Top 10 Catchers in MLB for 2025
Headlined by a clear-cut top three, the catching position in MLB is as young and athletic as it's been in a long time.

The catching position has seen as much change in recent years as any position in Major League Baseball. J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies topped our catcher rankings going into the 2023 season; now, he finds himself outside of the top 10. More than half of our group of 10 is 26 years old or younger, with so many young backstops making immediate impressions.
Athleticism has made its way back into the catching position from top-to-bottom, with power and quick twitch defensively headlining the tools boasted by these players behind the plate. With this crop being as young as it’s been in recent memory, it’s also as promising.
**NOTE: These positional rankings are created by ordering the average score from each of our six voters. For the Catcher group, ranked the players 1-15, with anyone outside of their individual top 15 being given a score of 20.**
Honorable Mentions: J.T. Realmuto (PHI), Logan O’Hoppe (LAA), Ivan Herrera (STL), Shea Langeliers (ATH)
The cut-off between the No. 10 spot and the first Honorable Mention was razor-thin, with Realmuto’s cumulative grade of 64 being one greater than Francisco Alvarez’s 63 and two more than Gabriel Moreno’s 62. At the end of the day, the voting pool sided with youth, as Realmuto’s last two seasons have produced his two lowest fWAR totals in a full season since his first with the Marlins in 2015.
Youth is the name of the game with the other three Honorable Mentions, highlighted by Ivan Herrera gearing up for his first season as the Cardinals’ full-time catcher with Willson Contreras reportedly moving to first base. O’Hoppe has proven to be one of the few bright spots in Anaheim, while Langeliers is seemingly in line to be the first catcher in the history of big league baseball in Las Vegas.
10. Francisco Alvarez (New York Mets)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 12 | RANK: 7 | RANK: 12 | RANK: 11 | RANK: 10 | RANK: 11 |
2024 Stats: 100 G, .237/.307/.403, 11 HR, 47 RBI, 102 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR
Alvarez was limited to just 100 games in 2024 after missing time due to a ligament tear in his thumb, and his power seemed to be somewhat sapped when he was on the field (which wasn’t necessarily a concern for Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez). However, Alvarez still clubbed 11 homers and played above average defense behind the plate.
The newly-turned 23-year-old is just one season removed from a 2023 campaign which saw him hit 25 home runs and grade out as one of the best defensive catchers in the sport. With how young Alvarez is and how good he has looked when fully healthy, there’s reason for ample optimism in Queens, and it’s not just about their new free agent signing.
9. Gabriel Moreno (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 13 | RANK: 8 | RANK: 10 | RANK: 9 | RANK: 9 | RANK: 13 |
2024 Stats: 97 G, .266/.353/.380, 5 HR, 45 RBI, 14.8% K%, 107 wRC+, 2.5 fWAR, 24% CS%
Much like Alvarez, Moreno was also limited with injuries in 2024 as he dealt with both a thumb sprain and adductor strain. And much like Alvarez, Moreno’s power output took a hit this past season, seeing his slugging percentage drop by 20 points from his 2023 tally. Moreno did however make massive strides in both the walk and strikeout department, walking 4% more than he did in his first full MLB season and striking out nearly 5% less than he did in ’23.
While Moreno has been a slightly above average hitter to this point in his big league career, his real value comes behind the plate, where he’s one of the premier defenders in the game. Moreno caught 16 would-be base stealers in 2024 after gunning down a staggering 39% of attempts the season prior, which resulted in him winning his first Gold Glove. Assuming Moreno can stay healthy for the entirety of the season, he could be one of the major breakouts in the game in 2025.
8. Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 9 | RANK: 12 | RANK: 7 | RANK: 7 | RANK: 8 | RANK: 7 |
2024 Stats: 158 G, .271/.330/.456, 27 HR, 104 RBI, 19.8% K%, 115 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR, 25% CS%
A consistent face on these rankings year over year, Perez’s big league success has spanned more than a decade to this point. From winning his first Gold Glove and hitting .292 in 2013 to clubbing 48 home runs and driving in 121 in 2021, Perez has been as prolific of an offensive catcher as there is in the game. Last year was no exception, hitting .271 with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs for the Royals.
While it seemed that Perez’s defensive abilities were regressing after he missed the 2019 campaign with an elbow injury, many advanced metrics saw Perez grade out as above average in 2024 for the first time in a half-decade. He’s getting older, but Salvy isn’t slowing down just yet.
7. Yainer Diaz (Houston Astros)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 6 | RANK: 9 | RANK: 6 | RANK: 8 | RANK: 7 | RANK: 6 |
2024 Stats: 148 G, .299/.325/.441, 16 HR, 84 RBI, 17.3% K%, 117 wRC+, 3.1 fWAR
The first year of the Astros trusting Yainer Diaz to handle full-time catching duties after moving off of veteran Martin Maldonado proved to be fruitful, as Diaz hit nearly .300 with a K-Rate under 20% while playing above average defense.
Diaz walks as little as anyone in Major League Baseball, sporting a 3.9% BB% in 619 plate appearances and giving Houston two of the bottom five in that category alongside shortstop Jeremy Peña. However, his ability to put bat on ball and slug while doing so could make him one of the more dangerous bats in that Astros lineup despite his impatience at the plate.
