We are in the midst of a catcher renaissance in Major League Baseball, as we’ve seen an influx of young, offensively-minded catchers emerge across the league in recent years. Just in the past few seasons, players like Shea Langeliers, Hunter Goodman, Drake Baldwin, Agustin Ramirez, Ivan Herrera, and Ben Rice have emerged not just as valuable fantasy catchers but as legitimate offensive contributors regardless of their position. Even with this influx of young catching talent at the big league level, the pipeline of minor league talent across the league remains strong. At Prospect Live, we have six catching prospects in the top 60 of our prospect rankings, with several of these players expected to play key roles for their teams in 2026, and others looking to further cement themselves as the next generation of great offensive catchers.
With this plethora of intriguing catching prospects, how should dynasty managers approach the position in 2026? First and foremost, the supply across the league of higher-quality offensive catchers likely means that you and every other manager in your league are rostering serviceable catching options, assuming your league is 20 teams or fewer. This has a trickle-down effect by raising the replacement level that a catching prospect needs to attain, making catching prospects somewhat less valuable as they become less likely to attain that elevated standard. There’s also a good chance that everyone in your league, if they roster catching prospects, has at least one that they are somewhat interested in, which can make it harder to trade from a surplus of catching prospects.
Having a top offensive catcher on your dynasty team still presents a significant advantage, and the top catching prospects on our list are where they are because they all have immense potential with the bat. If you have a chance to get the next Cal Raleigh or William Contreras, you take it, so get any of our top 100 catching prospects wherever you can. Beyond this group, it is perfectly fine to roster one of the other prospects on this list, but be wary of using too many minor league spots on catchers, especially in one-catcher leagues. This is largely a stylistic choice, and knowing your league mates' preferences can pay dividends as well. Some leagues simply don’t value catching prospects very highly, so you may be able to leave a prospect on the waiver wire in that league while picking them up in a league that does value the position more highly.
One of the biggest challenges with catching prospects is predicting which players will stick behind the plate and which will move off the position. The defensive responsibilities of a catcher are uniquely demanding, and the physical toll of playing the position can incentivize teams to move an offensively minded player to a less grueling defensive home to maximize their offensive output. While it may be tempting to predict where these catching prospects will end up defensively in dynasty leagues, it’s best to focus on the offensive talent and trust that the bat will get into the lineup if it’s good enough. Prospects like Ethan Salas demonstrate that the progression of even the best defensive catching prospects can be limited by their bat, while Agustin Ramirez and Ivan Herrera are recent examples of catching prospects that will find as many at-bats as possible, whether they’ll be behind the plate or not. The 2026 class of catching prospects undoubtedly has names that will spend their major league careers playing elsewhere on the diamond, but you’ll be very happy to have them on your team nonetheless. - David Gofman
Top Prospect Catchers
Players are in order of their fantasy prospect ranking from our November update.
Samuel Basallo was seen as one of the best prospects in baseball entering 2025, after finishing the 2024 season as a teenager in Triple-A. In 2025, he made the level look like Little League, putting up a .270/.377/.589 slash line (151 wRC+) and 23 HR in just 76 games. He was called up in mid-August to preserve his rookie eligibility for 2026 and signed an 8-year, $67 million extension soon after. Though he struggled in his MLB cup of coffee, he did show some power with 4 HR in 31 games. With Adley Rutschman on the roster, Basallo won’t be the primary catcher, but his elite bat will have him in the lineup every day, whether it be at C, 1B, or DH. PLIVE+ projects him to have the highest wRC+ (147) and HR total (31) of any Orioles hitter, which may be somewhat surprising, but with the way Basallo has hit at every level while being so much younger than everybody else, the numbers might just be attainable. - Raj Mehta
Josue Briceno is a premium prospect due to his 6’4, 200+ lb frame, which translated into plus game power last season, when he bashed 20 bombs across High-A and Double-A. While he didn’t have the same success in the upper minors, it’s worth noting he was only 20 years old, and still held his own when it comes to his reputation of not striking out while taking a ton of walks. It remains to be seen whether the young stud will be a major league catcher. He received more 1B reps in the lower minors than he did behind the plate, but then that trend reversed upon promotion. While fellow prospect Thayron Liranzo had a down year, it’s worth noting he appears to be getting almost exclusively catcher reps while not DHing. All in all, Josue Briceno is an interesting prospect in that he may be hard to pry from some GMs’ hands, but could be underrated in other leagues due to the bigger names in the Tigers’ system. Regardless of where he fits defensively, Briceno is likely to step into a potent offense in Detroit, where he could generate plenty of counting stats for dynasty owners. - Darren Eisenhauer
Rainiel Rodriguez has gone from virtually unknown to possibly a Top-20 prospect depending on who you ask these days. That’s what happens when an eighteen-year-old smacks 20 homers in just 84 games of pro ball while taking a ton of walks and barely striking out. Frankly, we’re at the point where it is more beneficial to look for potential hurdles ahead of RR, given all the industry love for the kid. The biggest sign to tap the brakes would be that Rodriguez did the majority of his damage at Single-A, so while it is still an incredible display of power from such a young player, there’s still a long road ahead - especially if STL continues to develop him as a catcher. The 5’10 bowling ball is practically impossible to trade for at this point, so you might as well just hold tight and wait for some possible struggles if you’d like to get in on this virtually flawless profile. If you managed to grab hold of this lottery ticket, it could be a wise time to see what prospect-hound GMs are willing to offer! He may move off catching duties eventually, but it doesn’t matter with such a promising bat. - Darren Eisenhauer
A Giants fan living in San Diego, been playing fantasy baseball since 2005 and dynasty since 2021. Started the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast in June 2023 and joined Prospects Live in March of 2024.
Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
Director of Amateur Scouting, proud to lead and share the team's work. | Check out Path to the Show on Bally Sports Live and College Baseball Now everywhere! | Grateful for family, the Vols, and everyone who reads Prospects Live. | For His Glory.
