Fantasy Baseball Season in Review – Catcher & Closer Studs

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  • By Paul Williamson

    As we wind down out 2026 season in review series, we will combine the last two remaining position groups, closers and catchers.

    If you want to see the studs, duds and surprises at the rest of the position groups, check out the articles listed here. 

    Now let us dive into the studs from 2026 season at both catcher and closer.

    We begin with the catchers.

    CATCHERS
    Hunter Goodman – Colorado Rockies

    Goodman was probably the top fantasy catcher in 2026 and was one of the lone bright spots in Colorado this year.

    He ended the year with 41 homers, 84 runs, 88 RBI and a .245 batting average.

    There are three aspects of his season we need to unpack. His home and away splits, 1st half and 2nd half splits and his hit tool.

    Let’s begin with the hit tool. After returning a much cleaner and confidence building 26.3% K% in 2025, that K% jumped to 30.6%

    Goodman was already at a bit of a ‘redline’ when it came to some of ‘under the hood’ hit tool metrics and a slight drop in each of those categories is a bit worrisome.

    • O-Sw% 36.7% –> 40.6%
    • In-zone contact 82.5% –> 80.5%
    • Contact% 70.0% –> 68.4%
    • Swinging strike rate – 16.3% –> 17.2%

    This is a good explanation for why his average dropped from .278 to .245 and is a threat to drop even more.

    For those of you that follow my stuff, these hit tool numbers from this year scare me, especially when he starts to whiff more at pitches inside the zone.

    His 14.4% barrel rate and 44.3% hard-hit rate are nice but with these hit tool numbers, he has to get those up to elite levels (17-18% barrel, 50% hard-hit rate). And we did see him return these numbers… away from Coors.

    Home/Away splits –

    • OPS – .791/.882
    • ISO – .255/.309
    •  Barrel% 11.1%/17.2%
    • Hard-hit% – 41.4%/46.8%

    This is quite unusual as pitches lose movement and are less effective in the thin air of Coors and yet Goodman struggled a bit more at home than on the road.

    I don’t really have an explanation as to why, but what I do know is this seems to be a trend that is likely to reverse course.

    Imagine how good he would be if he returned those contact numbers in Coors?

    2nd half splits –

    • OPS – .863 –> .794
    • BA – .254 –> .228
    • Barrel% – 16 .4% –> 10.9%
    • Hard-hit% – 41.1% –> 41.1%
    • Bat Speed 75.3 MPH –> 74.3 MPH
    • FastSw% 54.2% –> 40.1%

    The batting average dropped off to a number I would expect with his hit tool numbers and the quality of contact drop off can be attributed to injuries.

    He dealt with shoulder inflammation in mid-August that landed him on the IL and then a thumb injury that was only described as ‘nagging’ in September but did not require an IL stay.

    At the end of the day, Goodman’s floor is too great for me to have him as the top fantasy catcher in 2027. He could be a player than turns in a Cal Raleigh type flop (sub-.200 average, 25-or-so homers) or he may be a league winner with 50+ homers.

    I need more certainty than that for someone to lead a ranking at any position.

    Drake Baldwin – Atlanta Braves

    Baldwin followed up his Rookie of the Year season with another year of great production for fantasy managers.

    He hit 25 homers with 85 runs, 79 RBI, .284 average and 126 wRC+.

    He was able to improve his quality of contact that helped offset his decrease in hit tool metrics.

    2025 –> 2026

    • Barrel rate – 11.0% –> 12.9%
    • K% – 15.2% –> 21.5%
    • SwStr% – 8.3% –> 11.7%

    We also saw him increase his chase from 28.8% on the outside-swing rate (O-Sw%) to 34.4%.

    It also is worth looking at his splits vs. LHP.

    The OPS was just .695 with a .137 ISO.

    The big metric that dropped off what the ground ball rate as he returned a 54.2% ground ball number vs. southpaws.

    This really took away the impact of his 49.0% hard-hit rate against them. He also had a decent-enough 7.7% barrel rate against lefites so he has the quality of contact to do damage. He just needs to get the lift.

    I do not think he is a threat to be a platoon bat as he makes hard enough contact and should return at least a good average to make him serviceable against lefty arms. But he is too good of a hitter and already has a good barrel rate to produce power vs. lefties for me to be scared off by these splits.

    Ultimately, I do think Baldwin is the top fantasy catcher for 2027.

    He has great quality of contact with a very good hit tool. There really isn’t much of a downside to Baldwin’s game.

    I guess the devil’s advocate here is another year of a depreciation of the hit tool, but he had a great hit tool all throughout his minor league career, so I don’t see it getting worse.

    Pencil him in at the top of the catchers for 2027.

    Honorable Mentions

    Gabriel Moreno – Arizona Diamondbacks – Usually known for a solid line drive approach and great hit tool for a good average, Moreno has added a bit of pop with 16 homers to go with his .311 batting average this year. He also stayed on the field with 549 PA, a career high, by far. 10 of those homers came in the second half as his OPS went up over 100 points to .926 and the ISO went up nearly 100 points to .215. He started lifting the ball in the second half with an improved launch angle from 11.5 degrees to 14.1 degrees. This power started in 2025 with a 14.4 degree launch in 2025 and he got it back in the back half of 2026. Combine that with an elite hit tool and league average barrel and pull air rate and he has 20+ homer potential to go with an elite average. He is a top-5/6 catcher for 2027.

    Relief Pitchers
    Mason Miller – San Diego Padres

    38 saves. 1.67 ERA, 47.4% K% and 0.90 WHIP.

    Miller was one of, if not the best pitcher in all of baseball this year. He was nearly unhittable striking out nearly half of the batters he faced.

    The contact rate was an insane 57.0% with a 20.3% swstr%.

    I mean the dude just shoves year in and year out.

    This is the third season in a row he has the following

    • 19.6%+ SwStr%
    • 0.91 or better WHIP
    • 41%+ K%
    • 2.63 or better ERA

    This year was no fluke.

    He is the top closer for 2027 and there is no debate.

    Cade Smith – Cleveland Guardians

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    November 5, 2026, 8:00 am