Fantasy Baseball: Catcher Positional Preview for 2025

The 2025 MLB season is right around the corner. With the first game scheduled for March 18th and Opening Day following on the 27th, we're less than a month away from regular season baseball.

But for fantasy baseball players, this is peak draft season.

Ahead of drafts, we're previewing every fantasy baseball position.

Below is our catcher preview. With parallels to fantasy football's tight end position, catcher is feast or famine heading into 2025. While I'm happy to snatch up one of the top names, the lack of set-it-and-forget-it options make this a position I'm more than fine punting. There are several sleepers to consider in the closing rounds, although a sizable drop-off exists past the elite options.

Top Fantasy Baseball Catchers for 2025

Here are the top 12 catchers (and their current average draft position), according to FantasyPros' ADP.

Entering drafts, William Contreras and Adley Rutschman are the clear top two catchers in fantasy -- and it isn't close.

Last season, Contreras led the position in batting average (.281), runs (99) and stolen bases (9). He finished fourth in home runs (23) and third in RBI (92), finishing as the top-rated catcher in roto. Oh, and his 0.56 BB/K ratio helped him lead the position in fantasy points per game (3.2), too. Whether you're in a standard 5x5 roto or head-to-head points league, Contreras will (and should) be the first catcher off the board.

Rutschman is in no-man's land right now -- nearly two rounds after Contreras but two rounds ahead of the next wave of backstops. That makes sense. The former top prospect has been solid through three MLB seasons, but he took a step back last year. His wOBA dropped to .309 after sitting north of .350 the first two seasons, and Rutschman saw a downtick in runs, home runs, and RBI. Still, he's a 27-year-old switch-hitter who's third at the position in wRC+ (121) over the past three years. There's C1 upside.

There's a notable tier drop after Contreras and Rutschman. Yainer Diaz, Salvador Perez, Cal Raleigh, Will Smith, and Willson Contreras are all going between Rounds 7-9.

Of this group, Raleigh and Diaz are the two with the most intriguing upside. Diaz was a force over the second half of 2024 when he hit .319 and finished second behind William Contreras in wRC+ (134). Raleigh, meanwhile, paced the position in home runs (34) across 153 games. They finished third and fourth, respectively, at the position in fantasy points.

Still, all five feel like (relatively) safe options, though it's hard to ignore Perez's age as well as Contreras and Smith's lack of durability. Perez will turn 35 in May, although last season his barrel rate spiked to 12.2% and he cut his K% below 20% for the first time since 2018.

Neither Contreras nor Smith have played more than 130 games in either the past two seasons, but last year they tied for second in fantasy points per game (2.9) among catchers. Contreras' move to first base could help keep him fresh for the full year, and Smith's spot in the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup makes him a worthwhile target even if he misses time.

After these seven catchers, the position falls off. But we can still find value in the later rounds.

Undervalued Catchers for Fantasy Baseball

Of the seven catchers going in the first 10 rounds, Will Smith and Willson Contreras feel like the best values, even if they come with injury concerns. In addition to their stellar per-game fantasy points production, the two finished as the C5 and C14, respectively, in roto despite their lack of games. The best ability is availability, but it's pretty easy to imagine these two finishing as top three catchers regardless of format if they can scrape together 140 games.

Beyond the top names, there are three other catchers being drafted outside the top 150 who I have my eye on.

J.T. Realmuto (PHI) | ADP: 159.6

Over the last six seasons, J.T. Realmuto's average ADP was 53rd overall. He was the first or second catcher off the board all six years.

This year, he's going as the C9 (160th overall) -- his lowest ADP since 2016.

I get it -- the 33-year-old only appeared in 99 games last season, and he's now finished with a sub-.330 wOBA two years in a row. His biggest lure -- stolen bases from the catcher position -- was nowhere to be seen; Realmuto went 2 for 4 on the basepaths after swiping 16, 21, and 13 bags the three years prior.

Still, he hit .266 and upped his line-drive rate (21.9%) while maintaining a double-digit barrel rate (10.4%). His 45.9% hard-hit rate was actually the second-highest clip of his career.

