2026 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings: What does Cal Raleigh have in store after historic season?

Even moving past Cal Raleigh‘s awe-inspiring, record-breaking, MVP-quality campaign, 2025 was a great year for the catchers on the whole. In fact, the catcher spot was responsible for more homers (606) and RBI (2,216) than five of the other nine positions, including left field and third base (designated hitter, first base and right field topped the list). Most of the best players were young, too. Of the 10 catchers to hit 19 or more homers last year, only Salvador Perez was older than 28. Five were 25 or younger, and that doesn’t count Iván Herrera, who came up short of qualifying at the spot but hopefully will regain eligibility this year.

At this point, there’s enough depth at catcher that only Raleigh truthers should consider a significant investment on a backstop in a one-catcher mixed league. There are nine guys on this list who would seem to offer rather high floors and upside beyond that. And, again, that’s not counting Herrera, who will probably belong in the top four here if and when he regains eligibility. Even missing out on one of those nine or 10 players wouldn’t be a disaster… there are still at least another half-dozen players behind them capable of making a run at 20 homers.

So, here’s our breakdown of the mixed-league options for 2026. You won’t be surprised by the top choice.

Other position previews:

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⚾ 2026 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings

** Rotoworld staff consensus rankings **

Editor’s Note: Projections and dollar values from Matthew Pouliot; player rankings are based on consensus.

⚾ 2026 Catcher Projections and Previews

1) Cal Raleigh — Seattle Mariners

2026 Outlook: It was probably the best fantasy season from a catcher ever. Raleigh hardly came out of nowhere in 2025 after finishing 18th and 12th in the AL MVP balloting the previous two seasons, but his fantasy potential seemed capped by playing in the game’s toughest ballpark for batting average in Seattle. Of course, he still didn’t excel there in batting .247 in 2025, but the rest was remarkable. He hit 60 homers, which led the majors and shattered MLB records for catchers and switch-hitters. He also topped the AL with 125 RBI and even stole twice as many bases (14) as in his previous 3 1/3 big-league seasons combined.

After something like that, Raleigh can only go down. His exit velocity numbers last year were just a little better than his career numbers. He had homers on a full 75% of his barrels, compared to 64% previously. His contact numbers didn’t change much. He’ll probably hold on to some of those gains in the power department, but less so in terms of average. He does project to get more plate appearances than any other catcher, but as durable as he’s been thus far, it still only takes one unfortunate foul tip to mess up a season. The premium price tag is earned, but it just doesn’t seem worth paying, especially with the increased depth at the catcher spot this year.

2026 projection: (Mixed $18) 547 AB, 85 R, 38 HR, 90 RBI, 6 SB, 21 2B, 1 3B, .225/.323/.475

2) William Contreras — Milwaukee Brewers

2026 Outlook: Fantasy baseball’s No. 1 catcher in both 2023 and ’24, Contreras was derailed in 2025 by a fractured finger suffered in early May. He missed just one game when it happened, but it was always a hinderance and he wound up undergoing surgery in October. In spite of his issues, Contreras did finish very nicely, hitting .293/.380/.510 with 11 homers over his final 51 games. He should be 100 percent this spring, and a rebound seems likely. Perhaps worthy of note is that he didn’t seem happy with how the Brewers handled his arbitration negotiations after a season in which he started 128 games behind the plate in spite of a mangled finger. Maybe it’s extra motivation or maybe it eventually makes him the next star the team trades away.

2026 projection: (Mixed $7) 524 AB, 78 R, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 5 SB, 27 2B, 1 3B, .271/.356/.441

3) Ben Rice — New York Yankees

2026 Outlook: Many expect Rice to bust out as the Yankees’ primary first baseman this season, but the breakthrough already took place, and Rice was just really unlucky it didn’t materialize more obviously. Of last year’s 145 batting-title qualifiers, Rice ranked 15th in barrel rate, seventh in hard-hit rate, seventh with a .557 xSLG and sixth with a .394 xwOBA. He did this with just an 18.9% strikeout rate. Of the six guys ahead of him on the hard-hit rate list, Aaron Judge had the next best strikeout rate at 23.6%. Pretty much everything beyond the fine-but-unspectacular .255/.337/.499 line painted him as one of baseball’s best hitters.

