Every year, catcher is a tricky position to strategize for fantasy baseball. The position doesn’t typically have a ton of depth or offensive upside, although Cal Raleigh definitely smashed that mold last season. After Raleigh goes very early in most drafts, there’s a huge drop off to the rest of the backstops. The scarcity of offensive production at the position makes finding one of the year’s breakout fantasy baseball sleepers even more valuable. Headed into Spring Training, let’s take a look at my favorite fantasy baseball sleepers behind the plate.
Whether you prefer season-long leagues, DFS contests or DraftKings Best Ball, DK Network will have you covered throughout the upcoming season. Based on their current ADP, these are the catcher sleepers that I’m watching to outperform expectations this season.
Samuel Basallo, Baltimore Orioles
Like many of the catchers near the top of the rankings at the position, Basallo may be getting lots of his playing time away from catcher. With Adley Rutschman back behind the plate, and newly-signed Pete Alonso at 1B, Basallo will likely be the Orioles’ DH for most of their games this season, while he should mix in at those two spots to give the other big veteran bats a day at DH, as well.
Basallo is going off the board after a dozen other catchers have been selected, but he brings lots of upside as one of the top fantasy baseball sleepers to grab at the position after most teams have secured their starter.
Last August, Basallo signed an eight-year, $67 million contract with the O’s. He hit .270 with 23 homers and a .414 wOBA in his 76 games at Triple-A Norfolk before coming to the majors in mid-August. Basallo only hit .165 in his 31 MLB games, but still had four homers, 15 RBI and a .286 xwOBA. He had a 25.4% strikeout rate and just a 5.1% walk rate, so he’ll need to improve his plate discipline at the MLB level before he’s ready to make the leap to become a prime fantasy contributor.
Coming into this year, he was ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. Basallo has reportedly dropped about 15 pounds and is ready to roll for his first full season in the majors. He’s still only 21-years-old, so he has a ton of room to grow and improve from year-to-year. His main asset throughout his time in the minors has been his power and an excellent hard hit rate. Last year, before his promotion, he had a 56.9% hard hit rate in Triple-A, and if he can start to translate that to the majors, he could be in for a breakout season in Baltimore.
He has as much raw power as just about any prospect, so getting him with catcher eligibility makes him one of my favorite fantasy baseball sleepers.
Kyle Teel, Chicago White Sox
Teel is another top prospect who is looking to emerge as one of the top fantasy baseball sleepers behind the plate. Teel was a key part of the trade that landed Garrett Crochet in Boston, and he made a splash after his MLB debut last June.
Like Basallo, Teel is a bat-first catcher with left-handed power, but Teel showed a better hit tool and won’t be as much of a drain on your batting average. He doesn’t have the elite power numbers that Basallo brings, but he’s lower-risk since he’s locked in and ready to be the White Sox’s primary catcher in 2026. He’s going off the board a little after Basallo as the No. 16 catcher in early drafts.
In his 78 games in the majors, Teel hit .273 with eight homers, 35 RBI and a .349 wOBA. He showed a little more power in his time in the minors over the last few seasons, posting a .397 wOBA in his 50 games before coming to the majors.
Teel started a little slowly after his initial call-up, but over his last 33 games, he hit .299 with four doubles, six homers and a .390 wOBA, as he adjusted to the highest level of competition. Down the stretch, he was usually hitting in the top-third of the White Sox lineup, and should be back in a premium spot again this season. The MLB.com projections have him hitting second between fellow youngsters Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery, with Munetaka Murakami hitting cleanup in a much-improved Chicago lineup.
While he may not match Basallo’s power as a fantasy baseball sleeper, a premium lineup spot and more well-rounded skill set make Teel one of my top fantasy baseball sleepers at the position.
Joe Mack, Miami Marlins
Last year in my breakouts, I included Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez, who didn’t start the season in the majors, but had a major impact after a midseason call-up. Ramirez will start the year as a top-10 catcher, but the Miami Marlins have another strong catching prospect waiting in the wings. 23-year-old Joe Mack could be one of the best fantasy baseball sleepers at the position in deeper leagues or as a last-round stash. He’s currently the No. 38 catcher off the board, so he will start the season on many leagues’ waiver wires. Watch his spring, though, to see if he earns a spot or sets up an early season call-up.
Mack is the No. 62 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, and he has found a good power stroke in the last two years in the minors, smashing 24 homers in Single-A and Double-A in 2024 and following that up with 21 homers in Double-A and Triple-A last year. He hit .252 and .257 in those two seasons, and last year his strikeout rate jumped to 27.9% in his 99 games in Triple-A for the Jacksonville Jump Shrimp.
Unlike Ramirez, he does play excellent defense at the position and would be a big upgrade behind the plate. He could slide in and let Ramirez mash from the DH spot later in the season, and if he has a good spring training, he could make the Opening Day roster. If he does, he’ll be a potential breakout candidate.
