Catcher Position Will Be an Area To Address This Winter After Poor Second Half

How was the production from the catcher spot in 2025 for the Tampa Bay Rays?

Sep 13, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Tampa Bay Rays catcher Hunter Feduccia (30) hits a single against the Chicago Cubs during a game at Wrigley Field. | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays have the start of the offseason right around the corner and they will be seeking to have a strong winter and get back into contention in 2026. However, they have some areas to look at based on production in 2025 that they might want to address. 

While the 2025 campaign didn’t go according to plan for the franchise, there is plenty of reason to believe that they will be able to turn things around in 2026. There is a plethora of good young talent on the team, and a majority of the squad is expected to be back. 

Even though most of the team is scheduled to be back, they could look to trade a couple of veterans nearing the end of their deals and bring back some prospects in return. Overall, the team is in good shape, but improving one area for the team would be ideal. 

The catcher position continues to be a problem for the franchise and there doesn’t seem to be an easy fix. While they had some positive production, there still isn’t a long-term answer at the position, and that is a significant concern. 

Catcher Position Continues to be Question Mark 

Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

To start the season, production from the catcher spot wasn’t bad. Veteran Danny Jansen came in and had a positive impact on the team, both offensively and defensively. Before being traded, he slashed .204/.314/.389 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI in 73 games. With a substantial on-base percentage and slugging percentage, production from Jansen was a bright spot. 

However, as a free agent at the end of the 2025, it made sense that Tampa Bay elected to deal him prior to the trade deadline. After Jansen was dealt, production, especially from the offensive side of things really went down him. 

Hunter Feduccia and Nick Flores ended up getting a majority of the playing time afterwards, and neither ran away with the job when the opportunity presented itself. Feduccia slashed .151/.265/.209 in 36 games, and Flores slashed .213/.307/.348 in 38 games. 

With neither having an OPS of .700, production on offense was clearly limited for the both of them. Unfortunately, finding a great catcher is not easy to do and it’s why they very rarely hit free agency. For the Rays, this is arguably the position that they need to try and improve the most this winter based on the lack of production in the second half of the year.