We're looking at some early ADP at each position. Today we get to catchers. It'll be brief, but we'll learn some stuff along the way.
The Top Tier
Drake Baldwin is the #1 guy and sort of in his own tier. No surprises here. It is a pretty top-heavy position right now. There are four guys in the top 55 and then seven more in the top 100.
Remember that these drafts are draft-and-holds that start two catchers. The catchers get pushed up because nobody wants to be left without a C2 that is actually playing.
We're less concerned with the ADP than with the order of the catchers.
I'd take Langeliers over Goodman, but it makes sense that those two are together at 2-3.
The case for Baldwin being well above is the batting average and age. He belted 25 homers in 138 games while hitting .284. There's still room for growth, and the Braves are a pretty nice offense to be a part of.
I like Langeliers more than Goodman. I see the batting average and lineup context being in Langeliers' favor.
The steadiness of William Contreras keeps him in the top five. But he did hit only 18 homers and stole one bag in 147 games. But the 82 runs and 94 RBI are hard to find at catcher, so he's very safe and a good pick to start with. He just doesn't have the 25+ homers that the other guys do.
So that's the top tier.
The next tier is:
- Gabriel Moreno
- Carter Jensen
- Cal Raleigh
- Ivan Herrera
- Samuel Basallo
- Dillon Dingler
And then there's Will Smith on an island before this next clump:
- Leo Bernal
- Liam Hicks
- Adley Rutschman
- Yainer Diaz
Gabriel Moreno
Maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention, but Gabriel Moreno's season surprised me a bit. He hit .311 in 130 games with 16 bombs and six steals. We always knew he was a good batting average guy, but .311!? His .289 xBA supports a lot of that. He's an elite contact hitter with a quick bat.
He finally stayed healthy (97 games in 2024, 83 in 2025), and we saw what could happen. I'm obviously selling a .300 batting average, and I'd be worried enough about another injury to not be this aggressive on him. Even if he stays fully healthy again, it's mid-teens homers in a good year. Not the most fantasy upside, but he's definitely one of the best catchers in the game and can be a big positive with the bat, as we saw.
Check out the projections & ADP dashboard here
Young Power Upside
Carter Jensen (C6) and Samuel Basallo (C9) were trendy picks last year, and they're top-ten guys for 2027. Neither guy totally smashed in their first full season, but they did enough.
Jensen hit 27 bombs with a .239 average. He stole only two bags, so that part of his game didn't show up. Is he too boom-or-bust with his 28% K% and .217 xBA? The price feels like a bet on him improving a bit in those categories next year, which could happen.
As for Sam Basallo, the runway is clear without Adley Rutschman anymore. He should build on his 112 games played last year, but he slugged only .406 with 18 homers. I thought we'd get a lot more homers than that with his elite raw power. 12.1% Brl%, which is nice, but a .318 xwOBA. He didn't get to the right angles very often. The talent on both of these fellows is worth betting on, but their production is by no means locked in.
Ivan Herrera & Leo Bernal
I'm just a little worried that Herrera won't have an everyday role. He looks destined to be the DH. And he's a good option there; it also means he could play 150+ games. But what if he sucks with the bat? When you're only the DH, you have to hit. That's a little bit worrisome for me, but I get it. He's a good hitter and will play every day as long as he's hitting well.
As for Bernal, it was a great debut. 284/.333/.474 with an .807 OPS and five homers in 24 games. He hit just 13 homers in 2025 in 107 games, and then 16 in 2026 in 101 minor league games. So his 4.9% HR% in the Majors was way, way above what he had done in the minors. We didn't expect that kind of power from Bernal, so I think you might be disappointed by what he gives you there next year. He also had a .338 BABIP, so I think what we saw in that small sample from Bernal with the bat was a lot better than what we'd get over a bigger sample.
Guys I think might be over-priced:
- Liam Hicks (C #13): Sometimes a guy just pops off for one year and never does it again. I think that might be the case with Hicks. He's 27 and had a .693 OPS in 119 games in 2025. And then he pops for an .805 OPS and 18 homers in 2026. People probably like that he's on the Rays now, but I don't see it. I don't even really think he'll be an everyday player once they get Caden Bodine in the mix.
- Adley Rutschman (C #14): How long can the name value work for him? He got traded to Boston and sucked with a .688 OPS in 32 games. His career max is 20 homers, and his batting averages over the last three years are .250, .220, and .242. I'm not sure what you think you're buying there.
- Salvador Perez (C #19): Year number 119 of Salvador Perez. He's just too old. We saw the OPS fall to .656 last year and he hit 21 homers despite playing another 152 games. The park changes didn't seem to help, and now he's knocking on the door of being 37.
My initial leans on the buy side (catchers I think are too cheap):
- Will Smith (C #11): Injuries limited him to 73 games in 2026. That creates a bounce-back opportunity. He's still just 31 and one year removed from a .901 OPS season. For the last handful of years, he's been around a .260 htter with 15-20 homers, but plenty of RBI opportunities for him. It's a decent buy low.
- Kyle Teel (C #16): Multiple injuries last year. His prep was cut short by a nasty injury in the WBC. When he got healthy, he hit just .210/.336/.361 in 39 games. But I like him. His minor league numbers were great, the White Sox have a pretty nice lineup, and I love this price.
The young guys to know:
- Ethan Salas (C #22): He was a well known prospect at like 17 years old. He's been in the news for years, and he finally debuted last year at age 20. He won't turn 21 until June, and it looks like he has a shot to be their guy out of the gate next year. He added a lot of power last year, hitting 12 homers after hitting just four in 121 games from 2024-2025. At the end of the day, he's a defense-first catcher, but it was encouraging to see the .296/.374/.448 slash in 2026, getting those injuries behind him. His K% was under 15% in the minors and just 22.5% in the Majors in 40 PAs. Nice price on Salas if you want to buy a cheaper ticket catcher who could end up with a nice season.
- Rafael Flores Jr. (C #25): This is a stretch at C25, I think. We don't know if the Pirates will make him the guy. They still have Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis, who at least played well defensively. Flores hit 11 bombs in 47 games, but that doesn't seem sustainable. Good EVs though with a 107.9 EV90 on fly balls and a 14.6% Brl%. But a 28% K% and real questions about if he'll ever be the first catcher on the depth chart.
- Rainiel Rodriguez (C #28): The Cardinals' #1 prospect. We'll cover him in the next Prospects Preview podcast. He crushed in 2026 with a .324/.413/.574 slash with 27 bombs between A+ and AA. It's a stretch that he gets on the roster early in the season. They have Leo Bernal there, as we've already seen. He'll start in AAA and play a role at some point. The bat should play, but how many games can you get out of him in 2027? And what will the adjustment period be like going from AA to the MLB that quick?
- Caden Bodine (C #36): One of the best plate discipline prospects you'll find. A 6% K% and 9.5% BB% last year with a .343/.411/.521 slash and 17 bombs. Pretty enticing Rays prospect, but he'll have to learn the pitching staff, figure out how to be an MLB defender behind the plate, and he'll have to outdo Liam Hicks to get in there for 4+ starts per week.
