charts aren’t convinced that what he did is sustainable – we can’t ignore how bad he was on both sides of the ball the year before – but it looks as if Stephenson can be something like a league-average player, with the offensive upside to be a little more. Unfortunately, a mild oblique strain will keep him on the shelf for at least the first few weeks of the year.

Jose Trevino has upside of his own, though it comes from his glove. He has never had a season with a wRC+ above 90, but he leads all catchers in framing runs over the last four years. In 2022, the only season in which he topped 90 games, he earned All-Star and Platinum Glove honors in a 3.8 WAR campaign.

Based on their rate stat projections, you could argue that Stephenson (when healthy) and Trevino are each deserving of a proper starting job. That being said, both come with worrisome injury histories. With two potential starters at their disposal, the Reds are better equipped to handle an injury at catcher than most other teams — as long as Stephenson and Trevino never have overlapping IL stints, which became a possibility after Trevino was struck by a foul tip over the weekend. Thankfully, imaging on his throwing hand came back negative, and it looks like he’ll likely avoid a trip to the IL. The veteran Austin Wynns is a fine third-string option, but the Reds will be in trouble if he has to start on a regular basis.

Will Smith, signed through 2033, is already one of the longest-tenured starting catchers in the league — only Salvador Perez and J.T. Realmuto have been their team’s primary catcher for longer. Meanwhile, backup Austin Barnes is entering year 11 in Chavez Ravine. Over the last five years, those two have taken 99% of the Dodgers’ plate appearances from the catcher position.

Keeping things consistent has worked well for this club. Yet, 2025 marks the first time in a decade that the Dodgers haven’t ranked within the top four on our catcher power rankings. Smith is still a talented hitter, but his offense has declined in each of the past four years. It’s harder to know what to make of his glove. His throwing arm became a weapon last season, seemingly out of nowhere, but the trade-off was that his strong blocking skills were diminished and his framing metrics were among the worst in the league. If he outperforms his projections, it will be on the strength of his bat. Conversely, if he underperforms, there’s a good chance his glove will be to blame. Then there’s his health, which could make things go either way. A bone bruise he suffered to his left ankle last June may have contributed to his uneven performance over the rest of the season. A healthier Smith could be a more productive player. The only problem? His left ankle has continued to cause him pain this spring.

As for Barnes, the projections are unimpressed, though if any team can afford to prioritize intangibles in a backup, it’s the Dodgers. However, they might have to make a tough decision when Dalton Rushing, a 60-FV prospect, is ready to debut. If he meets expectations, it shouldn’t be long before the Dodgers are back among the top teams on this list again.

For the second year in a row, Francisco Alvarez will miss significant time early in the season with an injury to his left hand. In a best-case scenario, the Mets will have him back in late April or early May, and the injury won’t affect his power or framing, the most important tools in his tool belt.

Alvarez has yet to reach his All-Star offensive ceiling. He finished his rookie season with a 97 wRC+, despite hitting 25 bombs. He pushed his batting line above league average in year two, but his power output dropped. Still, a catcher with a career .202 ISO before his 23rd birthday is worth getting excited about, and our Depth Charts agree. A projected 112 wRC+ would look great from even a poor defensive catcher, and Alvarez’s glove has been stronger than almost anyone expected. Over the past two years, his 23.1 framing runs rank third in the majors. That defense provides him with a solid foundation as he continues to seek out the plus potential in his bat.

Alvarez’s injury thrusts Luis Torrens into a larger role. After putting up a 79 wRC+ and -1.7 WAR from 2017-23, Torrens looked like a passable backup with New York in 2024. The projections think he can do it again, but his floor is low. The same is true of Hayden Senger, a non-roster invitee who looks like the favorite to back up the backup while the starter is out. As nice as it would be to see the long-time Mets minor leaguer go from clocking in at Whole Foods to clocking in at Citi Field, there is no doubt this team needs Alvaraez back as soon as possible.

Logan O’Hoppe was a league-average player in his first full season, providing roughly average offense and roughly average defense en route to a two-win campaign. Ultimately, the young catcher’s best ability was availability. After spending two-thirds of his rookie season on the injured list, he ranked third among catchers in starts and defensive innings in his sophomore campaign.

While the projections foresee an uptick in offense, they aren’t as sold on O’Hoppe’s glove. That isn’t too surprising; his pop times have always been slow, and his framing was atrocious over a small sample in 2023. He looked like a plus defender as a prospect, but he’s going to have to show more in the majors before our Depth Charts believe it.

