9 months agoTexas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim enjoyed a breakout campaign last season as he set career-bests in all major statistical categories while backstopping the Rangers to a World Series championship. The first-time All Star batted .258 with a .739 OPS and swatted 18 homers, en route to finishing as the fifth-best catcher for fantasy in 5x5 roto formats. Heim certainly benefitted from playing for a star-studded Rangers team as he scored 61 runs, and his 95 RBI were 15 more than any other catcher. A look under the hood fully supports Heim's breakout as his hard-hit rate (38.5%), average exit velocity (91.4 MPH), and barrel rate (8%) were all better than MLB average. Entering his age-28 campaign, Heim again projects as a top catcher for fantasy as he's slated to get every day at-bats for one of the best lineups in baseball. Even if Heim regresses slightly from last season's peak performance, he should still deliver solid production from the catcher spot thanks to elite plate-discipline. He struck out under 20-percent of the time each of the past two seasons while posting a sturdy eight-percent walk rate, so expect plenty of runs and RBI as part of a great Texas lineup. Draft Heim with confidence as your starting catcher near his average-draft position of 180th overall.--Mike Schwarzenbach - RotoBaller