Catchers are like tight ends in the fantasy community. You either love them or hate them, and each team's entire draft philosophies rely heavily on your catching approach.
After 30+ years of playing in fantasy leagues I have watched both strategies work to perfection. I have always put a premium on the catching position. I almost always over drafted the Buster Posey's, Jorge Posada and Joe Mauer's of the world. I am in the camp where having a premiere catcher gives you an edge over the teams with a weak catcher. But, more and more the term position scarcity has gone by the wayside.
The amount of quality catchers has never been greater than right now. William Contreras, Yanier Diaz, Salvador Perez, and Adley Rutschman are all elite backstops. Even players like Cal Raleigh and Will Smith will be taken early in the draft. So where can there be value?
When evaluating a catcher after the top names are off the board you almost have to decide to throw away two categories. Steals are a non factor with this position, and batting average generally will be brought down by the guys behind the plate. That leaves us in a mode of looking for power, and there are some power bats that can be had later in the draft.
Shea Langeliers is a name that if you put a blind resume out there many people would assume you were talking about a top name like Cal Raleigh. Langeliers is pure power, but with that power also comes some nice counting stats. Langeliers is Raleigh-lite if you will. Langeliers is entering his prime seasons at just 27 years old. He is moving from the biggest pitchers park in baseball to a more hitter friendly park in Sacramento, and will be in the middle of a surprisingly good A's lineup. His numbers last year were outstanding for his ADP, and I suspect you can steal him again at cost.
Langeliers just missed the 30 home run mark, falling just short at 29, and his 80 RBIs were a sign that the Oakland lineup wasn't as bad as it seemed. He did hit .224 and his runs scored were low for what his production was, but there are signs that can be built up. A season where he is barely a top 10 catcher on his average draft position, but produces 30+ homers, 90+ RBI and gets into the 70 for runs scored isn't hard to imagine and that is a value play.
Austin Wells is another power bat that could see a nice big leap this year. Wells has long been celebrated for having "the perfect swing for the short porch at Yankee Stadium" and that beautiful lefty swing certainly had its moments in 2024. Wells was hitting cleanup for a portion of the season and in a lineup with Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, that alone is impressive. Wells now has the full time job after amassing only 354 at bats last season. He is dynamic behind the plate, which does matter in fantasy because that means he will play more, and the more at bats he gets the more seasoned he will become.
Wells hit 13 home runs over those 350 at bats and with another year under his belt it's not crazy to think he could get to the low 20's for home runs. There is even a case to be made with his slightly above average exit velo and launch angle, combined with his excellent eye at the plate that he could break out for high 20's in homers. Unlike Langeliers, his counting stats should also be excellent in that Yankee lineup. He had 55 RBIs in just 354 at bats which would be into the 70's last season with a full starters slate of games. That number should come close to 80 this year with the production bump. His runs scored also will get a jolt because of the lineup he is in. I see an optimistic line of 24 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 70 runs scored. That of course will also come with a low .240's or so batting average, which you can live with for the power output.
The last name on the list is Long Island local Logan O'Hoppe. O'Hoppe is hitting in the middle of an Angels lineup that with a little health could be dangerous this season, but even with all the injuries around him, he still produced very well for a two catcher league and was a borderline top 10 catcher last season.
O'Hoppe cranked 20 bombs last year with a respectable .244 average. His 56 RBIs with 20 home runs speaks to the poor shape the Angels lineup was in most of the season dealing with injuries. He did however get 64 runs and managed 479 at bats. The Angels will have a healthy Mike Trout to begin the season. They added a power bat in Jorge Soler and overall the offense should be much better than it was last year. O'Hoppe's underlying metrics say he could be much, much better than his stats have shown. His Baseball Savant page reads like a dream. His exit velo, xslugging, xWOBA, hard hit rate, barrel % and sweet spot % are all as red as can be. With a better lineup and some maturation from the 24 year old the sky is the limit. I'll say he breaks out this season to the tune of 27 homers, .250 avg, with 150 RBIs and runs combined. He should finish inside the top 10 catchers with a chance to be a top 5 steal of the draft.
Getting cheap power from the catcher position later in drafts is a formula that can and has worked. One factor to keep in mind is playing time and how much teams will rest their backstop. Consider this. There have been 40 catcher seasons with 135 games played or more from 2000 to 2010. But, since 2013 there’s only been 10. Teams are resting catchers more and going with almost a two headed approach. So when you are drafting look not only for production but playing time, because as an old coach used to say the best ability is availability.