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Way Too Early Rankings – Catcher

Fantasy Baseball
Dave Funnell
Author: Dave Funnell
9 min.read
Agustin Ramirez Early catcher rankings for 2026

Welcome to the Way Too Early Rankings – Catcher Edition for November 2025. Here, I will go over my Top 10 at the catcher position, reviewing what we’ve seen this past season, what we’re looking for this offseason, and what we can expect in 2026. I will be doing this for every position, so get ready for the ride.

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Way Too Early 2026 Catcher Rankings

1. Cal Raleigh – Seattle Mariners

The catcher position is suddenly loaded, and Cal Raleigh is a major reason why. After finishing the season with an MLB-best 60 home runs, he has to be the highest-rated player at the position.

What makes it even more impressive is that he did so while playing in 159 games for the Mariners, though some of them were as the team’s designated hitter. Will he continue this power surge next year? It’s hard to bet against him if he can stay healthy. It’s fair to be worried that his body may not be able to hold up for so long, as there is a lot of wear and tear on him. In fact, over the past two seasons, he has played in 312 games, tying him for 20th in baseball.

However, with a promising rookie in Harry Ford likely set to receive a chance behind the plate, Raleigh could find himself playing DH more often, which is a pathway to health.

2. William Contreras – Milwaukee Brewers

It feels weird promoting someone who finished the season with significant regression, but here we are. William Contreras is a player who, despite the lowered numbers across the board, still managed to lower his strikeout rate, increase his walk rate, and hit the ball hard.

The difference was that he was admittedly playing through a finger injury for the entire 2025 season, undoubtedly causing discomfort. It’s these sorts of injuries that also result in a lack of power and a change in approach at the plate. He recently had surgery to fix his fractured left middle finger and is expected to be ready for Spring Training. Buy the dip.

3. Hunter Goodman – Colorado Rockies

Hunter Goodman went from an afterthought to a fantasy baseball stud, almost overnight. He not only took the ball that he was given, but also bulldozed anyone in his way while running with it.

Usually plagued by the Rockies’ insistence on giving veterans playing time, the team shifted philosophy a bit, allowing their youth to flourish. Looking under the hood, Goodman does have some concerns, such as a somewhat high strikeout rate while not taking nearly enough walks. That said, his home and road splits are intriguing, as he hit for power on the road while getting on base more at home. Essentially, he did everything that a member of the Rockies is expected to do, and at age 26, he has a chance to prove the doubters wrong and show that this wasn’t a fluke.

4. Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals

Here is where the list might take a turn. Salvador Perez had an incredibly slow start to the 2025 season. At age 35, there were questions about his future, with some believing that he was on the Father Time Regression Train.

However, a look under the hood at the All-Star Break saw that he was still hitting the ball as hard as ever, and his numbers showed an incredible amount of bad luck. He finished the season with the most home runs since his breakout season of 2021, and his offseason contract extension gave faith that he still has something left to give.

His injury history suggests that he is a player who takes a licking and keeps on kicking, and the Royals utilize him well as the team’s first baseman and designated hitter. In doing so, this gives his body time to rest. If the late-season Carter Jensen breakout is legitimate, Perez will be given more time at other positions, likely keeping him multi-position eligible after the 2026 season.

https://twitter.com/JaredKollerKC/status/1985880472023404727

5. Ben Rice – New York Yankees

After his breakout in 2025, it feels safe to say that Ben Rice is a damn fine hitter. After a successful two-year run in the minor leagues, he burst onto the scene with a power profile that plays well to the confines of Yankee Stadium.

With a plethora of red on his Statcast sliders, there’s very little to be worried about heading into 2026. To nitpick, he struggled against breaking pitches last year, so if teams adjust to attack that weakness, we could see a drop in his overall production. Still, at the end of the day, there is a lot to love when planning for next season, and making Rice a focal point of your draft could be a strategy that pays off, depending on cost.

6. Shea Langeliers – Sacramento Athletics

As a minor leaguer, the prestige behind his bat was always intriguing, as Shea Langeliers was believed to be a big piece of the puzzle for the Athletics’ future. He struggled mightily in his first three years, but the move to a minor league ballpark surely helped him find his way.

