Nobody likes paying up for catchers. They play fewer games than their counterparts around the diamond that get to stand upright. They put up worse rate stats in the games they do play. Their injury risk might be higher at a more physically demanding position. They're just generally unsexy picks. Some industry analysts even go as far as to compare the catcher position in fantasy MLB to the kicker position in fantasy NFL, and while that is very misguided for a bunch of reasons beyond the scope of this article, it goes to show just how much people hate drafting catchers.
And like kickers, people often put them last on their research list, thinking they'll just take whoever is out there at the end of the draft and that it doesn't really matter. And that, my friends, can be a major inefficiency for those of us who realize that catchers are just as viable a source of value as any other position. They accrue the same types of stats and in the same fundamental way as any other position. Or maybe you don't care about any of that and just want someone else to do the heavy lifting and tell you which catchers are best of the "whoever is out there at the end of the draft."
Either way, I've got you. Because this is the list of the best catchers to draft this year. Not the best catchers overall, mind you, but the ones with the best value. The ones who will let you maximize the resources and value you can get out of the positions you actually care about. So throw these guys into your draft queue and move on with your life. Go out into the world of draft prep and worry about all the sexier names you'd rather be drafting.
Methodology: I've selected the catchers that my projection system, THE BAT, ranks higher than where they are being drafted in NFBC formats. I've hand-selected those who fit best in a variety of formats to best suit your needs. Every league is different, but these are the catchers you can reasonably expect to get strong value from.
Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
THE BAT Catcher Rank: No. 2
NFBC Catcher ADP Rank: No. 7
Best for: Single-catcher leagues, especially shallower ones
Perez missed all of 2019 with an injury and as a result seems to be the forgotten man in 2020. While injuries are notoriously difficult to project both in terms of recurrence and impact on performance upon return, if Salvy gets to 499 plate appearances, as he did every year from 2013 to 2018, THE BAT projects him as the best non-Realmuto catcher in fantasy. After all, in 2018 Salvy hit 27 home runs. Only three catchers reached that number in 2019 with the juiced ball. Any analysis that doesn't adjust for the ball will be lower on Salvy than it ought to be, giving an unwarranted boost to those who were lucky enough to play in 2019. But Salvy's skills are elite and the price is low, especially in a single-catcher league, where you can wait until the bottom half of the catcher pool to get one of the elites at the position.
Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
THE BAT Catcher Rank: No. 8
NFBC Catcher ADP Rank: No. 18
Best for: All leagues, but 12-to-15-team single-catcher, in particular
In single-catcher leagues, if you don't spend a bit more on Salvy, Buster is your man. According to ADP, he would be the sixth bench catcher drafted in a 12-team, one-catcher setup (as if six teams would actually put a catcher on their bench, amirite?). You can ignore catcher all draft, take him with one of your last picks and still get a catcher who will be better than the one a third of your league will be starting. Posey is aging, has limited power and is all-around boring, but these are exactly the kinds of guys who get undervalued. His skills are still above average for the position, he'll get a small boost from Oracle Park moving the fences in, and he'll contribute a lot in batting average while hitting in the heart of the lineup for runs and RBIs.
Stephen Vogt, Arizona Diamondbacks
THE BAT Catcher Rank: No. 22
NFBC Catcher ADP Rank: No. 34
Best for: Two-catcher 15-team mixed or deeper
Vogt is the single-best catcher value this year, according to THE BAT, with a 12-spot difference from NFBC ADP. He's useless in shallower formats, but in NL-only or 15-team mixed leagues he's an elite pick. Even in 12-team mixed leagues, he's a solid enough second catcher, and if it's a deep-bench best ball/cutline setup, he'd be a fantastic third catcher. He's an average hitter among all MLB players, which makes him well above average by catcher standards, and he's playing in one of the best parks of his entire career. The issue is that he's the backup to Carson Kelly. He'll still get enough at-bats to have value at his price regardless, but if Kelly happens to get injured or Vogt finds his way into more playing time somehow, he'd be an absolute steal.
Mike Zunino, Tampa Bay Rays
THE BAT Catcher Rank: No. 19
NFBC Catcher ADP Rank: No. 28
Best for: Two-catcher 12-team mixed or deeper
Zunino is a perfect second catcher in two-catcher formats because he'll still be better than five of your league mates' starters, but you can get him for free at the end of the draft after your league has already filled their positions. He's coming off an atrocious .165 batting average season, which has scared people off, but a lot of that was bad luck. He actually improved his (admittedly still terrible) strikeout rate 4 percentage points, and his career-low .220 BABIP is bound to come up. He's a great pick just based on natural regression alone, but he's also apparently working on some changes this spring that could give him an additional boost.
Tom Murphy, Seattle Mariners
THE BAT Catcher Rank: No. 10
NFBC Catcher ADP Rank: No. 17
Best for: Two-catcher 8-team mixed or deeper
Murphy shared playing time with Omar Narvaez last season, and with Narvaez traded to the Brewers over the winter there's nobody to push Murphy for the job in 2020 -- and few players to push him for a middle-of-the-order spot either. It's just a matter of how much the Mariners think he can handle. The batting average will come down, but at-bats will go up for a guy with more raw power than almost any other catcher in baseball and who happens to play in a sneaky-good park for power. Murphy is a viable first catcher in two-catcher formats who will come for the price of a midtier second catcher.
Backup Value Options: Yadier Molina (No. 11/No. 15), Kurt Suzuki (17/21), Robinson Chirinos (20/22), Jason Castro (21/24), Martin Maldonado (28/38)