The calendar has moved to May, which means it\u2019s time to get some positional Shuffle Ups your way. We have enough data to form some actionable opinions (in some cases), or at least educated guesses (in some other cases).<\/p>\n
Today, we look at the catchers. I excluded players currently on the injured list (everyone seems to have their own version of injury optimism or pessimism) and any player in the minors.<\/p>\n
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The players below are salaried and ranked as if I were entering a fresh draft tonight. What\u2019s happened to this point is an audition, nothing more. Don\u2019t get hung up on the salaries in a vacuum, which are just comparison tools. Players at the same salary are considered even.<\/p>\n
Have some respectful disagreement? That\u2019s good, that\u2019s why we have a game. Share your thoughts anytime on social media: catch me on\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>\u00a0or on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Big Tickets<\/p>\n The Yankees have the AL\u2019s best offense and Rice is a big part of that, with beet-red Savant stats<\/a>. And here\u2019s the bad news for opponents \u2014 Rice has figured out lefties (.367\/.457\/.867) and is batting .362 on the road. His walk rate has almost doubled and while the strikeouts are up slightly, it\u2019s not prohibitive. Baby, you\u2019re a big star now<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Braves have outscored everybody and Baldwin\u2019s fast start is at the front of that. Atlanta<\/a> uses him every day \u2014 sometimes as a DH \u2014 and he was the static No. 2 hitter until Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.<\/a> got hurt (now Baldwin is batting leadoff). Baldwin\u2019s hard-hit rate has surged this year despite pulling the ball less<\/a> \u2014 that illustrates his growth as a hitter. His average and slugging are fully supported by his Statcast page<\/a>, too. Enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n Raleigh\u2019s career profile was always the way to bet, not the 2025 outlier season. If we average his production from 2022-2024, we\u2019re looking at .222\/.303\/.457, with 35 homers and 92 RBI. That\u2019s not an MVP candidate, but it\u2019s still a very valuable player.<\/p>\n Legitimate Roster Pieces<\/p>\n Dingler is probably a good buy-low target right now. His stats are fine but he\u2019s actually been unlucky \u2014 Statcast suggests he should be batting .306 and slugging .588. His Gold Glove defense keeps him on the field more often than not, and he\u2019s in the prime of his career (age-27 season).\u00a0Better things ahead.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Herrera\u2019s slugging has dipped some, but you love more walks than strikeouts and that dreamy .402 OBP. The Cardinals give him plenty of DH work \u2014 he hasn\u2019t missed a game all year \u2014 and he\u2019s parked in the No. 2 slot of what\u2019s turned into a quality lineup. He\u2019s welcome on all of my teams.<\/p>\n Rushing is one of the most fascinating players in 2026, a hit-machine who is unfortunately blocked at catcher (Will Smith), first base (Freddie Freeman<\/a>) and DH (Shohei Ohtani<\/a>). The Dodgers nonetheless are creatively hunting for spots for Rushing to play \u2014 he\u2019s started in 13 of the past 23 games, in part because the Dodgers don\u2019t automatically let Ohtani hit when he\u2019s pitching this year. Rushing would need a cleaner path to at-bats to justify starting in one-catcher leagues, but he\u2019s acceptable as a C2 in deeper formats, or as a one-injury-away upside stash.<\/p>\n Bargain Bin<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n