Realmuto is now in a contract year, and the Phillies have suggested they're going to find ways to keep him in the lineup even when he's not catching.

That could pay dividends for his totals, and the long track record of fantasy success for Realmuto makes him a worthwhile mid-round target if you wait to address the position.

Austin Wells (NYY) | ADP: 217.4

If you gave me one catcher being drafted outside the top 200 players most likely to finish top-five at the position, Austin Wells is who I'd pick.

The 24-year-old backstop cemented his place toward the bottom of the New York lineup last season, batting .229 with 13 home runs and 55 RBI across 115 games. A former top-five prospect in the Yankees' system, Wells really took off down the stretch of 2024. After the All-Star break, he upped his OPS to a respectable .745, accounting for 7 home runs, 18 runs, and 35 RBI in 54 games.

Over a full 162-game season, Wells' second-half pace would come out to 21 home runs and north of 100 RBI. That's likely an unsustainable RBI pace, but it's not completely out of the question if he locks down an everyday role considering the lineup he's in.

Oh, and it doesn't hurt that Wells will play half his games at Yankee Stadium -- the third-best venue for lefty homers, per Statcast Park Factors.

From an upside perspective, there aren't many (if any) catchers going this late with this much potential for counting stats.

Sean Murphy (ATL) | ADP: 235

Sean Murphy is one of my favorite bounce-back candidates, regardless of position. Murphy was limited to 72 games last season thanks to nagging injuries and having to split time with Travis d'Arnaud behind the dish. But d'Arnaud left via free agency, and the Atlanta Braves did little to address the position.

That sets up Murphy to be their everyday catcher this season -- a role he thrived in over the first half of 2023. In his first season as a Brave, Murphy entered the All-Star break ranked first in home runs (17) and batting average (.309), second in RBI (55), and fourth in runs (42) at the catcher position. Though he cooled off in more a split role in the second half, he still tied for second at the position in fantasy points per game (3.0).

It's hard to ignore what he did in close to a full-time role prior to the 2023 All-Star break, especially considering that production came over the course of just 67 games. If we extrapolate those numbers over 155 games -- the number of games William Contreras played last season -- we're looking at 39 home runs, 97 runs, and 127 RBI.

Those are Jose Ramirez numbers. Of course, it's not that simple, and while we can't expect him to hold that up over the course of an entire season, it at least hints at the kind of upside Murphy has batting in the heart of this Atlanta lineup. As the 15th catcher off the board, Murphy's well-worth taking a swing on in the latter rounds of drafts.

Sean Murphy will now miss 4-6 weeks due to a rib injury. That puts him on track to return sometime in April.

Late-Round Catchers for Fantasy Baseball

In deeper (or two catcher) leagues, you're throwing darts at the end of drafts. But there are a few names I wouldn't mind taking a shot on once you get past the top 250 picks.

Ivan Herrera (STL) | ADP: 293.8

• Ivan Herrera hit .301 across 72 games in and out of the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup, compiling a .366 expected xwOBA that would've led the catcher position had he recorded enough at-bats to qualify. If he maintained that pace over a full 162-game season, Herrera would've finished with 11 home runs, 83 runs, 61 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. With Willson Contreras moving to first base, Herrera has a shot at an everyday role for the Cardinals if he cleans up his defense.

Bo Naylor (CLE) | ADP: 331

• Bo Naylor disappointed in his first full season in the majors. After hitting .237 with 11 homers and 5 steals across 67 games in 2023, Naylor was a hot commodity leading into 2024 drafts. But he regressed dramatically last season, barely clearing the Mendoza line while only slightly increasing his counting stats despite playing nearly twice as many games. However, Naylor remains just 25-years-old, and there aren't many catchers who can flirt with double-digit stolen bases. He's been hitting in the middle of the lineup early in Spring Training, which gives him more potential runs and RBI, too.

Take your sports betting to the next level with the FanDuel Parlay Hub! Explore a curated selection of popular parlays for trending games on FanDuel Sportsbook. Learn about today’s other offers at FanDuel Sportsbook Promos.

Looking for more MLB betting opportunities? Check out all of the MLB odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.