2025 NL East Positional Rankings: Catcher
It was a rough 2024 for National League East catchers, at least with the bat, with the best of the bunch posting a .751 OPS in 99 games. The worst of the lot checked in with a .227/.259/.318 slash line.
There isn’t a catcher in the division expected to be among the top five in baseball – and it’s possible none crack the top 10. Nonetheless, let’s rank this group and hope (at least one) performs better than preseason expectations.
No. 5 Nick Fortes, MIA
Teams liked to run on Nick Fortes and the Marlins in 2024. He was second in the National League in runners caught stealing with 26 and led the league in stolen bases allowed with 93. The 28-year-old also led the NL in errors for a catcher with nine.
With the bat, Fortes hit four homers, drove in 29 and posted a .577 OPS in 335 plate appearances. (That is his slash line in the opening paragraph.) He will likely bat ninth in the Miami order.
No. 4 Keibert Ruiz, WSH
Keibert Ruiz hit 13 homers and slashed .229/.260/.359 in his third full season as the Nationals’ everyday catcher. The switch-hitter was one of the toughest in the league to strikeout (98th percentile), but failed to consistently make good contact, falling in the bottom 5 percent in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage and bat speed.
Ruiz allowed 89 stolen bases (second in the NL to Fortes) and caught 22 runners (fourth). Runners may have been eager to test him because his pop time was in the 3rd percentile, per Baseball Savant.
No. 3 Sean Murphy, ATL
Coming off an All-Star 2023 campaign in which he hit 21 homers and slashed .251/.365/.478, Sean Murphy’s 2024 got off to a terrible start. He strained his oblique on Opening Day and missed two months. He never found a groove after he returned and ended up with career lows (.193/.284/.352) across the board.
The 30-year-old, who won a Gold Glove in 2021, was in the 97th percentile in blocks above average and tied Fortes for the best fielding run value (69) in the division.
Photo Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports
No. 2 Francisco Alvarez, NYM
After hitting 25 home runs as a 21-year-old in 2023, the expectations were high for Francisco Alvarez coming into last season. He disappointed. Alvarez was hitting .236/.288/.364 with one home run when he tore a ligament in his left thumb running the bases in Los Angeles on April 19. He had surgery and returned to action in June, but was inconsistent the rest of the year, finishing with 11 homers and a .710 OPS in 342 plate appearances.
He posted a .900 OPS and clubbed five home runs in September before going 11-for-43 with no homers and a .577 OPS in the playoffs.
Defensively, it was a mixed bag. He was in the 88th percentile for framing and 83rd for pop time, but in the 2nd percentile for blocks above average. The Mets led the majors in wild pitches with 67.
If Alvarez realizes his potential, he will be at the top of this list as soon as next year.
No. 1 J.T. Realmuto, PHI
J.T. Realmuto, 33, is past his prime and barely holding the top spot, including three All-Star appearances, three Silver Sluggers, and two Gold Gloves, but he remains the best catcher in the division. He was the one who posted the .751 OPS, along with 14 home runs and 47 RBIs. He is three years removed from finishing seventh in the MVP vote and putting up a career-best 6.6 bWAR.
He was in the 87th percentile for caught stealing above average last season and in the 97th percentile for pop time, so his defense held up well.
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