2026 Fantasy Baseball Season in Review – Catcher & Closer Surprises

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  • By Larry Vannozzi

    We are finishing our 2026 season in review series by looking at catchers and closers. Paul Williamson has already covered the studs and duds at these two positions. In this article, I’ll look at the catchers and closers who surprised me the most during this past season.

    Do you want to see our studs, duds and surprises at all of the other position groups? You can do that by checking out the articles listed here. 

     

    CATCHERS

    Liam Hicks – Tampa Bay Rays

    Liam Hicks, 27, was a complete afterthought entering 2026 drafts. After all, he hit .247 with just six homers in his 2025 rookie season and was expected to have a part-time role – at best – in a poor Marlins lineup. Instead, he was surprisingly good with the Marlins and continued to excel after being traded to the Rays at the trade deadline. All told, Hicks finished as a Top 125 player and nearly broke into the Top 5 at his position.

    Hicks hit an astonishing .284/.367/.434 with 18 homers and 82 RBI in 2026. He tripled his home run total from the previous year and nearly doubled his RBI total. On the surface, things could not have gone any better for Hicks as well as fantasy managers who snagged him off their waiver wires early in the season. However, a deeper look at his performance reveals cause for concern heading into next season.

    Hicks far overperformed his .261 expected batting average and .358 expected slugging percentage. That xSLG along with his exit velocity, barrel rate and bat speed were all below average. In fact, each was FAR below average and ranked in the bottom quartile in MLB. Not good.

    Hicks has a better contact profile than a power profile and he’s not particularly adept defensively. He is a strong candidate for negative regression next season. I foresee fewer homers, fewer RBI and a lower batting average. Fantasy managers in conventional 12-team leagues should probably not select Hicks within the first 200 picks of 2027 drafts.

     

    Dillon Dingler – Detroit Tigers

    You may have heard a little about Dillon Dingler in 2025 when he hit .278 with 13 homers in his first full season but nothing hinted at this year’s surprising excellence. The 28-year-old catcher shocked us with 27 homers and 91 RBI!! He slashed .243/.302/.446 in 145 games, gathering over 600 plate appearances thanks to serving as DH when not catching. Dingler finished the season as a Top 150 player and in the Top 10 at his position. That’s awful nice production for a guy who was usually drafted in the 20th round or later in conventional 12-team, one-catcher leagues.

    Dingler didn’t seem to make any major changes from the previous year – he just did a little better in almost all facets of hitting. He walked a little more often and cut his strikeout rate a tad. His launch angle and barrel rate edged upward as did his contact rate, pull rate and fly ball percentage. Again, no drastic changes… just a bit better across the board along with better volume than he had in 2025.

    Dingler was an excellent defender (Top 10% in most defensive statistics) so he should regularly be in the starting lineup. He actually underperformed his expected batting average and slugging percentage so there is reason to believe that he could build upon his successful 2026 season. As a potential Top 125 player and Top 10 catcher in 2027, he should be a target in conventional 12-team leagues.

    Honorable mentions

    Carter Jensen – Kansas City Royals – Carter Jensen had just 20 MLB games under his belt entering 2026 but that didn’t stop him from smashing 30 homers – wow! The rookie debuted in late 2025 and hit three homers then he hit another three bombs in spring training. His minor league power history (18 homers as a 20-year-old in 2024 and 20 homers in 2025) and successful first crack at MLB pitching combined to create some expectations for Jensen this year but no one expected this level of success. Jensen hit .239/.323/.467 this year with 81 RBI and 80 runs scored. He had good volume (appeared in 149 games) thanks to a dual role at catcher and DH. He had an above average walk rate, bat speed, exit velocity and barrel rate. On the downside, he had a below average expected batting average (far below!) and his 28.2% strikeout rate was nearly in the league’s bottom 10%. Overall, it was an excellent first full year for Jensen who ranked among the Top 10 players at his position. Expect a similar rank next year as long as he can avoid a sophomore slump.

    J.T. Realmuto – Philadelphia Phillies – Jensen was a positive surprise but J.T. Realmuto was a negative one. He was already in decline entering 2026 but he makes this list due to the extent of his fall. His .205/.283/.331 slash line was easily the worst of his career.  Despite a pretty healthy year (a brief 10-day stint on the injured list), Realmuto managed just 11 homers, 51 RBI and three steals. He barely ranked within the Top 25 at his position. Realmuto is signed through 2028 and will surely be the starting catcher again next season. However, he’ll turn 36 in spring training and will be in his 13th year as a full-time catcher. That’s a lot of wear and tear. The Phillies already announced that Realmuto will have more days off next season. His bat speed actually increased in 2026 and he underperformed his advanced stats, so there’s a chance that he won’t fall too much further next season. It is clear, though, that Realmuto won’t be a factor in one-catcher leagues and should be a fringe candidate even in two-catcher leagues.

    CLOSERS

    Bryan Baker – Tampa Bay Rays


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    November 9, 2026, 1:52 pm