The clock is ticking and your fantasy baseball draft is right around the corner. Are you ready? Do you have a draft plan? Do you have specific draft targets? Have you established tiers for your player rankings? Have you jumped into any mock drafts or even best ball drafts to test the waters? Whether you’ve been doing research for weeks or are just getting your draft prep underway, understanding the depth a position has and what the ADP pockets are for drafting those players is paramount to your success. 

If you have questions regarding ADP, then I highly recommend you start with this ADP Trends article I wrote for the Draft Guide. It lays out the basics regarding how to use ADP, how I use ADP in Fantasy Alarm’s Fantasy Baseball Cheat Sheet and how you should use it with regard to your drafts. From there, you can visit the different positions and see how we use it in conjunction with the depth of a position.

Let’s start with the catchers.

 

 

ADP Pockets for the Catcher Position

Tier 1 (Round 4):

If it fits your draft plan, take a catcher early if Rutschman is available. You’re not drafting a catcher for speed anyway, so just take the absolute best hitter of the bunch. Rutschman will hit for both power and average and with the way the Orioles are on the rise, his RBO total is just going to keep rising. 

Tier 2 (Rounds 5-7):

Both Realmuto and Contreras have their offensive merits, but Smith is my guy here. He’s batting clean-up in that Dodgers lineup so with Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman hitting in front of him, the RBI opportunities are going to be off-the-charts.

Tier 3 (Rounds 9-12):

In this tier, I’m all about Diaz, Murphy or Alvarez. Diaz is definitely the best of the group but both Murphy and Alvarez offer up some solid power. Yes, that power does come at the expense of some batting average, but if you’re not drafting one of the top guys, you’re going to have to sacrifice something. 

Tier 4 (Rounds 13-16):

My favorite of this tier is Moreno and if I don’t land someone from Tier 1 or 2, then I am waiting this far to grab him. O’Hoppe, Heim and Naylor re decent, but if I still don’t have my catcher by the time Moreno is off the board, I’d probably wait until Campusano. The Padres want him to be their everyday guy, so there is some upside.

Tier 5 (Rounds 19-25):

This is where desperation starts to kick in. You can hope for a little power-boost from Kirk or Langeliers, a Stephenson bounce-back or maybe Diaz gets a few extra knocks in Colorado, but overall, drafting from this tier means you’ve punted the position. 

Tier 6 (Rounds 25 and beyond):

If you find yourself wondering who is available beyond these names, you’re either playing in a 15-team, two-catcher league or you like sifting through the trash. Either way, sure, you can look for guys like Yan Gomes and Christian Bethancourt, but you’re not going to get much in the way of statistical help, so try to stay north of this group.

*Round assignments set for 12-team leagues

**NFBC ADP date range set for 2/26/24 – 3/6/24

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