As O’Hoppe strives to take another leap forward, it should help that he won’t have to be quite as available in 2025. The Angels signed Travis d’Arnaud this winter, giving them a monopoly on catchers with apostrophes in their names. While his offensive production seems to yo-yo from one year to the next, d’Arnaud has been a solid hitter and a fine defender throughout his 30s. We don’t have projections for veteran leadership, but he should provide the Angels with some of that, too.

When the Guardians chose to sign the soft-hitting Austin Hedges last winter, they were surely hoping to get some offense from their other catcher, Bo Naylor. Most teams might have been scared off by the fact that Hedges had not produced an OPS above .500 since 2021, but the Guardians could pair him with one of the most promising power-hitting catchers in the game. Or so they thought. Naylor finished with a .614 OPS in his sophomore season, a number closer to Hedges’ mark (.422) than Naylor’s own from the year before (.809).

On the bright side, the Naylor/Hedges tandem gave the Guardians exemplary defense. To no one’s surprise, Hedges was sharp behind the plate, stealing just enough strikes to keep himself above replacement level. Meanwhile, Naylor’s framing was similarly impressive, perhaps thanks to the guidance of his veteran mentor. With Naylor and Hedges sticking together in 2025, we expect another excellent defensive year for the Guardians’ catchers. As for the other half of the game? Hedges is what he is, and evidently, Cleveland is fine with that. Naylor, on the other hand, has the skills to be so much more. The Guardians – who need all the offense they can get – have to make sure he’s only taking his lessons from Hedges behind the plate.

Ryan Jeffers has played in parts of five seasons, and we still don’t know what kind of hitter he really is. After posting an 88 wRC+ from 2020-22, the hulking backstop broke out with a 137 wRC+ performance across 96 games in 2023. It didn’t seem sustainable, and few were surprised when his wRC+ dropped by 30 points the following year. More surprising, however, was how he got there. A prototypical Three True Outcomes hitter across his first four seasons, Jeffers saw his strikeout and walk rates each drop by about 30% in 2024.

Our Depth Charts are optimistic, pegging Jeffers for strikeout and walk rates close to league average, which would complement his plus power nicely. His defensive projections are poor, as they should be, given his career numbers, but he slugs well enough to make up for a lackluster glove. That’s pretty much all you can ask for from a 6-foot-4, 235-pound backstop.

Joining Jeffers for a third season as his co-catcher is Christian Vázquez. The veteran has turned into a pumpkin at the plate, though he remains among the better framers in the game. Even with a wRC+ in the 60s, he has produced at least 1.0 WAR as a catcher in each of the past two years. Brief appearances at other positions have dragged his overall WAR totals down, but that only drives home the point. Vázquez is productive when he’s catching, but only when he’s catching. Plenty of teams have one bat-first and one glove-first catcher to choose from, and nowhere is that difference more extreme than in Minnesota.

With all the talk about Wilson Contreras and his defense, you might be surprised to learn that the Cardinals ranked third in catcher WAR last season. Does that mean they’re making a mistake moving their $87.5 million catcher to first base? Perhaps. But Contreras wasn’t the only reason that St. Louis’ backstops were so successful in 2024.

Iván Herrera was a hitting machine in his first extended taste of big league action. A high BABIP may have fueled some of his success, but he made quality contact, and the projections see him as a well-above-average offensive catcher. His defense was neither an asset nor a liability, but his bat helped him finish with 2.1 WAR in less than half a season of games.

Of course, it’s no secret how highly the Cardinals value catcher defense. Thus, the glove-first Pedro Pagés earned more playing time than Herrera down the stretch last year, despite Herrera’s superior WAR. Similarly, John Mozeliak has suggested the two will share catching duties in 2025, despite Herrera’s superior projections. Jimmy Crooks, a Top 100 prospect, is another defense-oriented catcher to keep an eye on. He’s not a candidate for the Opening Day roster, but he could be the first man up in case of a mid-season injury.

Jonah Heim was one of the better catchers in the sport from 2022-23, providing roughly average offense and tremendous value with his defense. Many things went wrong for the Rangers last year, and one of them was that the All-Star and Gold Glove version of Heim was gone. In his place was one of the least productive hitters in the league and, much more surprisingly, a mediocre glove behind the dish. After he stole at least eight runs worth of strikes in each of the previous three years, his framing was a net negative in 2024.