Of course, Rice didn’t face many lefties along the way, and while the Yankees initially indicated that would change this season, they went ahead and re-signed Paul Goldschmidt in February to serve as a platoon first baseman. That means what time Rice sees versus southpaws figures to come behind the plate. Rice had seven homers and a .752 OPS in his 119 plate appearances against lefties last season, but that came with a .208 average and a 27.7% strikeout rate. He projects to be adequate but probably below average against lefties this year. Against righties, though, he should be simply outstanding, and that he’ll be catching less than most makes him a better bet to stay off the IL than pretty much everyone else on this list.

2026 projection: (Mixed $8) 454 AB, 73 R, 26 HR, 76 RBI, 4 SB, 23 2B, 2 3B, .267/.352/.498

t4) Hunter Goodman — Colorado Rockies

2026 Outlook: One tricky part in judging this strong class of rather young catchers is that the ones who seem most likely to regress are playing in ballparks that will do their best to help prevent it. Goodman was just a sleeper in a shaky situation with Jacob Stallings seemingly likely to open last year as the Rockies’ starting catcher. In a rare moment of clarity, however, the Rockies made him an everyday player and stuck with him after a May slump. He went on to hit .342 with seven homers in June, and there was no denying him afterwards. Goodman still has significant plate discipline issues — both his chase and his whiff rates were in the eighth percentile of major leaguers last season — and his EV numbers are more good than great. That’s reason to think he’ll be marginally worse in 2026, but he can afford a drop off from a .278-31-91 season and retain some value. That’s he’s backed by Coors and is likely to hit third or fourth for a team that will play him at either catcher or DH nearly every day would seem to give him a pretty high floor.

2026 projection: (Mixed $5), 509 AB, 71 R, 27 HR, 80 RBI, 4 SB, 28 2B, 3 3B, .261/.315/.487

t4) Shea Langeliers — Athletics

2026 Outlook: No catcher this century had totaled 30 doubles and 30 homers in the same season until both Langeliers (32 doubles, 31 homers) and Salvador Perez did it last season. Langeliers also hit 29 homers in 2024, but he made so much more contact in 2025, hitting .277 with a 19.7% strikeout rate. He had a .215 average and 29% strikeout rate over 312 career games coming into last season. The ballpark switch from Oakland to Sacramento certainly helped, but Langeliers actually hit better on the road last season, finishing at .274/.332/.580. Nevertheless, his .278/.319/.498 home line was far better than the .197/.270/.406 he hit in his final year at The Coliseum. Statcast thinks Langeliers was pretty lucky, giving him a .255 xBA and a .454 xSLG that was 82 points lower than his actual mark and actually barely lower than his .456 xSLG from 2024. His barrel rate was slightly lower than in 2023 and ’24, and his hard-hit rate was practically unchanged. It suggests a decline is in store for 2026, but with Sutter Health Field playing so well for offense, it should be a mild one. He’s simply in so much better of a situation now than he was in 2023 and ’24, especially with the A’s lineup looking more competitive than it has in years.

2026 projection: (Mixed $4) 489 AB, 68 R, 27 HR, 80 RBI, 5 SB, 24 2B, 2 3B, .258/.315/.481

