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Top 30 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings for 2020: Updated!

It’s the middle of January and we’re still seeing things like, “Early Rankins,” and other such hogwash! Why would it ever be too early to start getting our 2020 fantasy baseball house in order? It’s not and we’re kicking things off with our 2020 catcher rankings for mixed leagues.


Enjoying our 2020 Catcher Rankings? For more great rankings, strategy, and analysis check out the 2020 FantraxHQ Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit. We’ll be adding more content from now right up until Opening Day!


Outlooks on the Catcher Position in 2020 Fantasy Baseball

I wrote up a little review of the catcher position for 2019 yesterday. Needless to say, things looked bleak heading into last season. While it’s still not the golden era of Pudge and Piazza, things are looking up a bit at the position. Though I like the top few options pretty well, it’s not enough for me to reach. I don’t think J.T. Realmuto or Gary Sanchez will be on many of my teams. There’s enough depth in power at the position I think I’ll be waiting and grabbing a lesser name or taking a shot on one of the younger backstops on the way up.

I’m still seeing a lot of shade thrown at the catcher position. Do my Fantrax brethren share my rainbows and unicorns outlook? Let’s meet them and get their takes.

Nathan Dokken – @NathanDokkenAuthor Archive

Each and every year the fantasy community as a whole tends to rank catchers first. It makes sense because it’s easily the ugliest position, so we get these catcher rankings out of the way while we’re still at peak rankings enthusiasm. This year is even a bit of a treat since the position took a step forward in 2019.

The top five is bolstered by the emergence of Mitch Garver, who finished with 31 home runs for a historic Twins lineup. Sprinkle in the return of stalwart Sal Perez as well as young emerging help in Will Smith, Carson Kelly, and Sean Murphy, and you have a surprisingly interesting catcher pool in 2020. Huzzah!

Eric Cross – @EricCross04Author Archive

While it’s still not an overly sexy position, the 2020 catcher pool is actually improving. We have some new youngsters in Will Smith and Sean Murphy to add to the mix along with other prospects like Joey Bart and Keibert Ruiz likely up in the second half of the season. But yet again, outside of the top few options, there are a ton of question marks. Can Mitch Garver put up another top-5 catcher season? How much will Smith and Murphy produce in their first full season? Will James McCann and Christian Vazquez continue their offensive outburst? The list goes on and on. If I don’t land one of the top options, I’d be aiming for one of the youngsters several rounds later.

Mike Kurland – @Mike_KurlandAuthor Archive

Catcher as a whole is a pretty tough position to deal with annually. With so few elite options I tend to value upside more than the steady producing types and it’s reflected within my ranks. There is nothing fun or exciting about the catcher position for fantasy purposes and it’s pretty shallow with talent overall. If you wait at catcher, as I typically do, then just take your shot and hope it hits. Lastly, don’t be afraid to add any catcher who gets hot off the waiver wire. Sometimes that’s where you end up finding your starter for the year.

Jorge Montanez – @JMontanez90Author Archive

When taking a look at the catcher rankings for 2020, there are a few things that stand out. We’ve got a clear top five in J.T. Realmuto, Gary Sanchez, Yasmani Grandal, Willson Contreras, and Mitch Garver. The emergence of young catchers with upside like Will Smith, Carson Kelly, and Sean Murphy has given life to the position along with the return of veteran Salvador Perez. Wilson Ramos will be a safe option while it remains to be seen if Omar Narvaez and Christian Vazquez can repeat their career years. Where does all of this put aging vets like Yadier Molina and Buster Posey? One thing is clear, with this many options, waiting on catcher will be as viable as ever in standard 10-12 team mixed leagues.

2020 Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings

The catcher rankings below are sorted by consensus by default. You can sort by any of the analysts by clicking on the column headers.

Cons.PlayerDokkenCrossKurlandMontanez
1J.T. Realmuto1111
2Gary Sanchez3222
3Yasmani Grandal2333
4Willson Contreras4444
5Mitch Garver5555
6Will Smith10676
6Salvador Perez7868
8Carson Kelly9789
9Wilson Ramos610117
10Omar Narvaez8111211
11Jorge Alfaro129913
12Sean Murphy11131010
13Christian Vazquez15121312
14Travis d'Arnaud14141614
15Yadier Molina13151516
16Francisco Mejia21161415
17Danny Jansen16192218
18Robinson Chirinos18211819
19Buster Posey22171920
20Tom Murphy28181717
21Roberto Perez19202025
22Kurt Suzuki24232121
23Tucker Barnhart23222323
24Willians Astudillo20262628
25James McCann1724NR22
26Jason Castro27292527
27Yan Gomes28252729
28Mike Zunino26272830
29Austin RomineNRNR2426
30Victor CaratiniNR2830NR
31Chance SiscoNRNRNR24
32Stephen Vogt25NRNRNR
33Jacob StallingsNRNR29NR
34Reese McGuireNR30NRNR
34Elias Diaz30NRNRNR

Did we leave someone out of our catcher rankings you think deserves to be included? Let us know in the comments below. Just be gentle. Catchers can be very traumatic!


If you’re like us you can’t wait until spring to get the 2020 fantasy baseball season started? Well, you don’t have to. Leagues are already forming at Fantrax.com, so head on over and start or join a league today.


Fantrax was one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites of 2019 and we’re not stopping anytime soon! With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan – sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com.

1 Comment
  1. Ian Shein says

    Speculative 2nd Catcher Sleepers:
    C Alex Jackson (playing-time limited unless bumped up depth chart due to potential injury/missed time for Tyler Flowers or Travis D’Arnaud. But a former 1st rd. draft pick for SEA, as well as former BA Top 100 prospect: he may never hit for high batting avg, though led all of Triple-A last season in exit-velocity & hit 32 HR in something around 350AB. He also is a very good thrower and caught half of his attempted base-stealers, thus validating some time behind the dish as backup C for ATL this year).

    C Dalton Varsho (Fleet-of-foot, high batting-average Catcher who is athletic enough to find some playing time at 1B or cOF for Arz, if old-man Vogt doesn’t lets up)

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