The catcher position took the big collective step forward we were all hoping for in 2026, and then they all mostly took a big step back. At the All-Star break, six different catchers had at least an .800 OPS while logging at least 200 at-bats; in the second half, five catchers had at least an .800 OPS in at least 150 at-bats, but only Gabriel Moreno actually managed it across both halves of the season. Here's how those six first-half breakouts fared in the second: *missed much of the second half with a knee injury For the most part, they didn't totally collapse.
And this list notably doesn't include Drake Baldwin, whose first-half numbers were dragged down by a miserable few weeks right after he came back from an oblique injury; he had a big second half, finishing third at the position in OPS. But when it looked like we were getting a whole new crop of potential superstars early on, that momentum didn't quite carry over for the whole season. Add it all up, and we ended up with 11 players worth at least $10 on the FanGraphs.com Player Rater, actually down from the 12 who hit that mark in 2025.
But that doesn't quite paint the right picture either, because the number of $20 catchers actually jumped from four in 2025 to nine in 2026, and Langeliers would have gotten there if not for his injury. Despite a somewhat disappointing second half across the board, the position did take a big step forward overall. We're going to give some of that back, of course, because it just doesn't look like Rice is ever going to have catcher eligibility ever again, while Dingler and Hicks feel like tough bets to repeat their overall success.
Even with that, catcher does at least look stronger than it has at the high end in a long time, and that's without assuming a bounce back from Cal Raleigh. You might still find the pickings kind of slim in 2027 drafts if you play in a two-catcher league, but there are enough capable catchers that getting one of the best ones doesn't necessarily put you way ahead of most of the league. And this isn't just a one-year trend, as the (relative) resurgence of the catcher position started in 2025.
The top names at the position are mostly young enough that we should expect them to at least hold steady for the next few years – obviously, you can't always bet on that, especially with catchers, but there aren't a ton of glaring red flags at the top of the position. Catcher certainly isn't the strongest position in Fantasy. Pound for pound, it might still be the weakest, even.
But that gap has shrunk over the past few years, and with some really exciting young players on the verge of establishing themselves in the majors, it could get even better in 2027. It's okay to be optimistic about the state of catchers right now! Some of these names aren't surprising at all.
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