In fact, had he played all of his games at home last year, he would have hit an expected 32 home runs. The good news is that the A’s will play home games in Sutter Health Park again next season, and there’s a decent chance that this sort of production can continue.

Unfortunately, his overall 24.4 expected home runs indicate he had some luck, and it’s unclear whether that will lead to regression in 2026. It might all depend on whether he can keep his strikeout rate below 20% like he did last season, which came from changing his approach at the plate.

7. Will Smith – Los Angeles Dodgers

Tried, tested, and true, the World Series hero Will Smith is a reliable resource at the catcher position. The unfortunate part for him is that he doesn’t play another position, and as such, he doesn’t have the luxury of being the team’s designated hitter because of Shohei Ohtani.

However, that might be a blessing in disguise, as he hasn’t had a major injury in years, making him someone to rely on if you know the circumstances. If you draft him, be prepared with a backup to slot into the lineup, making him a difficult player to add in weekly leagues.

8. Adley Rutschman – Baltimore Orioles

It’s a weird feeling for many reasons to have Adley Rutschman at this spot. On the one hand, a few years ago, he was believed to be the future of this position, with a prospect pedigree that few catchers could match.

He had an incredible 2023 season and looked on track to become the face of the Orioles franchise. Since then, he has struggled to maintain any level of solid production while also battling injuries.

It’s fair to wonder how far down we would rank him if we anonymously looked at his numbers without the name. Come to think of it, this might be where he lands if we take into account all pros and cons, but there is a high level of variance here. He could be an All-Star or in a timeshare with Samuel Basallo by season’s end.

9. Agustin Ramirez – Miami Marlins

This is a tremendous looking profile, as Agustin Ramirez finished the year with 21 home runs and 16 stolen bases, and all with a strikeout rate below 20%. That is outstanding, so what’s the problem?

I’m not really sure. Perhaps it’s the fact that he plays for Miami, so his opportunities for runs scored and runs batted in are below average. Or maybe it’s the fact that his stats at home are vastly inferior to those on the road, making it questionable for a repeat or a step forward next season.

Still, he’s only 24 years old, looks like he has a great eye at the plate, and his expected batting average was almost 40 points higher than his actual batting average. There’s some massive room for growth here.

10. Drake Baldwin – Atlanta Braves

It’s somewhat disappointing when you look at Drake Baldwin’s final line and see that he only hit 19 home runs. It feels like he did so much more than what’s on the back of his baseball card, and perhaps the next step forward will happen next season.

He looked every bit as good as Sean Murphy and held his own once he was the lone healthy catcher of the two. It’s tough to imagine both of them not in the picture next season, but there is a world where Baldwin gets reps as the team’s designated hitter if that spot isn’t addressed in the offseason. He might be a buy-low candidate in earlier drafts.

Quick Hits

Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz somehow lowered his strikeout rate, but also finished with a career-low .256 batting average, despite a solid 20 home runs. Perhaps having more help in the lineup will give him the boost he needs to regain his Top 10 form… Kyle Teel held his own upon his promotion last season, showing poise at and behind the plate. It remains to be seen how the White Sox will utilize him and Edgar Quero as a tandem, but Chicago has the choice to use either elsewhere, too… Austin Wells’ final numbers look awful, but some of that had to do with the Ben Rice breakout. If he can’t find a way to raise his batting average, he might be relegated to backup duties in the Bronx… Samuel Basallo got some great on-field experience to end the season, and despite his poor numbers, it should be treated as a success. It remains to be seen if he can put it all together in 2026 and be the catcher the team believes he can be, while sharing time with Rutschman… Alejandro Kirk is a beloved figure in Toronto after putting together his best season as a pro with 15 home runs hit and a .282 batting average over 130 games played. He’s not one to swing and miss a lot, so there’s definitely a chance that he can repeat these numbers next year… Carter Jensen had himself a tremendous September, hitting nine of his 18 hits for extra bases. He should get some playing time next season, and his early-season performance may dictate how often he plays.

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Dave Funnell
Dave Funnell
Dave has been playing fantasy baseball for many years and plans on doing so for many more.

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