Catcher is always a tricky spot for fantasy baseball. By nature of the physical demand of playing the position, catchers have a tendency to wear down as the season goes on and also need more regular time off. However, the scarcity of offensive production from the spot also makes finding one of the fantasy baseball sleepers at catcher even more valuable. Headed into spring training, let’s take a look at my favorite backstops to target as fantasy baseball sleepers.
Whether you prefer season-long leagues, DFS contests or DraftKings Best Ball, DK Network will have you covered throughout the upcoming season. To begin our coverage, we went through potential breakouts at each position: AL SP Breakouts, NL SP Breakouts, AL OF Breakouts, NL OF Breakouts, Catcher Breakouts, 1B Breakouts, 2B Breakouts, 3B Breakouts and SS Breakouts. At catcher, I highlighted Ivan Herrera, Hunter Goodman and Agustin Ramirez as potential breakouts. In addition to those three players, here are three more fantasy baseball sleepers I’m targeting behind the plate.
Francisco Alvarez, New York Mets
Alvarez is currently being drafted at around the 12th catcher off the board, but I think he has the potential to outperform several players going just ahead of him and could easily be a top-10 option at the position if things go his way.
He’s still just 23 years old coming into the season and already has two full seasons under his belt. In 2023, he had a career-best 25 home runs with a .310 wOBA and .228 ISO. Last year, he cut down on his strikeouts and boosted his batting average from .209 to .237, but his home runs dropped from 25 to 11 and he finished with an identical .310 wOBA.
Alvarez got off to a fast start and was hitting .296 with a .364 wOBA at the All-Star break before slumping in the second half. After those struggles, he overhauled his offseason program training at Maven Baseball Lab in Atlanta where he reportedly reworked his swing. The goal with the new approach is to even out some of his streakiness over his first two seasons.
If he can land on the plus side of halfway between his first and second half and mix back in a little more power, he could be one of the top fantasy football sleepers at catcher since he’ll be in a high-scoring lineup behind Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. I love the upside Alvarez brings and if you don’t get a stud, I’m fine waiting and grabbing him late as a starting catcher. If you are in a format where you need two catchers (or want a backup), he’s also a great backup with a high ceiling just outside the top 10.
Connor Wong, Boston Red Sox
Wong is another catcher who started off hot in the first half but then cooled significantly in the second half. He hit over .300 in April, May and June and was hitting .307 with a .354 wOBA at the All-Star break. After the break, he hit only .246 with a .300 wOBA. Wong’s average is much higher, but he doesn’t bring the same power production that Alvarez offers. Last year, Wong did set a personal best with 13 homers with an impressive .330 wOBA.
Coming into spring, Wong is going off the board after 15 other catchers have been picked, but he should be able to outproduce that draft position if he can build on last year’s first half. With top prospect Kyle Teel dealt away as part of the Garrett Crochet deal, he should have a clear path to the starting job with newcomer Carlos Narvaez as his primary backup.
As an everyday hitter in the solid Red Sox lineup, Wong should have good run production stats and even mix in a few steals. He mashed lefties last year, hitting .311 against southpaws with a .379 wOBA. For DFS, he’s always a good option when facing a lefty, and he could emerge as a top-10 catcher option as one of the fantasy baseball sleepers at the position.
Joey Bart, Pittsburgh Pirates
Bart seems like he’s been on lists of fantasy baseball sleepers for years. The Giants hoped he would replace Buster Posey as a cornerstone of their team when they drafted him as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. However, he wasn’t able to produce big numbers. In 2022, he hit just .215 in 97 games with a .294 wOBA. In 2023, he hit .207 with a .239 wOBA in just 30 games.
Before last season, the Giants moved on from Bart, designating him for assignment at the end of March and trading him to the Pirates in April.
In his first year with Pittsburgh, Bart played 80 games, hitting a career-high 13 home runs with a .265 batting average and .347 wOBA. He had never had a wOBA over .300 before last season, and even if he does take a step back, he brings good power numbers and usually hits cleanup, which is unusual for the position. Apparently, Bart needed a change of scenery to find his groove, but he still comes with plenty of potential this year. He’s being taken after over 20 other catchers are off the board, but he has intriguing upside as a fantasy baseball sleeper coming into his second season in Pittsburgh.
