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Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin. Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

MLB rookie class being dominated by catchers

By Aaron Somers | Last updated May 22, 2025 12:59 PM ET

Most teams across Major League Baseball have played close to 50 games at this point, almost one-third of the way through the season. While it's still early, it's notable that one position has been dominating this year's rookie class across the league.

OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) has increasingly become the go-to statistic that most broadcasts highlight to showcase a hitter's success on the season-to-date. It's more prevalent than simply showing a player's batting average and is more commonly shown than the full triple slash line.

Through Wednesday's games, four of the top five qualified rookie hitters by OPS are all catchers. Only Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (ranked No. 2 with a .859 OPS) doesn't spend his time behind the plate. Wilson's .341/.381/.478 slash line shouldn't be overlooked, and he leads all rookies in at-bats (182), hits (62), doubles (10, tied with two others) and RBI (26).

Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews leads all first-year players with seven home runs, but his overall .196/.266/.354 line (a .620 OPS) would rank him just 21st among rookies.

Atlanta's expected starting catcher, Sean Murphy, was hit by a pitch late in spring training, resulting in a broken rib and an opportunity for Drake Baldwin. Baldwin has made the most of that chance with the Braves and sits atop the rookie leaderboards for OPS at .983.

Through 90 plate appearances, the 24-year-old is hitting .357/.400/.583 with four doubles and five home runs. Atlanta was impressed enough with his defense behind the plate that it kept Baldwin around after Murphy returned from his injury, rather than send him down to Triple-A to keep playing every day.

At 19-29, Miami already holds the third-worst record in the National League. Little has gone right for the Marlins, but, surprisingly, the production of their receiving behind the plate has been among the game's best. A pair of Marlins catchers rank third and fourth among rookies.

Agustin Ramirez is hitting .245/.311/.543 (.853 OPS) through 103 PA. He's among the players tied with Wilson for the lead in doubles and is tied for second with six home runs. Ramirez was among the players Miami acquired last summer when it traded Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the Yankees.

Liam Hicks, meanwhile, is batting .277/.344/.494 (.838 OPS) through 95 PA. Hicks was selected in December's Rule 5 Draft from the Tigers.

Rounding out the list for Boston is Carlos Narvaez. The Red Sox acquired the 26-year-old from the Yankees this offseason (for left-hander Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz) as depth behind the plate. Connor Wong's fractured finger opened the door for Narvaez to see more playing time, and he's capitalized.

Through 134 PA, Narvaez is hitting .279/.343/.459 (.802 OPS) with five home runs.

Aaron Somers

Aaron Somers has more than a decade of experience writing about sports and has been published in numerous outlets, but baseball is and has always been his biggest passion. You can follow him on BlueSky, @AaronJSomers.

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