6. Austin Wells (New York Yankees)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 7 | RANK: 6 | RANK: 8 | RANK: 6 | RANK: 6 | RANK: 8 |
2024 Stats: 115 G, .229/.322/.395, 13 HR, 55 RBI, 21.0% K%, 105 wRC+, 3.4 fWAR, +12 Framing Runs
The Yankees have been searching for a full-time answer behind the dish since the departure of Gary Sanchez. Jose Trevino looked the part defensively, but the bat never carried enough weight to be a real solution. Enter Wells, who has answered every question about his profile defensively while also settling in against big league pitching formidably in 2024.
Wells’ .229 clip was not as strong as some of his seasons in the minor leagues, and his 13 home runs may have been a few shy of New York’s expectations for him. But Wells’ walk and K-Rates were both on par with his MiLB rates, and he was limited to just 115 games in a timeshare situation with Trevino. Now that he has a full season of big league baseball under his belt and no one taking away his available reps, Wells could explode in 2025.
5. Patrick Bailey (San Francisco Giants)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 5 | RANK: 4 | RANK: 5 | RANK: 5 | RANK: 5 | RANK: 5 |
2024 Stats: 121 G, .234/.298/.339, 8 HR, 46 RBI, 81 wRC+, 4.3 fWAR, +16 Framing Runs, 29% CS%
Very few catchers in recent history have impacted the game as much defensively as Bailey has over the last two years. The names that jump to mind in that group are elite, but it’d be silly to ignore Bailey’s offensive shortcomings in his first 218 MLB games if doing a true comparison.
Among catchers with 500 or more plate appearances since the start of the 2023 season, his 79 wRC+ ranks only ahead of Christian Vazquez, Nick Fortes and Martin Maldonado. However, Bailey led all Major Leaguers regardless of position in Fielding Run Value (+22) in 2024, coming in five runs better than second-best Daulton Varsho. He is the premier defender in baseball, and that may matter more behind the dish than anywhere else on the diamond.
4. Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 4 | RANK: 5 | RANK: 4 | RANK: 4 | RANK: 4 | RANK: 4 |
2024 Stats: 128 G, .248/.327/.433, 20 HR, 75 RBI, 111 wRC+, 2.7 fWAR, -10 Framing Runs, 33% CS%
Smith’s 10-year, $140 million extension that he signed with the Dodgers this past season will pay him through his age 38 season. That deal included $50 million of deferred money, so his luxury tax allocation against Los Angeles is just $12.2 million per year.
While Smith is coming off of a career-low 111 wRC+, let’s also note that he hasn’t had a single season where he’s produced a wRC+ lower than 110. Smith is as consistent as they come offensively at the catching, serving as a near-guarantee of 20 home runs and a batting in the mid-to-high .200s with an innate ability to get on base.
3. Adley Rutschman (Baltimore Orioles)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 3 | RANK: 3 | RANK: 3 | RANK: 3 | RANK: 3 | RANK: 3 |
2024 Stats: 148 G, .250/.318/.391, 19 HR, 79 RBI, 16.1% K%, 104 wRC+, 2.8 fWAR
Rutschman starts a run of unanimous voting at the top, earning each of the six available third place votes. This is, however, a fall for the Orioles backstop after taking home the top spot last year and the No. 2 ranking in 2023.
Not many players in Major League Baseball would call a 2.8 fWAR season in Year 3 of their career a disappointment, but that’s the standard that Rutschman has set for himself. Adley logged 10.4 fWAR across his first two seasons and walked 13.5% of the time during that stretch. 2024 saw his walk rate dip below 10% for the first time in his career, and the overarching offensive numbers followed, posting a 104 wRC+ after seasons of 135 and 127, respectively. While most expect a return to form for the former No. 1 overall pick, his ’24 campaign sits him behind the top two in the game entering ’25.
2. Cal Raleigh (Seattle Mariners)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 2 | RANK: 2 | RANK: 2 | RANK: 2 | RANK: 2 | RANK: 2 |
2024 Stats: 153 G, .220/.312/.436, 34 HR, 100 RBI, 11.1% BB%, 117 wRC+, 5.4 fWAR, +13 Framing Runs, 26% CS%
Cal Raleigh may be the most consistent catcher in all of Major League Baseball. That may be a negative in some aspects, with his first three full seasons resulting in strikeout percentages in the high 20s and batting averages in the low .200s. However, Raleigh’s consistency is overwhelmingly positive; the Mariners catcher will always be a threat for 30 home runs, walk near 10% of the time, and provide elite defense behind the dish.
2024 was the best version of Raleigh, resulting in his first 100-RBI season and culminating in a Platinum Glove Award, given to the best overall defender in the American League. Raleigh’s 34 home runs were one of the lone bright spots for the Mariners lineup this past season, and he should be a massive part of Seattle’s future.
1. William Contreras (Milwaukee Brewers)
Finkelstein | Morgenstern | Treuden | Appel | Leighton | McMullen |
RANK: 1 | RANK: 1 | RANK: 1 | RANK: 1 | RANK: 1 | RANK: 1 |
2024 Stats: 155 G, .281/.365/.466, 23 HR, 92 RBI, 11.5% BB%, 131 wRC+, 5.4 fWAR
The unanimous top catcher in baseball, Contreras has been the star that the Brewers have begged for to run alongside Christian Yelich. Since coming to Milwaukee via trade before the 2023 season, Contreras has slashed .285/.366/.462 and leads all catchers in fWAR (11.2) and is second in wRC+ (128), only to his older brother (min. 100 PA).
While Contreras was excellent offensively with Atlanta prior to the trade, no one knew just how good he could be behind the plate. Contreras has quickly proven to be one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, and his reign could very well continue far beyond the 2025 season.