3 Catchers to Avoid (2026 Fantasy Baseball)

Every year, fantasy baseball leagues are lost because of players that bust, get injured, or disappoint. Sometimes these issues are unavoidable, but sometimes there are red flags that we ignore. Here are the catchers that you should not draft. And here are all of the hitters to avoid in fantasy baseball drafts.

Fantasy Baseball Catchers to Avoid

Cal Raleigh (C – SEA) (NFBC ADP: 18.42)

Raleigh is coming off an historic season, hitting the most home runs in a single season for a catcher where he hit 60 home runs with 110 runs, 125 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. The reason I am fading him for 2026, isn’t just the obvious regression, it’s the price. The last time a catcher was going this high in the ADP, it was Gary Sanchez in 2018 and that worked out poorly. There is just too much that can go wrong at the position. It is the most injured offensive position and while I do think that Raleigh will be good, he will have a hard time returning the value in the second round of drafts.

Will Smith (C – LAD) (113.38)

There is nothing wrong with Smith from a skills perspective. The problem is the playing time. He missed some time with injury, but the bigger issue is that there is no room for extra plate appearances because of Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani occupying first base and DH. Smith doesn’t have enough power or speed to overcome the lack of plate appearances compared to the other catchers at this position.

Kyle Teel (C – CWS) (185.00)

Teel is a former top prospect who was traded for Garrett Crochet and made his debut last season. That’s the problem. The name value attached with Teel is actually greater than his fantasy value. Teel doesn’t have a ton of speed or power and while he is a good real life catcher, he will split time with Edgar Quero and Korey Lee. There just isn’t enough in the profile for him to be an interesting player this season.