6) Agustín Ramírez — Miami Marlins

2026 Outlook: Ramírez arrived as advertised late last April, hitting .242/.289/.470 with 14 homers through the All-Star break and playing the worst catcher defense in the league. Things mostly went south in the second half, as he hit .219/.285/.352 the rest of the way, but he stole 15 bases in 16 tries after going 1-for-3 in the first half. As a result, his fantasy value held up just fine. Because he’s an awful defender coming off three months of not hitting, Ramírez is sort of risky now. As a catcher, he probably doesn’t even belong in the majors at this point, yet all indications are that the Marlins want to continue to develop him defensively at the major league level. If they reverse course and make him their first baseman or DH, he’d move up the rankings here; he’d be in line for more at-bats, and it probably weighs on his offense that he has to work so hard on defense. And the offense still seems promising. He wound up with a .263 xBA and a .451 xSLG last year. His EV numbers were pretty good, and he struck out just 19.3% of the time as a rookie. There’s no guarantee he’ll do so much running again, especially since he’s not really very fast at all. Still, he did also go 22-for-24 stealing bases in the minors in 2024, so he both likes to run and is quite good at it. He should remain a top-10 catcher if he catches, and if he doesn’t, he’d move into the top five.

2026 projection: (Mixed $5) 530 AB, 71 R, 20 HR, 77 RBI, 11 SB, 30 2B, 2 3B, .264/.328/.442

7) Drake Baldwin — Atlanta Braves

2026 Outlook: They say the gap between the minors and majors might be bigger than ever right now, but don’t tell it to Baldwin. The 2025 NL Rookie of the Year hit .270 with 16 homers while spending most of 2023 in High-A ball, .276 with 16 homers between Double- and Triple-A in the 2024 and then .274 with 19 homers in his first year in Atlanta. Expected to share time with Sean Murphy, he got a quick boost when Murphy opened on the IL and wound up starting 85 games at catcher and 12 at DH. One imagines he’ll play even more this year, especially after his remarkable success in lefty-lefty matchups last season; he hit .299/.358/.460 in his 95 plate appearances versus southpaws. At 25, Baldwin should have more to add offensively; not only does he make more contact than most, but he did so last year with 91st-percentile bat speed and an 85th-percentile hard-hit rate. It just holds him back a tad that he projects for fewer plate appearances than the guys above him and that he’s a complete zero in steals (he’s totaled three in four seasons as a pro).

2026 projection: (Mixed $3) 485 AB, 68 R, 21 HR, 76 RBI, 1 SB, 22 2B, 1 3B, .272/.341/.452

Everything you need for 2026 fantasy baseball draft season.

8) Salvador Perez — Kansas City Royals

2026 Outlook: Perez slipped to .236/.284/.446 in his age-35 season after coming in at .268/.312/.484 over the previous five years, so given his age, it’d seem reasonable to project continued decline. And, yet, his age really seems to be the only reason to do that. Perez’s EV numbers last year were all better than his norms, especially his 14.7%-barrel rate (his career mark was 10.2%). Just 43% of his barrels became homers, compared to 56% the previous three years. And not only was he hitting the ball harder, but his strikeout rate was also down. That his BABIP plummeted to .251 from a .290 career mark (.295 the previous three years) just doesn’t make much sense.

Furthermore, Perez has two significant new positives to consider here. First, the presence of Carter Jensen means that Perez should be doing more DHing than ever, keeping him healthy and strong. Second, the Royals have moved in their fences down the corners, something that’ll probably earn him a couple of extra homers over the course of 81 games. All things considered, he just might be the best value pick among the top 10 catchers.

2026 projection: (Mixed $5) 567 AB, 62 R, 32 HR, 95 RBI, 0 SB, 24 2B, 0 3B, .245/.292/.457

9) Will Smith — Los Angeles Dodgers

2026 Outlook: Although he hit .248 in 2024 and had a lifetime average of .258, Smith made a run at a batting title last season, hitting .325 through the end of July. Alas, he faded in August and then missed most of September with a broken hand caused by a foul tip. Smith’s bat speed was up about two mph last year, and while that did lead to a few more missed swings, producing harder contact made it well worth the trade. What holds Smith back in the rankings somewhat here is that there just aren’t any DH at-bats available for him in Los Angeles; when he needs a day off from catching, he’s going to sit entirely. It’s also likely that he’ll spend less time hitting third and fourth this year as a result of the Kyle Tucker signing. On a per at-bat basis, he rates as a top-five catcher.

