Who’s the best defensive catcher in baseball this season?

Catcher is the one position among position players where there are many good answers to that question. There are six catchers within 2 runs of each other for the Defensive Runs Saved lead. At each of the other positions (not including pitcher), the gap between best and sixth-best is at least 9 runs.

Two runs in the world of Defensive Runs Saved is a small enough gap that it could be overcome in a couple of games.

This isn’t usually how it goes. The smallest differential between first and sixth place among catchers since Runs Saved was first tracked in 2003 is 5 runs, in 2009, which is before we started tracking pitch framing. In 2015, with pitch framing included in the calculation, the gap was 6 runs. In each of the last two years, the differential was 9 runs.

When we consider catcher performance, the primary factors in Runs Saved are pitch framing, pitch blocking, stolen base defense, and what we call staff handling, which basically involves comparing catchers to their teammates using ERA of the pitchers they’ve caught. Playmaking on batted balls is also considered but it’s a low-value component given how few balls a catcher fields.

The gap has narrowed with regards to pitch framing, especially now that a catcher can erase a potential framing shortcoming with a well-timed replay challenge. The difference between the best framer and worst framer 10 years ago in our Strike Zone Runs Saved stat was 25 runs. This year, with less than a month to go in the season, it’s 14 runs.  The difference between the best and 10th-best framer was 10 Runs in 2016. Right now, it’s 4 runs. WAR inventor Sean Smith also noted this in another way on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

Getting back to the question at hand, we have a lot of very good catchers to pick from. If we’re looking at it from a multi-year perspective Patrick Bailey of the Guardians has a good case for being the best defensive catcher. Over the last three seasons, Bailey leads all catchers with 47 Runs Saved. The only other catcher with 30 is Freddy Fermin, who has 39. Bailey won our Defensive Player of the Year last year. It’s not a hard argument to say he’s No. 1 over an extended length of time.

But my question was specific to 2026. Bailey has 8 Runs Saved this season, 4 behind the leader, and while he could still win the Fielding Bible Award voting, there are a lot of other credible candidates to challenge him.

Here’s a rundown of the six catchers at the top of the leaderboard entering Thursday.

Luis Torrens

Torrens was the top catcher when it came to throwing out basestealers for most of the season. That’s come down a little bit to a 33% throw-out rate as basestealers have had more success against him recently. But he’s still right near the top of the stolen base leaderboard and is also solidly above average in pitch framing.

The standout thing for him is how much better the Mets are when he catches compared to the alternative, Francisco Alvarez (3.58 ERA vs 4.58), and that’s where he earns a sizable chunk of his Runs Saved.

Dillon Dingler

My colleague, Abraham Dabaja, wrote a comprehensive analysis of what makes Dingler so good. He has the most Runs Saved of any catcher in strike throwing and pitch blocking, and he’s above-average in the stolen base component. The other notable thing about Dingler is that he plays a lot. He’s third in innings caught this season, trailing William Contreras and J.T. Realmuto, who each enter the day with -1 Runs Saved this season.

Joe Mack

Mack changed the dynamic of the Marlins when he was called up. The Marlins have a 3.52 ERA when he catches this season. The three other catchers on the team have ERAs of at least 4.37.

Mack has a lower success rate than Torrens at throwing out basestealers, but because he’s so much better than the other Marlins catchers, he’s tied with Torrens in Stolen Base Runs Saved. He’s an average pitch blocker but is good enough at everything else to be near the top leaderwise.

Freddy Fermin

Fermin is another defensive difference maker who has done well at thwarting stolen bases, throwing out 30% of attempted basestealers. This is his third straight season with at least 10 Runs Saved. He’s an average pitch framer but a very good pitch blocker.

Gabriel Moreno

Moreno may not be the best at anything this season but he’s average or better at everything, whether its limiting basestealers, blocking pitches, or framing pitches. He won a Fielding Bible Award in 2023, a year in which he saved 20 Runs. He won’t be that good this year but he’s still solid.

Tyler Heineman

Heineman plays the least of any of the top six catchers in Runs Saved but he’s made a good impact. He rates well in both pitch framing and pitch blocking, and has been good at throwing out basestealers (28%). He’s done this while managing two pitching staffs this season, the Blue Jays and Angels.

Ranks Among The Top 6 catchers In Runs Saved

I’m predicting right now that this will be the closest vote when The Fielding Bible Awards are conducted this October. It’s a testament to the quality of catchers that it’s such a hard question to answer.

To see all our Defensive Runs Saved stats, visit FieldingBible.com and check out the player and team leaderboards.