It’s hard to imagine Heim will be below replacement-level again this season, but the projections aren’t convinced he’ll return to All-Star form. The Rangers seem to agree, so they went out and found Heim a partner to share the coaching load. Kyle Higashioka has caught in 80-90 games in each of the past three seasons, churning out about 1.5 WAR per year, and that’s pretty much exactly what our Depth Charts have him doing again in 2025. While his career-best 105 wRC+ from last season might not be sustainable, the projections don’t seem to think his defensive downturn was the beginning of a lasting decline.

After establishing himself as a passable major leaguer in 2023, Shea Langeliers looked like a legitimate starting catcher in 2024. His 29 homers ranked second at the position, helping him finish with 2.0 WAR despite few other standout skills. Our Depth Charts envision similar power in year three, plus a boost to his overall line from a bit more success on balls in play. Aside from a powerful throwing arm, Langeliers has been a poor defender over his first few seasons. If he can improve his fielding just a little – his glove was promising in his prospect days – his bat is strong enough to take him into three-win territory and beyond.

It’s a shame the A’s have so few options at first base, because it would nice to see Tyler Soderstrom catching now and then. His defense is poor, but not unlike Langeliers, he has big power to compensate for his flaws. Jhonny Pereda, a 28-year-old with 10 big league starts to his name, is the only other catcher on the 40-man, while Kyle McCann – whom the A’s DFA’d when they added Pereda from Miami – is the only other catcher in the org with major league experience.

Let’s take a quick walk down Positional Power Rankings memory lane:

2024: “Salvador Perez has taken a tumble since his monster 2021 campaign. His indicators of impact offensive production… have steadily declined.”

2023: “I’m not particularly optimistic about Perez aging well.”

2022: “At 32, he’s likely entering the downswing of his career.”

We’ve been talking about Perez declining for years. We’ve been talking about his potential replacement (first MJ Melendez, then Freddy Fermin) for just as long. So of course Perez went and had his most productive full season in over a decade, ranking fifth among primary catchers with 3.2 WAR in 2024. He looked strong with the stick and surprisingly adept with the glove, putting up a 115 wRC+ and a neutral FRV.

Yet as you can guess from Kansas City’s placement on this list, we aren’t counting on Perez to keep it up in his age-35 campaign. And unfortunately for the Royals, Fermin followed up his impressive rookie season with a much worse sophomore showing. He’s certainly a better defender than Perez, but he’s not the heir apparent at the dish. As his 30th birthday fast approaches, it seems the Royals will have to look elsewhere for their catcher of the future. Maybe it’s 21-year-old Carter Jensen, the no. 68 overall prospect in baseball. Or who knows — maybe Perez will just stick around forever.

From 2021-23, Danny Jansen was one of the better all-around backstops in baseball. Numerous injuries, and the fact that he shared his position, limited Jansen to an average of 76 games per season, and yet only four catchers outperformed him in both the offensive and defensive components of WAR: Sean Murphy, J.T. Realmuto, Adley Rutschman, and Will Smith.

In contrast, Jansen’s walk year was poor on both sides of the ball. He finished with an 89 wRC+, -6.4 framing runs, and just 0.5 WAR amidst a trade to Boston. Our projections are confident he’ll bounce back with the stick but aren’t as bullish on the glove. The Rays invested a good chunk of change in Jansen this winter, at least by their own standards, presumably in the hopes that he’ll be better than those projections suggest.

Ben Rortvedt exceeded expectations in his first year with the Rays. While his hot start (120 wRC+ through the All-Star break) proved to be just as unsustainable as it looked (36 wRC+ in the second half), he was a capable receiver behind the dish, finishing with 1.4 WAR in 112 games. He doesn’t profile as a primary catcher on a contending team – hence the Jansen acquisition – but he should be a solid backup for an injury-prone starter.

At his best, J.T. Realmuto was a great hitter and baserunner, no “for a catcher” caveat necessary. But he was a catcher, and a skilled one at that, deservedly winning a pair of Gold Gloves. Now in his mid-30s, he is no longer that star, though his high peak gave him the latitude to decline with grace. He has been a solid player over the past two years, posting back-to-back two-win campaigns. He also remains highly athletic, leaving room for hope that his years as an above-average backstop aren’t over just yet.