2026 projection: (Mixed $2) 418 AB, 67 R, 20 HR, 69 RBI, 2 SB, 21 2B, 2 3B, .263/.360/.467

10) Yainer Diaz — Houston Astros

2026 Outlook: One of the league’s least disciplined hitters, Diaz is coming off the weakest of his three seasons, a combination of some seeming bad luck but also a slight downturn in his exit velocity numbers. Statcast had him with an xBA of .273 and an xSLG of .465, both a fair amount higher than his actual marks of .256 and .417. Still, it is worth nothing that his bat speed has declined each of the last two years, though by a lesser margin last season. It’s probably not a good sign for his long-term future, especially given his hacktastic ways, but for 2026 he remains a reasonable bet. That he no longer has to contend with arguably the game’s best backup catcher in Victor Caratini is a good thing, though that wasn’t really an issue last year since Yordan Alvarez’s absences allowed both to DH quite a bit. Something like .270-20-70 feels like a reasonable projection, but while that easily would have had him ranked comfortably as a top-10 catcher the last several seasons, it’s right on the fringe now.

2026 projection: (Mixed $1) 480 AB, 59 R, 20 HR, 69 RBI, 2 SB, 23 2B, 1 3B, .271/.303/.448

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11) Adley Rutschman — Baltimore Orioles

2026 Outlook: Even after two seasons of dramatic decline in his numbers, Rutschman can’t be entirely slept on. However, more questionable than betting on his talent is betting on his obliques; he injured both last year and missed five weeks in June and July and then four more in August and September. In the 90 games in which he took the field, he struggled to a .220/.307/.366 line. However, he did so with slight better EV numbers than usual. His strikeout rate was down a tad, too. One of the fascinating things about Rutschman is how much better he has hit as a DH (.282/.366/.467) than as a catcher (.245/.339/.390) over the course of his career, and with Samuel Basallo up, he’ll probably DH more than usual this year, even if he is a better defender than the youngster. If he proves healthy, there’s a good chance he’ll wind up as a top-10 catcher. Still, he wouldn’t seem to have a particularly high ceiling at this point. Even in easily his best year in 2023, his .277 average and 20 homers don’t really stand out, and there’s little chance he’ll approach the 687 plate appearances he received then.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 486 AB, 65 R, 18 HR, 66 RBI, 1 SB, 23 2B, 1 3B, .259/.346/.422

12) Alejandro Kirk — Toronto Blue Jays

2026 Outlook: Kirk was pretty well written off as a fantasy catcher after hitting .251 with a total of 13 homers in 226 games between 2023 and ’24, but he returned to his 2022 breakthrough form last season and then got a bunch of extra attention during a playoff run in which he hit five homers. Kirk’s improved exit velocity numbers backed up the rebound, and he was probably unfortunate that his 40 barrels produced a modest 15 homers. One problem, though, is that Kirk just doesn’t score runs. Even in a lineup that hummed along as well as Toronto’s did last season, he totaled 45 over the course of the year, partly because he’s often removed for pinch-runners. He’d rank a couple of spots higher in 4×4 leagues.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 427 AB, 50 R, 16 HR, 65 RBI, 0 SB, 20 2B, 0 3B, .272/.344/.431

