This is an excerpt from the upcoming 2026 White Sox Team Preview. I do a detailed analysis of all fantasy-relevant players throughout the winter for paid subscribers.
Kyle Teel
Age: 23
Pos: C
Teel is a big part of this young and somewhat exciting White Sox offense. He received the call in early June and went on to deliver this line:
→ .273/.375/.411, 26% K%, 12.5% BB%, 8 HR, 3 SB
In this day and age, that’s a really helpful batting average and a superb OBP. A ton of the damage was done late in the year.
If we split his season in half:
→ .260/.357/.366, 24.3% K%, 11.8% BB%, 2 HR, 2 SB
→ .285/.392/.454, 27.5% K%, 13.1% BB%, 6 HR, 1 SB
Everything got better after those first 150 (or so) PAs. He did start striking out more, and the 27.5% clip is a bit alarming. But it’s worth the trade when it comes with a bunch of walks and a .450+ SLG.
Let’s take a look at his minor league profile:
He was hitting for super high batting averages despite a higher strikeout rate. What’s that mean? High BABIP driven by a strong batted ball profile. He posted a strong 26% line drive rate in the minors between 2024-2025, and that carried over to the Majors. This guy had the highest sweet spot rate in the Majors last year at 48.3%.
2025 Sweet Spot% Leaders
Kyle Teel 48.3%
Mike Trout 46.1%
Daylen Lile 45.7%
Ezequiel Tovar 45.2%
Dillon Dingler 44.2%
So he’s very good in that regard with the bat. He can rack up some base knocks, and that’s what he’s been doing for his whole professional career.
The next question is about the power. Can he develop into a 20+ homer bat? Because if he can, there is real five-category potential here.
The 103.8 EV90 is a positive sign. And his 9.6% Brl% was solid. He hit eight homers in 297 PAs. That’s a 16-18 homer pace if he were to ever play every day. As a catcher, that won’t happen, but you can feel pretty good about him being a 15-homer guy next year with some steals and some really nice batting average potential.
I’m liking what I’m seeing here. The line drive stuff and the secure playing time make me think Teel will be a solid catcher pick this year. We’ll have to see where he stacks up against the rest of the field (he’s just the second catcher I’m reviewing), but this guy looks like a sneaky value in points leagues.
The best-case scenario is that he adds power and goes for 22-ish homers with a .275 batting average and 10 steals while not killing anybody in counting stats in the middle of the White Sox order 4-5 times a week. The DH reps were there last year, and I don’t see why they wouldn’t keep coming next year. So he can end up among the game’s top volume catchers as well. Even more to like!