5.22.25 Catcher News Clippings
The #1 catching prospect debuts
Somehow it has already been a month since our last update!
Since that time, Dalton Rushing, the top catching prospect in the game, made his major league debut for the Dodgers. It’s been only four games, but he’s been hot from the jump, hitting .308 and knocking in his first two RBI. Playing time will continue to be an issue on the talent-laden Dodgers, but Rushing has the skills to carve out a regular playing spot. Rushing was the #15 prospect in all of baseball and should be even better than the other high-profile catcher prospects called up this season, Agustin Ramirez and Edgar Quero.
Ramirez and Quero have held their own and look like they will be valuable fantasy starters in their own right. Ramirez has slowed down a bit after an amazing first week, during which he may have pushed you to victory in head-to-head leagues. He is now hitting .245/.311/.543 on the year with six home runs, 12 RBI, and one steal.
Quero has also slowed down after a good first week and is hitting .264/.354/.299 as of 5/22 (yes, that slugging percentage is a dreadful .299). He has a higher ceiling as a hitter than Ramirez, but Quero still needs to work on his power.
He’s also had quite a split between when he plays DH (hitting .133) and catcher (hitting .317) but this is actually good news for hopes that he sticks behind the plate.
Catcher News Clippings
Yainer Diaz has played better recently and is digging out from his slow start to the season. During the month of May, Diaz is hitting .274 with three home runs and 10 RBI. His numbers are starting to rise back to where we thought they would be prior to the season, when he was a consensus top 5 ranked catcher. For the season, he is still slashing just .224/.247/.364 but is up to five home runs and 22 RBI.
Mets backstop Francisco Alvarez returned from his hand injury at the end of April and has played in a total of 18 games this season. He’s hitting .250 but has yet to find his power stroke with only one home run and seven RBI. He hit 25 home runs in 2023 but last season his home runs dropped to a total of 11 in 100 games.
Cal Raleigh leads all MLB catchers in home runs (16) and RBI (33) after two months of the season. The power is expected, but Raleigh is having an outstanding all-around season. He’s hitting .249/.370/.584, which are bests across the board and his advanced stats are also all up, including his barrel% of 22.3. This is increased over six points from last season and puts him in the 98th percentile in the MLB. The numbers support that this is a real breakthrough campaign and Raleigh could soon move up to #1 or #2 in the Runs Produced rankings.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to take a victory lap on Hunter Goodman, as he continues his strong season. I thought Goodman was a worthy waiver wire pick up in early April, and you’ve gotten nice value if you added him. Goodman has the benefit of playing in Coors Field and is hitting .276 with 15 RBI at home. Surprisingly he has been better away from Coors Field with a .300 average and 16 RBI on the road. He is up to seven home runs after a recent shot vs. the Diamondbacks. He also has 31 RBI, which is good for second place among MLB catchers.
Gabriel Moreno has been playing strong over the last few weeks after a slow start to his season. In his last 11 games, the Dbacks backstop is hitting .333 with three home runs and eight RBI. This brings his season slash line up to .266/.333/.383, nearly identical to his 2024 season line of .266/.333/.383. Moreno is a talented hitter who can be valuable during hot stretches, but he lacks game changing power capping his overall value (sort of in the Edgar Quero mold). He has yet to hit double-digit home runs in his career. His high is seven in 111 games in 2023.
Waiver Wire Pick of the Week
Braves rookie Drake Baldwin has been on an absolute heater this month and is hitting an absurd .531 with three home runs and 9 RBI over 12 games in May.
He wasn’t bad in March and April, compiling a .250 average with two home runs and six RBI in his first 17 career games but has turned it up a notch over the past three weeks.
This is despite the fact that he is splitting time with Sean Murphy in the starting lineup. Murphy was hurt at the beginning of the season but has still started more games at catcher (25) compared to Baldwin (20) at this point. Baldwin is the long-term answer here, but for season you will need to make sure to look at the playing time split.
Catcher Rankings
1. William Contreras
2. Cal Raleigh
3. Will Smith
4. Yainer Diaz
5. Adley Rutschman
6. Logan O’Hoppe
7. Salvador Perez
8. Shea Langeliers
9. Hunter Goodman
10. Francisco Alvarez
11. Agustin Ramirez
12. Keibert Ruiz
13. Drake Baldwin
14. J.T. Realmuto
15. Willson Contreras
16. Austin Wells
17. Gabriel Moreno
18. Jonah Heim
19. Carson Kelly
20. Edgar Quero
On the bubble:
Dillon Dingler, Ryan Jeffers, Carlos Narvaez
Dropped out:
Sean Murphy, Alejandro Kirk, Joey Bart