That said, there is no denying that Realmuto is getting older, so the Phillies are likely to cut back on his playing time in 2025. Garrett Stubbs is a great bench player, but only when you put the emphasis on “bench” and not “player.” The vibes are immaculate, but the bat and glove are anything but. Thus, we expect Rafael Marchán to finally take over as Realmuto’s backup. Not only does he have better projections than Stubbs at the plate and in the field, he’s out of options, whereas Stubbs has one remaining. In an NL East race where every win is going to count, the Phillies can’t afford to waive Marchán to roster their clubhouse DJ – no matter how well he rocks a pair of overalls.

Cubs catchers ranked last in the NL with -0.2 WAR last year. Jed Hoyer tried to upgrade at the deadline, pursuing Logan O’Hoppe, and after those efforts failed, he reportedly made it a goal to add a catcher after the season. Carson Kelly is hardly the most exciting addition, but he should be better than the motley crew the Cubs ran out alongside Miguel Amaya in 2024.

Could the Cubs use a true starting catcher? Without a doubt. It’s the only position on these rankings in which they sit in the bottom third. Yet, it’s not as if they had a ton of options available to them. Of the catchers who switched teams this winter, our Depth Charts are slightly higher on Jose Trevino and Danny Jansen, but the difference is marginal. Only the most bellyaching of fans could be mad at Hoyer for going with Kelly instead. Most metrics see him as a good enough defender, and he bounced back with the bat last year, enough to convince the projections he can be an average hitter at his position.

Not unlike Kelly, Amaya seems more like a good backup than a primary starter. Still, he has the many possibilities of youth on his side; he’s not finished adjusting to the majors and establishing his identity. The main thing to watch will be if his second-half offensive improvement, brought about by tweaking his swing, was real. Unfortunately, a high BABIP during his hot streak and a nosedive in September suggest not.

In 2023, the Pirates had two catchers of the future. Yet the player we expect to be their primary backstop this season isn’t either of them. Instead, it’s the Giants’ catcher of the future (of the past). Joey Bart finally looked like a major leaguer after latching on in Pittsburgh last year. His defense was still underwhelming, but his swing decisions and contact rate improved, allowing him to reap the rewards of his raw power. He looks like a passable second-division regular heading into 2025.

As for Endy Rodríguez and Henry Davis, at least one of them should start the season in the minors, and you could make a case that’s where they both belong. Davis has nothing left to prove at Triple-A, but the approach that worked at Indianapolis has left him high and dry against major league pitching. His glove won’t pass muster if he’s not mashing — even as a backup. Rodríguez is a better defender, and while he has also struggled to hit in the majors, the sample size is smaller, in part because he missed almost all of 2024 with injury. Some time at Triple-A would probably do him more good than Davis.

All of our playing time projections are estimations, but this situation might be the hardest to nail down. We currently think Bart and Rodríguez will see most of the reps, but performance will dictate opportunity for all three catchers. Jason Delay, the fourth backstop on the 40-man, can fill in as needed.

A 95 wRC+ helped then-rookie Nick Fortes earn a regular gig with the Marlins in 2022. Since then, a lack of better options has been the only thing keeping him in that role. Fortes has played more than 200 games in the last two seasons despite a wRC+ under 60 both years. The projections envision some regression to the mean, but is that because of anything about Fortes himself, or simply because so few players earn so much playing time with so little offense to offer? Projection systems are logical. Nick Fortes, starting catcher is not.

Agustin Ramírez, the prize of the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade, is the Marlins’ top prospect. He could use more time at Triple-A, and Miami could use that time to see what the team has in Rule 5 draftee Liam Hicks. Still, Ramírez is trending toward his big league debut. Once he arrives, he’s going to play.

Hicks should start the season as the Marlins’ backup, though he has yet to play above Double-A. In the best-case scenario, where Hicks is hitting too well to give up when Ramírez is ready to arrive, Miami can rotate the two between catcher and first base/DH; that might be where both of their long-term futures lie anyway. Joe Mack is another Top 100 catching prospect and has a plus-plus arm. He could figure into the mix toward the end of the year, especially if the Marlins offer Hicks back to the Tigers or decide to use Ramírez’s bat more often at another position.

We have four different White Sox catchers projected for at least 100 plate appearances in 2025. That doesn’t necessarily mean you should expect a four-way playing time split. Rather, it’s an indication of how unpredictable this team’s catching situation is right now.

Korey Lee is a former top prospect whose stock has fallen in recent years. He went from looking like an everyday backstop to a glove-first backup, and after last season, even that is in question. Typically, you’d expect a rebuilding team to give a player like that at least another year to prove himself, but the White Sox have a pair of current Top 100 prospects who might force the former Top 100 prospect out of a job.

Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero could both debut at some point this year. Teel is a year older, but Quero is a year closer to needing a 40-man spot. The question for Teel is if he’s ready to hit in the majors; his power faded last year after a promotion to Triple-A. Meanwhile, Quero’s defense remains a work in progress. The White Sox don’t need to rush either of them, but it’s not as if there’s much standing in their way. To that point, Matt Thaiss (who I must remind myself is not Max Stassi) is around to soak up innings until one of Teel or Quero pushes him off the roster.

Keibert Ruiz looked like a competent player on both sides of the ball by age 23. However, in the two seasons since he signed his $50 million extension, his play has been below replacement level. Two years ago, the problem was his glove; he was arguably the worst defensive catcher in the sport. His defense rebounded in 2024 (it was simply bad rather than atrocious), but then it was his bat’s turn to fall off a cliff. His 71 wRC+ ranked last among the 102 NL players who took at least 400 trips to the plate.

Here’s the good news: Our projections think Ruiz can hit like he did in 2023 and catch like he did in 2024. It isn’t a sexy profile, but it’s enough to merit a starting job at the big league level. That’s more than you can say about the player Ruiz has been for the past two years.

Riley Adams is readying for yet another season as Ruiz’s backup; the two joined the Nationals within one day of each other at the trade deadline in 2021. Adams has been durable for Washington, catching at least 300 innings each of the past three years, but that’s just about all he has to offer. As you can see, the projections agree with that assessment.

The Red Sox made a lot of great moves this winter, but one area they didn’t improve was behind home plate. Craig Breslow identified catcher as enough of a weakness at last year’s deadline that he traded three prospects to a division rival to acquire Danny Jansen, and yet Boston is running it back with Connor Wong in 2025.

The kindest word I can think of to describe Wong last season is adequate. Even then, most of his value came from an unsustainable offensive line. One could try to make a case that Wong will maintain his 95th-percentile BABIP, but the 42-point difference between his wOBA and xwOBA completely sells him out. Indeed, our Depth Charts have his wRC+ dropping from 110 to 94. That still isn’t bad for a catcher, but it is bad for a catcher who ranked last among AL receivers in framing runs, DRS, and FRV last season.

As for the backups, none of Carlos Narvaez, Blake Sabol, or Seby Zavala is more than organizational depth. At least Narvaez comes with the upside of the unknown – he has only played six big league games – but we’re hardly talking about a top prospect. Maybe it’s time the Red Sox gave Yasmani Grandal a call.

There have surely been some teams whose placement on this list has surprised you, but I doubt that Colorado is one of them. In 32 years of franchise history, the Rockies have never had a great catcher. Indeed, across the last two decades, Rockies backstops have averaged less than half a win per 162 games.

None of what you just read was about the catchers who will play for this team in 2025, though it might as well have been. For the first time in six years, the Rockies will enter the season without Elias Díaz on their roster, but not much has really changed. Jacob Stallings was surprisingly productive at the plate last year, but our projections see him falling right back to his pre-2024 offensive level. And while he was once a good defender, his fielding has degraded over the past three years. That explains his near-replacement-level projection.

Things could get more interesting if Drew Romo can hit enough to stick in the majors or Hunter Goodman can hit enough to make up for his almost unplayable glove, but as you can see in the table above, neither is the most probable outcome. Stallings will start the season as the primary catcher with Goodman as his backup, but eventually, one could imagine any combination of these three taking the catching the reps for Colorado.

We currently have Elias Díaz and Luis Campusano splitting playing time in San Diego, but Campusano could still earn the bulk of the starts – and he really should if both players perform the way they’re projected to. Campusano hasn’t accomplished much in the majors, but at least he has youth and former top prospect upside working in his favor. Díaz, on the other hand, is 10 years deep into a big league career with precisely 0.0 WAR to show for it. Thus, our projections envision Campusano to be about four times as valuable, largely due to his contact skills and average power potential.

With that said, Campusano has struggled in camp (after struggling last season), and it’s not out of the question that the Padres send him back to Triple-A, where he finished the 2024 campaign. In that case, Martín Maldonado – who has the only negative WAR projection of any player on this list – could break camp as the backup to Díaz.

The lesson in all this? Few among us realized how important Kyle Higashioka would be when San Diego acquired him as a throw-in piece of the Juan Soto trade. With every game Campusano, Díaz, and Maldonado play this year, his loss will surely be felt.