There is no position in baseball with such unique and precise tasks, demands, and expectations as the man behind the plate. Catchers spend most of their lives doing squats, enduring stinging foul balls from mere feet away. They are responsible for making consequential pitch decisions and performing subtle magic tricks to make those pitches look like strikes. There is absolutely no job description like a catcher’s.
When evaluating this strange breed of player, we must keep in mind the special world they exist in. Since catchers’ defensive duties are so essential to preventing runs, the bar for offensive production is lower than all other position players. Therefore, it’s important to remember that a determination of “Is this good?” requires an addendum: “for a catcher.”
With that in mind, let’s stack up all the battle-worn backstops to see whose excellence has been overlooked and whose stardom has benefited from deceitful framing.
2025’s underrated and overrated catchers
This is part three of my series on MLB players who are underrated or overrated heading into the regular season. I’ve broken down outfielders and infielders; now it’s time to get behind the dish. In my analyses, I will be using a project of mine called LASR (League-Adjusted Standardized Rating) which places all stats onto the same 20-80 scouting scale based on league qualifiers (all data is sourced from FanGraphs).