13) Francisco Alvarez — New York Mets

2026 Outlook: Alvarez’s eventful 2025 included a fractured hamate bone suffered in early March, a June demotion to Triple-A, a sprained right thumb that put him on the IL for a second time in August and a fractured pinkie suffered while rehabbing the previous injury. Nevertheless, he hit a stellar .276/.360/.561 line with eight homers in 41 games after his recall from Triple-A. He ended up requiring surgery on his thumb in the offseason, but he’s slated to be ready to go this spring. Alvarez debuted in 2022, so it’s very easy to forget that he only turned 24 in November. He averaged 93.1 mph off the bat last season, a huge increase over his career mark of 89.5 mph. If he weren’t a catcher, it’d be very easy to imagine him busting out with a 30-homer campaign in 2026. Unfortunately, though, the repeated hand injuries are a real concern. Besides last year’s three, he also missed two months in 2024 with a sprained left thumb suffered running the bases. Even in his first full season, he was day-to-day with hand injuries three times. Because of that and because he’s probably going to open up in the bottom third of the Mets lineup, it’s difficult to project him for as many plate appearances as the top catchers are going to get.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 389 AB, 53 R, 20 HR, 56 RBI, 1 SB, 17 2B, 1 3B, .231/.317/.434

14) Gabriel Moreno — Arizona Diamondbacks

2026 Outlook: Because he’s missed chunks of the last two seasons and hasn’t hit many homers yet, there’s little hype surrounding Moreno. Still, just about every trend here is a good one for a player entering his prime at age 26. Moreno’s .285 average in 83 games last season placed him second among catchers, and in each of the last two seasons, he’s slightly increased his bat speed while also slightly decreasing his swing length, which isn’t typically how that works. He’s also made big gains by getting his groundball rate down from 55% in 2022-23 to 50% in 2024 to 39% last year. He finished last season as the cleanup hitter in a diminished Diamondbacks lineup, and he has a good argument for staying there, which would really add to his potential given the quality of the team’s top three hitters. Now he just needs to stay healthy. Last year’s big injury was a fractured finger suffered on a wild pitch. In 2024, he missed time with a sprained thumb and a strained groin. Maybe durability will continue to be a problem, but he’s one of this year’s breakthrough candidates.

2026 projection: (Mixed $1) 437 AB, 61 R, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 3 SB, 24 2B, 2 3B, .286/.352/.453

15) Kyle Teel — Chicago White Sox

2026 Outlook: Teel’s lofty minor league BABIPs carried right over to the majors after the White Sox gave him a try in June. He finished at .361 there, allowing him to bat .273 in spite of a 26% strikeout rate. That seems and probably is unsustainable, but it also wasn’t a fluke; Teel had a .380 BABIP in his 50 games in Triple-A last season. He was at .362 in the Red Sox system in 2024 and .456 over 26 games in his pro debut after being selected 14th overall in the 2023 draft. Using a rather compact swing, he has a knack for hitting liners and finding the gaps. He’ll still probably lose something off that BABIP this year, but he could help counter it by dropping his strikeout rate. He could also help his fantasy stock by doing a little more running. He was 7-for-8 stealing bases in his 50 minor league games last year but just 3-for-4 in his 78 appearances for the White Sox. Teel probably doesn’t yet have the power to make a real impact in mixed leagues, but he’s definitely off to a nice start.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 412 AB, 59 R, 14 HR, 52 RBI, 7 SB, 19 2B, 1 3B, .255/.347/.408

16) J.T. Realmuto — Philadelphia Phillies

2026 Outlook: Since a career-best season at age 31 in 2022, Realmuto’s OPS and home run totals have dropped three years running. Still, it’s not like he’s fallen off a cliff. At age 35 last season, his average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate were all a bit above his career marks. He also had his best contact numbers since 2019. His bat speed is right around the league average, and perhaps the most incredible thing about him is that he still boasted 76th-percentile sprint speed while moving up to 64th all-time in games caught last season. It remains entirely possible that he has one more season of mixed-league viability in him, and while he’ll probably open this year hitting in the bottom third of the Phillies lineup, it might not take much of a hot streak to put him into the cleanup spot at some point.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 441 AB, 58 R, 15 HR, 57 RBI, 9 SB, 21 2B, 2 3B, .252/.315/.410

