Fantasy Baseball Catcher Breakdown: Can Anyone Catch Cal Raleigh?

It's time to continue our look at fantasy baseball positions by checking out catchers.

We've already looked at first basemen, second basemen, shortstops and third basemen.

Use the FantasySP Trade Value Chart and Trade Analyzer all season when assessing fantasy baseball trades. Also be sure to check out the new “Ask Fantasy Expert” tool inside the analyzer.

Top Performers

Like we have for the past stories, we'll be using ESPN settings and position eligibility.

Cal Raleigh leads the way amongst fantasy catchers. He's nearly up to 200 fantasy points, and no other catcher is even above 135 points.

Will Smith is second, and about 10 points behind him is William Contreras. Hunter Goodman, Shea Langeliers and Carson Kelly are all pretty tightly bunched up before there's another gap.

Willson Contreras checks in seventh, while Austin Wells, Keibert Ruiz and Gabriel Moreno round out the top 10. Alejandro Kirk, Agustin Ramirez and Adley Rutschman are all within five fantasy points of the 10th spot.

Raleigh leads the way in runs scored amongst catchers, scoring 39 times so far. William Contreras is the only other one over 30 runs scored, tallying 34 runs.

Raleigh is at 135 total bases, with Goodman the only other catcher over 100, sitting at 105 total bases. Raleigh leads the way in RBIs with 45 - the next closest is Goodman, and he's at 35 RBIs.

Raleigh also leads the way in walks with 37. William Contreras has 36 walks,while Smith has 31. Raleigh also leads the way in strikeouts with 70. Logan O'Hoppe has struck out 66 times, while Goodman sits at 61 strikeouts.

Would you believe me if I said Raleigh also led the way in stolen bases? Because he does, sitting at six. William Contreras has five stolen bases.

ADP Check In

Looking back at FantasySP ADP data, William Contreras was the top-drafted catcher, going at pick 31.49 on average. Him sitting in third is a bit disappointing, but more so because of where he ranks overall, not just among catchers.

Rutschman went second on average, so him being outside the top 10 means he's been a bust so far. He hasn't shown many signs of getting going at the plate, so the fantasy owners still holding out hope for him have to be pretty worried.

Smith was the third catcher taken on average, so he's lived up to the preseason hype so far. 

Yainer Diaz was taken fourth at the position. He checks in 15th right now, so he's been another bust this season.

Salvador Perez has been another bust, and maybe one of the more surprising ones given how consistent he's been over his career. He was taken fifth amongst catchers on average, but sits outside the top 20 right now.

Raleigh was taken sixth at the position, so he's exceeded expectations and then some. He's been one of the bigger draft steals so far, and that's among all players, not just catchers or hitters.

Ruiz was taken seventh on average, but not until around pick 150. While he doesn't rank that high right now, he's close enough to not be a big draft bust. And with how late he was taken in drafts, I'd say he's done just fine.

Langeliers went eighth overall amongst catchers. He's exceeding expectations and has been one of the better options so far this season.

J.T. Realmuto went ninth at the position, but sits 18th overall. He's not lived up to the preseason hype, and he seems to be trending down now instead of up - he's not a huge bust because of where he was drafted on average, but he's definitely been a disappointment this season.

Tyler Stephenson went 10th at the position. He began the season on the injured list, so he's playing catch up right now. Stephenson has caught fire at the plate of late, so he's moving in the right direction.

Goodman wasn't on our 400-player ADP list before the season, so he's been one of the bigger fantasy surprises. The same could be said for Kelly.

Willson Contreras was listed as a first baseman, but would have been the seventh catcher taken on average, so he's lived up to preseason expectations. Him adding first base position eligibility is also a nice bonus.

Wells went 14th among catchers, so he's exceeding expectations so far. Moreno was taken 11th, so he's also been better than most expected so far.

Trending Up

Over the past 15 days, a few catchers have been hitting well.

Raleigh has the highest average (.359) and on-base percentage (.444). He has seven homers and 11 RBIs over that timeframe, so Raleigh continues to deliver monster fantasy totals.

Carlos Narvaez has a .297 average and .366 OBP over the past 15 days.

William Contreras (.208 average, .255 OBP) and Langeliers (.159 average, .233 OBP) are the only other qualified catchers over those 15 days.

Goodman is hitting .316 and getting on base at a .350 clip over that 15-day span. Dillon Dingler has a .306 average and .342 OBP, while Kirk has a .345 average and .475 OBP.

Rutschman has a .387 OBP despite a .269 average. Diaz has a .379 OBP and .280 average. Stephenson has a .346 average and .379 OBP.

How to Proceed

It's hard to imagine a catcher leapfrogging Raleigh by the end of the season. At the very worst, I see Raleigh as a top-five fantasy catcher. You could look to sell him high, but it'd take an overpay to get me to move him.

Smith and William Contreras have great chances to stick in the top five, and even top three. Contreras has a chance to overtake Smith and Raleigh, as he hasn't really gotten going in a big way yet.

Goodman, Langeliers and Kelly have been fun stories to start the season, but their spots in the top five, and even top 10 are not safe. If I had to choose between the three, I like Langeliers the most, followed by Goodman and Kelly. 

Goodman deserves more fantasy love as he's owned in just 73% of fantasy leagues synced here at FantasySP. I think Kelly will eventually fall out of the top 10, so now is the time to sell high in a trade, even though he's mostly owned in deeper leagues now.

Willson Contreras has a good chance at sticking in the top 10 amongst catchers - he could also move up a few spots. Him being eligible at first base or catcher makes him more valuable in fantasy leagues.

Wells, Ruiz and Moreno have decent shots at sticking in the top 10, especially if a couple others ahead of them drop down eventually. Kirk, Ramirez, Rutschman, Ivan Herrera, Diaz, Narvaez, O'Hoppe, Realmuto, Perez and Stephenson are some others who could challenge for a top-10 spot by the end of the season.

Rutschman is the biggest buy-low target right now. Most of his fantasy owners have to be itching to rid their teams of him, so you might be able to land him for really cheap. 

You can see by the big group of possible top-10 catchers, and some of the guys trending up of late that the fantasy catcher position has plenty of options to choose from. You could probably stream the hottest-hitting catchers for the rest of the season and experience pretty good fantasy results because of it.

Don't stick with the big names when they are struggling and instead turn to some of the lesser-known guys. Find the guys who play the most and give your fantasy team the best chance at success.