Fantasy Debate Club - Catchers
George Bissell and Dave Shovein defend their fantasy rankings for Willson Contreras, Logan O'Hoppe and Joey Bart.
Rankings Debate Club – Catchers
Finally, a rankings debate fantasy managers might find compelling. We kicked off our positional preview series earlier this week at The Buzz with our first installment of Top 40 catcher rankings for 2025. Naturally, there were some differences of opinion. We decided to engage in a friendly debate regarding some of the backstops that we disagree on the most at this early stage of the process including Willson Contreras, Logan O’Hoppe and Joey Bart. Without further delay let’s dive right to the debates.
Willson Contreras, Cardinals
2025 Rankings: The Buzz (6) George: (2) Dave: (8)
Dave: In this crazy game that we all play, at-bats are king. Finding yourself in the starting lineup more often than not and/or hitting in a premium part of a team’s batting order are very important factors in piling up counting stats – especially at the catcher position. Anytime we have a player who is eligible at catcher and set to start at another position, fantasy managers need to take notice. That’s exactly what we have here with Contreras set to take over as the Cardinals’ regular first baseman in 2025. Not only that, but he should bat in a premium spot in the order, likely third for St. Louis. If those were the only things that Contreras had in his favor, there would be reason to have him moved up the rankings, but why all the way to second? It’s not just opportunity for Contreras, the skills are there as well. He was well on his way to a career year in 2024 before he was hit by a backswing and suffered a fractured arm (a hazard he won’t have to worry about while playing first base). Still, he hit .262 with 48 runs scored, 15 homers, 36 RBI and four stolen bases in only 84 games. Give him 150 games and even when you discount those numbers he’s right near the top of the catcher position as a whole. The speed is such an underrated aspect here, as being able to grab six steals from the catcher position with a palatable batting average and monster counting stats gives you such a huge leg up on your competition.
George: Let’s be honest: Dave is probably right here. There, I said it. I’ll concede that willingly. I’m vastly underestimating the potential impact of Contreras getting additional at-bats as St. Louis’ everyday first baseman next season, but I’m not sure the additional volume automatically puts him directly at the apex of the position. Per Baseball Savant’s batted ball data, he started putting the ball in the air more often last year, including significantly increasing his average launch angle, which allowed his immense raw power to translate into a few extra fly balls leaving the yard. He also started striking out more last year and his batting average was propped up by an unsustainably high .337 BABIP. If he’s going to sell out a bit more for power, that might lead to the first 25-homer season of his career, but that might coincide with his batting average tumbling back into the .240 range. That feels closer to Cal Raleigh, Shea Langeliers, Logan O’Hoppe or even Francisco Alvarez than William Contreras, Yainer Diaz or Adley Rutschman at the top of the position.
Logan O’Hoppe, Angels
2025 Rankings: The Buzz (9) George (7) Dave (14)
George: After becoming one of just seven backstops to eclipse the 20-homer mark last year, Los Angeles brought in veteran Travis d’Arnaud via free agency to give O’Hoppe a break against left-handed pitching and manage his workload moving forward, which seemingly puts a metaphorical lid on his fantasy ceiling. Simply put, O’Hoppe is one of the few catchers I’m comfortable locking in a 20-homer projection for since he still managed to finish last year as a top 10 fantasy option at the position, despite clearly wearing down in the second half when he batted .196 (37-for-189) with six homers in 53 contests following the All-Star break. I’m wagering that we see the version of O’Hoppe that batted .276 with 14 homers over 83 games prior to the Midsummer Classic, especially if the Angels can build in some additional rest to keep him fresher.
Dave: As my esteemed colleague Mr. Bissell has pointed out, the Angels brought in Travis d’Arnaud to share the load behind the plate, but I’m not sure that’s a particularly good thing for O’Hoppe. I think that part of his appeal was the huge workload that he was expected to shoulder once again when the Halos had no viable alternative. Now, I’d be shocked if he eclipsed 450 at-bats. I’ve still got him projected for 18 homers and three stolen bases with a decent batting average (.251), it’s the counting stats that bring him down. A reduced workload combined with that fact that he may hit in the bottom third of one of the worst offenses in the American League and I have a hard time penciling him in for more than the 120 combined runs+RBI that he registered with a greater workload during his strong 2024 season. I’m also worried that his walk rate dipped while his strikeout rate rose by more than five points. Entering his age-25 season, it’s certainly possible that he puts two halves together like he did in the first half of 2024 and winds up as a breakout star at the position. I think the likelihood of that happening is low though, and I’m most definitely not paying the rising cost that it’s going to take to acquire him on draft day.
Joey Bart, Pirates
2025 Rankings: The Buzz (19) Dave (12) George (28)
Dave: It’s a tale as old as time. Top prospect is hyped up to the extreme, finally arrives in the big leagues and falls flat on his face. Original organization gives him sporadic opportunities, he loses confidence and continues to struggle when given chances at the major league level. Ultimately, a change of scenery and a vote of confidence change everything and said player finally lives up to their potential. I think that’s exactly what’s going on with Bart here, but that’s not the only reason to like him for fantasy purposes. Even if we go on the premise that Bart can’t completely replicate what we saw in 80 games with the Pirates in 2024, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be a top-12 option at the position. Let’s start by examining the opportunity. Bart finished the 2024 season as one of the best hitters in the Pirates’ lineup and was regularly settled in as their cleanup hitter in September. In addition, he also saw time at designated hitter when he wasn’t behind the plate. Do I expect that to happen often, probably not, but we’ll take any extra at-bats where we can get them. On the conservative side, we’ll say he gets 435 at-bats. Even if you regress his 2024 season quite a bit, he’s still going to hit around 17 home runs. Remember, his power is legit. Bart has posted a 20% or higher HR/FB rate in each of the last two seasons where he has seen meaningful playing time and we have seen him make a conscious effort to pull more fly balls to take advantage of it. It can’t be understated what a huge advantage it is to hit in the cleanup spot in the order when it comes to forecasting Bart’s counting stats – especially when most of the catchers being drafted around him are hitting in the bottom third of their respective lineups. I think the market will eventually come around and his draft cost will increase as we get closer to March. I’ve only got him for .257/62/17/71/0 – which I think is not only fair, but something he could ultimately exceed – and that’s still enough to have him 12th on my board at the position.
George: This is our largest disagreement by a considerable margin. Clearly, I’m on the pessimistic side of the ledger, but it’s for a legitimate reason. We’ve been burned by late-season breakouts in the past, which makes me a bit wary of Bart’s exploits following a trade to Pittsburgh where he batted .265 (67-for-253) with 13 homers and 45 RBI over 80 games. I really wish there was compelling data to back up my feelings, but I’m going to be a little more cautious than most on projecting these type of late-career breakthroughs for the rest of my career. The 28-year-old’s former top prospect status makes it feel like less of a mirage than a more unheralded backstop, but I’m struggling to overlook his 502 plate appearances with San Francisco over a four-year span where he posted a .623 OPS with only 11 homers. Baseball Savant’s underlying data from his Pittsburgh stint shows some gains across the board, but I’d like to see him do it again before we pencil Bart into the top dozen options at the position. I’ll definitely bump him up a few spots in our next rankings update because there are some reasons for optimism (which Dave highlighted earlier in this space). I’ve been burned by these types of change of scenery breakouts before, so I’m going to hedge a little bit in my rankings. You’ve been warned.