MLB Opening Day is right around the corner, and in our last installment of the catcher positional preview, we are going to have some fun with our fantasy baseball bold predictions for a few notable catchers! I’m bullish on a few backstops, and believe that they have a great chance of exceeding their projections we have here at FantasyAlarm, and smashing their fantasy baseball average draft position (ADP). Regardless of whether you play in a one or two catcher fantasy baseball league, enjoy these bold predictions behind the plate for the 2026 fantasy baseball season! 

 

 

Shea Langeliers Hits 40+ Home Runs

After a career year in 2025 where Langeliers swatted 31 home runs, Langeliers is going for 40+ in 2026. Is that bold enough? He posted a .260 ISO and .536 SLG last season, and an insane run in the second half showed just how powerful he can be, especially in spurts. In 57 games after the All-Star break last season, he hit .328 with 19 home runs, which paces out to 53 home runs over a full 162 games.

He’s been a double-digit barrel rate guy each of the last couple of seasons, and has a very respectable 44.6% hard hit rate. He gets the benefit of playing his home games at Sutter Health Park again in 2026, which posted the second-highest Park Factor for right-handed hitters last season.

He’s off to a red-hot start in spring training, hitting six home runs in just 97 ABs, so hopefully he’s saving some for the regular season! Also, his strikeout has decreased each of the last three seasons, which is a positive thing, and his 17.8% strikeout rate in spring thus far would, yet again, be a decrease!

Langeliers is set for another big season, and for the bold prediction, we’ll say he hits 40+ home runs in 2026.

 

 

Drake Baldwin Leads All Qualified Catchers With a .301 Batting Average

After hitting .274 (.272 xBA) in his first taste of MLB action last season, I’m going to go out on a limb that he leads all qualified catchers with a batting average of .301! Yes, a .300+ batting average from Baldwin in his second season! His quality of contact metrics were impressive last year, highlighted by his 11% barrel rate and 86th percentile average exit velocity, but his quantity of contact is just as impressive. Take a look at some of these numbers from last season:

  • 80th percentile whiff rate
  • 84th percentile K%
  • 85th percentile xBA

Furthermore, amongst catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in the 2025 season, Baldwin had the fourth-lowest K%, eighth-lowest SwStr%, fifth-highest contact rate, and 11th-highest zone contact rate! That’s exceptional to say the least, especially for a rookie backstop!

He plays in a good park for lefty hitters, and when healthy, he’ll be a key part of a solid Atlanta offense. He showed no significant splits last season, which helps with his batting average floor, and through 31 plate appearances in spring training, he’s hitting a cool .333 with a .450 wOBA!

I love the talent. I love the environment. I’m bullish on Baldwin.

 

 

Harry Ford Joins the 10/10 Club

Last week, you’ll know that I wrote up that Ford is the Washington catcher that I’m drafting, and there’s a still chance that he breaks camp as the team’s starting catcher. This week, I’ll take it a step further, by saying by season’s end, Ford will have hit 10+ home runs, and stolen 10+ bases! He’s a toolsy prospect with above-average speed for a catcher, and he posted some big time stolen base numbers at each minor league stop:

Year

Level

SB

Success Rate

2022

A

23

82.1%

2023

A+

24

75%

2024

AA

35

79.5%

2025

AAA

7

63.6%

I don’t expect him to run rampant at the big league level, but there’s enough speed that the team should let him be semi-opportunistic on the basepaths.

On the power front, Ford swatted 16 home runs with a .176 ISO and .460 SLG across 458 plate appearances at Triple-A last season, and while he underwhelmed in a handful of ABs last year, he has enough juice to reach double-digits in the home run department. I’m skeptical he ever becomes an elite power source behind the dish, but he could develop into a guy that hits 16-20 year in and year out.

He’ll need to control the strikeouts, and that potential concern has reared its ugly head thus far in Spring Training (61.3% Contact%, 16.4 SwStr%, 41.2 K%). However, despite that concern, he’s young, toolsy, and Washington should have an eye towards the future and developing its young players.

With a regular role, he’s one of the few catchers, at best, with a legitimate chance of joining the 10/10 club.

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