Spring training camps are underway, which means it is time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2025 MLB season preview, ESPN's Buster Olney is bringing back his positional ranking series, in which he surveyed those around the industry to help him rank the top 10 players at every position.
The objective of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2025 season, not who might be best in five years or over their career. We will roll out a position per day over the next two weeks. With catchers up first, here's the rest of the schedule: first basemen (2/18), second basemen (2/19), third basemen (2/20), shortstops (2/21), corner outfielders (2/24), center fielders (2/25), designated hitters (2/26), starting pitchers (2/27), relievers (2/28).
Who are the best players today? Check out who makes the list at every position on ESPN+.
Adley Rutschman was the heir apparent to J.T. Realmuto's throne as the best catcher in the big leagues, someone who, like Realmuto, would seemingly dominate the position for the better part of a decade. Rutschman was the No. 1 overall pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2019 draft, excelled at each stop in the minors, and when he was promoted to the big leagues in May of 2022, his team started winning immediately.
But the second half of last season was an interruption in his reign, with Rutschman really struggling in all phases of the game. In 71 games after June 28, he hit .189, with a .279 OBP and a .280 slugging percentage.
"He started chasing pitches up in the zone, and he didn't really adjust," one rival evaluator said.
The perception of some staffers with other teams is that Rutschman got a little heavy in the second half and didn't move as well behind the plate, with his catching skills diminished. As his production deteriorated, sources within the Orioles' organization acknowledged: He wasn't hurt. This was just a matter of a really talented player performing badly.
He wasn't the first rising star to go through something like this. Johnny Bench, generally regarded as the greatest catcher, won the National League MVP Award in 1970, and then batted .238 the following season, with a decline in OPS of 210 points. In a phone interview, Bench recalled 1971 and how he had started well -- nine homers in the Cincinnati Reds' first 20 games. But the team wasn't playing well and he began to struggle; he started second-guessing himself at the plate and becoming reactionary rather than instinctive. After ending that season with the second-lowest full-season batting average of his career, Bench hit 40 homers and drove in 125 runs the next year en route to his second MVP.
Bench's bounce-back the following season shows that Rutschman could still regain his title as baseball's top current catcher. But does he hold that spot in 2025? Let's take stock of the position and rank the 10 best catchers in the majors.
Top 10 catchers
1. William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers
When the Atlanta Braves traded Contreras to the Brewers, there was never a question about whether he would hit. He had already been an All-Star as a designated hitter with Atlanta in 2022, slugging 20 homers with a .504 on-base percentage. The great mystery was whether he would become serviceable defensively, and that has happened -- another example of how a catcher got better working within the Brewers' organization. The Tampa Bay Rays are known for helping players get better, the Cleveland Guardians are really good at cultivating pitchers and nobody can top the Brewers in developing catchers.
Milwaukee's catchers rank first in the big leagues in fWAR since 2008, and its catcher value -- offense and defense -- has been worth about $38 million per season since 2010, according to Fangraphs. The Brewers' catchers have been particularly good, as a group, in framing.
The common denominator has been Charlie Greene, who has borne different job titles through the years -- he's currently the Brewers' bullpen coach -- but has been involved in the development of catchers.
"He taught me everything I know about the catching position," said Jonathan Lucroy, the Brewers' catcher for six-plus seasons in the 2000s. "He's the absolute best."
Lucroy says that Greene believes in doing receiving drills -- which are difficult -- so that game action will seem easier. "He's really good at breaking down video, of what you're doing, of working the umpires, catcher stances, glove technique, and curating drills around that," Lucroy added.
Contreras is not an elite receiver -- he was 35th among 58 catchers in catcher framing runs -- but he was good enough in his catching work to help the Brewers win the National League Central. He also continued to hit, scoring 99 runs and driving in 92 with an adjusted OPS+ of 129 last season.
"He started to realize the little things that he could do in receiving the baseball, little things that can make a difference," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of Contreras. "He's tough as nails, and he's getting better at controlling his emotions. ... He doesn't have a bubbly personality, he's not kissing the pitchers' asses. But he did a good job working with a lot of different guys, and he didn't want to come out. He is a pit bull."
2. Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
Rutschman's second half of last season cost him the No. 1 spot in this ranking. However, even in a down year, he had an adjusted OPS+ of 107 in 2024.
There is a lot of curiosity in rival front offices about how Rutschman will fare in 2025.
"He's just too talented to not rebound," one executive said. "You assume he'll make adjustments. The way the team is, they need him to get back to being a force near the top of the lineup."
Bench has gotten to know Rutschman a little, texting with the young catcher, and what he noticed was that Rutschman became more of an upper-body hitter in the second half, getting his hands started in his swing too late. Bench believes Rutschman will learn from his 2024 season and bounce back: "Oh, yeah," he said, confidently, when asked.
3. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
He had 34 homers and 100 RBIs last season, receiving some top-10 MVP votes. Raleigh finished second among all players at his position in catcher framing runs -- only the Giants' Patrick Bailey had more.
"[Raleigh] has the advantage of working with a great staff, which is going to make you look better," one rival staffer said. "But he does a really nice job, and there is big power there."
4. Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
Among 58 catchers, Smith was last in catcher framing runs (minus-10), and rival evaluators have a checklist of small things they think he can do better behind the plate. But Smith is respected for his steady in-game personality: "He's always under control," one evaluator said.
And Smith hits. He has had four straight seasons of at least 19 homers and 75 RBIs -- Realmuto is the only catcher with more homers since Smith's debut season in 2019.
5. Yainer Diaz, Houston Astros
Diaz is among the best-hitting catchers in the majors -- one who can hit in the middle of a lineup -- and batted .299 last season.
6. Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
More and more, his offensive production is the priority for the Royals, with manager Matt Quatraro working to keep him in the lineup daily -- Perez played 158 games last season and of those, he caught 91. Freddy Fermin, the Royals' other catcher, is highly regarded by rival evaluators for his defense.
7. J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies
He'll be 34 years old this season, the last of a five-year contract he signed in 2021. Rival evaluators love how he runs a game and handles pitchers, but they say it has become more difficult for him to get strikes at the bottom of the zone.
"That's going to happen with catchers as they get older," one coach said.
8. Austin Wells, New York Yankees
By the end of his first full regular season in the big leagues, Wells was among the leaders in the pitch framing metric, while bearing the responsibility of hitting behind Aaron Judge in the lineup. He finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. There is room to grow.
9. Patrick Bailey, San Francisco Giants
He won a Gold Glove last year, and is seen as one of the best pitch framers. But the Giants could use a nudge upward in his offense: Bailey had an adjusted OPS+ of 82 last year.
10. Gabriel Moreno, Arizona Diamondbacks
Moreno probably would be higher on this list if he hadn't been sidelined because of injury for a significant portion of last season.
Honorable mentions
Ivan Herrera, St. Louis Cardinals: He'll move into the top 10 next year, with the shift of Willson Contreras to first base.
Shea Langeliers, Athletics: He's coming off a big power year, with 29 homers.
Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays: He's seen as an improving defensive player.
Francisco Alvarez, New York Mets: He'll climb this list. Rival staffers like the production but believe he needs to tamp down his emotions when working behind the plate.