5.29.25 Catcher News Clippings
Is Kyle Teel's call-up imminent?
Top of the Order
Recent transactions by one of the worst teams in major league baseball seem small on the surface but could eventually make major waves in the fantasy catcher world.
On Tuesday, the White Sox made two transactions involving catchers, activating Korey Lee from the IL and trading Matt Thaiss to Tampa for outfielder Dru Baker. Thaiss had started 26 games for the South Siders while Lee recovered from an ankle injury that had shelved him since April 10.
During that period, Chicago also called up top prospect Edgar Quero who started 22 games and is firmly a part of the team’s future. That left Thaiss expendable when Lee returned.
However, all these moves bury the lede without the additional explanation that the White Sox are likely clearing roster space for their #2 prospect Kyle Teel.
After a slow start to the season, Teel has turned it on in Triple-A. After hitting .184 over the season’s first 14 games, his season line is up to .287/.390/.479 with seven home runs, 28 RBI, and five steals.
He was named the International League Player of the Week for the week of 5/20-5/25 after hitting .500/.636/1.188 with three home runs, six RBI, and six walks.
He had his first multi-home run game during this stretch, going 3-4 with two home runs and three RBI on May 22. He also recently ripped off a 19-game hitting streak and got on base for 33 consecutive games.
If Teel is available in your league, now is the time to scoop him up. Once Teel’s up he will have to battle Quero for at-bats, but the White Sox will likely deploy one at catcher and one at DH.
Catcher News Clippings
Tyler Stephenson has come alive over the past week, going 8/19 with two home runs and five RBI. His season line sits at three home runs, 10 RBI, and a .243 average. After debuting at #11 in our pre-season rankings, Stephenson has crawled back to the edge of fantasy relevance.
It doesn’t hurt hitting in the Dodgers’ lineup, but Will Smith is having an MVP-caliber season in 2025. He leads all of baseball in OBP with a mark of .457 and also is the BB% leader. Remarkably, Smith has almost doubled his walk percentage this season (17.7) compared to last (9.4). He is also hitting .338 with five home runs and 29 RBI. Smith won’t be able to maintain these numbers all season long, but for now, it is enough to move him into our #1 spot.
Logan O’Hoppe has been quieter as of late but has put up good numbers this season for the Halos. He is second behind Cal Raleigh in catcher home runs with 14, fourth among catchers in RBI with 30, and fourth in batting average with a .260 clip. He still doesn’t walk much, and strikeouts are still a problem for him, leading to a sub-.300 OBP. He is more valuable in a league without ratios but either way will put up power numbers all year.
Adley Rutschman was a consensus top three catcher coming into the season, but he has been subpar in what’s turning into a nightmare season for the 19-36 Orioles. Baltimore currently has the third fewest wins in the MLB, ahead of only the lowly White Sox and the historically bad Rockies. No one expected much out of Chicago and Colorado, but Baltimore was supposed to compete this season in the AL East.
Rutschman has been a microcosm of the team’s struggles in 2025, hitting .206/.302/.339 with only five home runs and 15 RBI. I still wouldn’t drop him in redraft leagues, and you definitely shouldn’t don’t drop him in dynasty leagues. However, his value is very low at the moment, making him ripe for a buy low opportunity.
Waiver Wire Pick of the Week
Ivan Herrera
Herrera started the season on-fire hitting .381/.458/1.048 during his first seven games, with four home runs and 11 RBI. This included the best game of his MLB career on April 2nd, when he hit three home runs and six RBI. He was making a case to be rostered on fantasy squads when he hit the IL with left knee inflammation. He then missed over a month and returned on May 9th.
Since being activating from the IL, Herrera has kept his torrid pace, hitting .381 during the month of May and knocking in 15 RBI in 17 games. He only has one home run this month but is hitting more than enough to start on your fantasy team. If an owner dropped him in April after his injury, I would scoop him up if he’s floating on your waiver wire. Herrera is starting at DH in real life so the wear and tear should be less than if he was catching every day and he can focus on hitting.
He should be starting in two-catcher leagues and is hot enough currently to start in shallower leagues too.
Catcher Rankings
1. Will Smith
2. Cal Raleigh
3. William Contreras
4. Yainer Diaz
5. Logan O’Hoppe
6. Salvador Perez
7. Adley Rutschman
8. Shea Langeliers
9. Hunter Goodman
10. Agustin Ramirez
11. Francisco Alvarez
12. Keibert Ruiz
13. Drake Baldwin
14. Willson Contreras
15. Ivan Herrera
16. Jonah Heim
17. Gabriel Moreno
18. Dillon Dingler
19. J.T. Realmuto
20. Austin Wells
On the bubble:
Edgar Quero, Tyler Stephenson
Dropped out:
Carson Kelly
