The Rays depth entering spring training: Catcher

Baseball is inching ever closer as pitchers and catchers are scheduled to begin their first workouts on February 12th.

Let’s take a position by position look at the Rays current roster projections, the battles to watch for, and their depth at that position.

A quick review of what occurred in 2024.

The Rays opened the year with a tandem of Rene Pinto and Ben Rortvedt behind the plate. Pinto quickly flamed out after just 49 plate appearances and was demoted to Triple-A Durham in favor of Alex Jackson. Rortvedt claimed the starting job for the majority of the season and performed well overall, but slumped during the second half. Alex Jackson meanwhile produced one of the worst offensive seasons in MLB history. Logan Driscoll was promoted in September and showcased himself as a potential backup option for the Rays.

Over the offseason, the Rays added veteran backstop Danny Jansen on a one year deal, with a mutual option for 2027.

Meanwhile, the Rays have a couple of top-30 prospects, Dominic Keegan and Kenny Piper, that are likely to start the year in Triple-A Durham.

With that in mind, here is how the Rays currently stand:

MLB: Danny Jansen
MLB: Ben Rortvedt
AAA: Logan Driscoll
AAA: Kenny Piper
AAA: Dominic Keegan

Danny Jansen will be the Rays primary catcher for the 2025 season. The veteran backstop signed a one year deal with a Rays rarity, a mutual option for 2026. There was a time when Jansen was among the top hitting catchers in baseball over a three year span from 2021 through 2023. He hit .237/.317/.487 with 43 HR, registering a 121 wRC+. However, injuries kept him off the field and he played in fewer than half of the regular season games during that stretch of time. This past year, Jansen struggled, but still hit .206/.308/.348, registering a 89 wRC+ over 328 plate appearances.

With Jansen the primary catcher, the only battle to watch here is between Rortvedt and Driscoll for the backup role. Driscoll was very impressive during his limited run with the Rays last September following a solid season in Triple-A, hitting .171/.189/.257 with 1 HR over 37 plate appearances, but also put up 2 DRS over 93 innings behind the plate, which was the most by any Rays catcher (Alex Jackson had 2 DRS over 407 innings).

Ben Rortvedt came to the Rays just prior to Opening Day in a trade involving the Miami Marlins and New York Yankees. He quickly took over as the Rays primary catcher and did well enough offensively. There were several stretches in 2024 where he was among the best offensive catchers in the game, but then there were also long stretches where he was among the worst. Overall, Rortvedt hit .228/.317/.303 with 3 HR over 328 plate appearances, registering a 87 wRC+ and accruing 1.4 fWAR. Rortvedt is out of options, so the Rays would have to risk losing him to waivers in order to outright him off of the 40-man roster.

If the Rays choose to go with Danny Jansen and Ben Rortvedt as their two catchers to start out the 2025 season, then they’ll have three catchers waiting in Triple-A Durham, with Logan Driscoll being the only option currently on the 40-man roster.

Dominic Keegan seems to be among the best catching prospects the Rays have developed; Baseball America ranks him as the Rays 10th best prospect entering the 2024 season. He has since dropped out of the top-ten, but through no fault of his own, as the Rays have added a significant number of players to their system over the past year. Keegan spent the entire season in Double-A Montgomery and hit .285/.371/.435 with 9 HR over 442 plate appearances, registering a 138 wRC+. He has been an above average hitter throughout his minor league career and has made great strides in improving his defensive capabilities.

Kenny Piper was selected by the Rays in the 18th round of the 2021 draft. Since that time, he has quietly but productively made his way through the Rays system, advancing all the way to Triple-A this past season. He has surprising pop that he is able to use in games thanks to an ability to lift the ball more frequently than most every other player in the minor leagues. This past year, between Double-A and Triple-A, Piper hit .208/.304/.383 with 12 HR over 358 plate appearances.

All five catchers, plus minor league signee Ricardo Genoves, will be the catching core for the Rays as they open camp.