17) Samuel Basallo — Baltimore Orioles

2026 Outlook: Nothing the Orioles have done this winter would seem to benefit Basallo as he enters what should be his first full season. There was never really any reason to think the Orioles would trade Rutschman to make Basallo their starting catcher, as the plan was and is to keep and play both. It’s just that since that plan came about, the Orioles have signed Pete Alonso to start 162 games between first base and DH. They’ve also held on to Ryan Mountcastle, who is limited to first base and DH, and added Taylor Ward, which reduces Tyler O’Neill’s role in the outfield. Heck, there’s even the chance Coby Mayo figures things out. If Basallo performs up to his vast potential, none of that will be much of a problem. It might not leave him with much margin for error, though, especially if Mountcastle or O’Neill comes out of the gate hot. If all goes well, Basallo will be a regular against righties and make a run at 25 homers while batting .250 or so.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 353 AB, 43 R, 17 HR, 50 RBI, 1 SB, 15 2B, 1 3B, .241/.306/.433

18) Carter Jensen — Kansas City Royals

2026 Outlook: Royals manager Matt Quatraro didn’t seem quite as interested in giving Jensen a look last September as the front office did; the 22-year-old started just three of his first 11 games on the roster, serving as a DH each time. Fortunately, something changed in the middle of the month, and after Jensen hit two homers on Sept. 16, he was a fixture the rest of the way. It’s difficult to overstate just how impressive Jensen’s exit velocity numbers were. 58% of his 48 balls in play were hard hit, with 10 of them being barrels. Both the hard-hit rate and the 21%-barrel rate placed fifth in the majors for anyone with 50 plate appearances. Jensen also had a 59% hard-hit rate in 43 games after moving up to Triple-A. It’s probably a fluke that he struck out just 17% of the time in the majors, considering that he was at 25% in the minors, but with his power, a few more strikeouts won’t be a problem. Jensen also has some basestealing ability, having gone 38-for-43 in the minors the last three years. There’s upside for him to be a top-10 catcher right away this year, though it requires that the Royals give him regular playing time alternating with Perez between catcher and DH. There are probably some swing flaws still to be exposed, and he’ll be at risk for a Triple-A demotion if he gets off to a slow start. He’s very promising, though, and that the Royals brought in the walls some adds to his fantasy upside.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 356 AB, 50 R, 14 HR, 48 RBI, 6 SB, 19 2B, 1 3B, .253/.326/.430

19) Austin Wells — New York Yankees

2026 Outlook: Wells got a stock boost last spring, when the Yankees tinkered with batting him leadoff. He was actually in that spot on Opening Day and kicked off the season by taking Freddy Peralta deep, getting him immediately picked up in a bunch of leagues. As it turned out, though, he led off just one more time all year. With his OBP hovering in the .250-.280 range, he batted in the top five spots in the Yankees lineup only eight times and never after May 13. Wells struck out 21% of the time and walked 11% of the time as a rookie in 2024. Last year, though, those figures were 26% and 7%, respectively. On the plus side, he did show more power, finishing with 21 homers and 71 RBI. His defense is excellent, and with Rice set to play first base this year, Wells is locked in as a starting catcher against righties. He’ll likely remain fine in the power department but without the batting average necessary to finish as a top-10 catcher.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 400 AB, 54 R, 18 HR, 55 RBI, 3 SB, 18 2B, 1 3B, .233/.308/.418

20) Logan O’Hoppe — Los Angeles Angels

2026 Outlook: Few position players saw their stock drop more than O’Hoppe last year. He’s always had big plate discipline issues, but he hit a solid enough .242/.301/.434 with 34 homers in 721 plate appearances between 2023 and ’24 and there still seemed to be some room to grow as he approached his age-25 season. Instead, he declined both offensively and defensively to the point at which there’s real doubt about his ability to stick as a starting catcher. Fortunately, O’Hoppe seems to know this and put in a lot of work over the winter. Also fortunate is that the Angels weren’t at all motivated to replace him. He still seems like a threat to hit 25 homers, but he probably won’t contribute enough in the other categories to be a difference maker.

2026 projection: (Mixed $0) 423 AB, 53 R, 22 HR, 57 RBI, 2 SB, 17 2B, 1 3B, .239/.295/.440