Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Catchers for 2023 MLB Season

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

Opening Day is rapidly approaching and that means it's time to start getting ready for your upcoming 2023 fantasy baseball drafts.

Here at The Duel, we'll have you covered every step of the way, and that begins with the first step of draft prep — identifying this year's top fantasy baseball assets. You can check out our top 100 fantasy baseball player rankings here, as well as our top 25 team names.

With that in mind, here are the top 10 fantasy baseball catchers for the 2023 MLB season.

Fantasy Baseball Catcher Rankings 2023

10. William Contreras, Atlanta Braves

9. MJ Melendez, Kansas City Royals

Melendez earned a promotion to the big leagues last year and held his own, batting .217/.313/.393 with 18 home runs, 21 doubles and 62 RBIs in 129 games. With essentially a full season under his belt, bigger things are expected of him in Year 2. Look for the 24-year-old to tap into his power potential a bit more after clubbing 41 homers with 103 RBIs in the minors during 2021. He's also capable of hitting for a better average, as his .237 expected average was 20 points higher than his actual average last year -- likely due to his unlucky .258 BABIP. If he hits around .240-.250 with 20-30 homers, he has the potential to be a top-5 fantasy backstop this year.

8. Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays

7. Sean Murphy, Atlanta Braves

6. Daulton Varsho, Toronto Blue Jays

5. Willson Contreras, St. Louis Cardinals

After an impressive seven-year run with the Chicago Cubs, Contreras is poised to continue that success with St. Louis in 2023. He'll benefit from having a much stronger lineup around him than he did the last two years and won't have to worry about trade rumors hanging over his head. The three-time All-Star should have no problem reaching 20 homers for the fourth straight full season (excluding 2020) and projects to be one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball again this year.

4. Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals

3. Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles

Rutschman entered last season with a ton of hype as a former first-overall draft pick, and he didn't disappoint. The switch-hitting star tore it up in his first season, batting .254/.362/.445 with 13 homers and 35 doubles in 113 games as the AL Rookie of the Year runner-up to Julio Rodriguez. The sky's the limit for this polished 25-year-old, especially if he can turn a few of those doubles into homers this season. If he does, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he finishes the year as the No. 1 catcher in fantasy.