James McCann

James McCann

35-Year-Old CatcherC
Arizona Diamondbacks
10-Day IL
Injury Quadriceps
Est. Return 6/26/2026
2026 Stats
AVG
.203
HR
0
RBI
6
R
3
SB
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
AVG
HR
RBI
R
SB
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2026 Fantasy Outlook
McCann's days as a top backstop are well behind him, as the 35-year-old will enter his 13th major-league season as the backup to Gabriel Moreno after the former signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Diamondbacks in November. McCann appeared in 42 games for Arizona in 2025 and posted a .755 OPS with five home runs, 17 RBI and 18 runs over 137 plate appearances. He'll be the No. 2 catcher on Opening Day but could face competition from Adrian Del Castillo as the season progresses. Read Past Outlooks
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RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#378
ADP
League Majors
Bats R
Throws R
40 Man Yes
Height 6'3"
Weight 220
DOB 6/13/1990
Born Santa Barbara, CA
College Arkansas
Drafted 2nd Rd 2011 DET
Signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Diamondbacks in November of 2025.
Likely out 4-to-6 weeks
CArizona Diamondbacks
Quadriceps
May 19, 2026
Manager Torey Lovullo said Tuesday that McCann (quad) will likely be sidelined for 4-to-6 weeks, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.
Analysis
McCann landed on the injured list Tuesday with a quad strain, and it doesn't seem like the Diamondbacks are going to get their backup catcher back anytime soon. Aramis Garcia was recalled from Triple-A to replenish Arizona's backstop depth behind Gabriel Moreno. Adrian Del Castillo could make an occasional appearance behind the plate as well.
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Batting Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
4
5
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
3
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2024
 
 
+5%
OPS vs RHP
2026
 
 
+10%
OPS vs RHP
2025
 
 
+7%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+7%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2024vs Left .647 163 16 5 18 0 .230 .272 .375
Since 2024vs Right .677 269 32 8 36 1 .242 .292 .385
2026vs Left .448 29 2 0 2 0 .207 .207 .241
2026vs Right .492 33 1 0 4 0 .200 .226 .267
2025vs Left .786 50 5 1 3 0 .279 .367 .419
2025vs Right .736 87 13 4 14 0 .250 .299 .438
2024vs Left .638 84 9 4 13 0 .213 .238 .400
2024vs Right .683 149 18 4 18 1 .246 .302 .381
More Splits→ View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits→ View Minor League Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2024
 
 
+17%
OPS at Home
2026
 
 
+20%
OPS on Road
2025
 
 
+10%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+29%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2024Home .715 226 27 5 25 0 .262 .317 .398
Since 2024Away .612 206 21 8 29 1 .211 .249 .363
2026Home .431 34 2 0 1 0 .188 .212 .219
2026Away .519 28 1 0 5 0 .222 .222 .296
2025Home .785 77 11 2 9 0 .286 .342 .443
2025Away .715 60 7 3 8 0 .226 .300 .415
2024Home .754 115 14 3 15 0 .269 .330 .423
2024Away .583 118 13 5 16 1 .200 .229 .355
More Splits→ View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does James McCann compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.06
 
BB Rate
1.6%
 
K Rate
27.4%
 
BABIP
.286
 
ISO
.051
 
AVG
.203
 
OBP
.217
 
SLG
.254
 
OPS
.471
 
wOBA
.209
 
Exit Velocity
90.6 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
22.7%
 
Barrels/PA
4.8%
 
Expected BA
.181
 
Expected SLG
.282
 
Sprint Speed
23.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
61.9%
 
Line Drive %
11.9%
 
Fly Ball %
26.2%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2012
McCann's best days are behind him, and the 34-year old free agent is still looking for a new employer at press time. A new ballpark should definitely help him pop a few more homers, because Lord Walltimore was not kind to McCann's pull-heavy approach. McCann hasn't seen even 250 plate appearances since serving as the primary catcher for the Mets in 2021, which is unlikely to change anytime soon. He grades out below average in all of the catching metrics, which essentially predestines him to a secondary catching role unless the primary catcher becomes injured. McCann's skills are what they are; he is not going to walk much and will strike out a fair amount around his occasional deep drive to left field. He has historically hit for enough average as a second catcher for mono league formats, so where he signs will determine whether he is drafted in the last round or in the reserves of those formats.
Traded from the Mets to the Orioles last offseason, McCann appeared in 70 games around stints on the injured list with oblique and ankle issues. He held his own behind the plate, but his offensive contributions added up to just a 77 wRC+. He provided little in terms of counting stats with six homers, 25 runs, 26 RBI and three steals. His time in Queens was disastrous, but McCann is much better cast as veteran depth in Baltimore behind a young workhorse like Adley Rutschman. The 33-year-old McCann can be a DFS option or a potential streamer in leagues with daily moves when he's in the lineup against a soft-tossing lefty (career .250/.313/.442 vs. LHP). However, he is not expected to play enough in his backup role to justify a roster spot in most fantasy leagues. He is also a batting average liability on account of his career 25.7 K%.
McCann is now two years into a four-year deal with the Mets which has not gone as well as anyone had hoped, which led him to be traded to the Orioles while the Mets signed Omar Narvaez. McCann has been significantly below league average offensively in both seasons and missed chunks of time in 2022 with a broken wrist as well as an oblique injury. He has done a good job behind the plate receiving the talented casts of pitchers on the roster, but his throwing skills would be a poor pairing for a starter who struggles to control the running game as he is not much help. The 2019 power numbers are the outlier, as is the case for many players, but McCann still has the thump to hit double-digit homers, though he's unlikely to see enough playing time for it to matter with Adley Rutschman set to work as Baltimore's No. 1 backstop. However, the Orioles do plan to utilize McCann some at first base and designated hitter.
Year 1 in Queens was a disaster for McCann, who ranked in the bottom 16% of the league in xBA, xwOBA, xSLG, K% and chase rate, per Statcast. He made up for those offensive struggles to an extent with his defense, though McCann's framing numbers also left something to be desired. With eight MLB seasons in the books now, McCann sits with a cumulative 4.1 fWAR over 722 career games. It can be argued that he's miscast as a No. 1 catcher, and with the Mets spending and pushing to be among the game's elite teams, there's a chance McCann will be relegated to backup duty at some point this season. That will almost certainly happen before the end of his contract. McCann is a career .273/.341/.478 hitter against left-handed pitching and just a .236/.282/.351 career hitter without the platoon edge. In weekly lineup leagues, he's a low-end second catcher. If you can play the matchups on a daily basis, McCann's value gets a slight boost.
After appearing in at least 65% of the team's games the prior four seasons, McCann split time behind the plate with Yasmani Grandal. Despite less frequent action, McCann posted a career-best 144 wRC+, fourth best among catchers with at least 100 PA. The impetus was new personal bests in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate, though it would have been helpful to see if McCann were able to maintain those levels over a 162-game season. McCann parlayed his 2020 success into a four-year, $40 million contract with the Mets. On paper, his power will suffer, but he'll again be a bell cow with playing time among the league leaders at the position, especially if he can maintain improvements in framing, going from 12th percentile in 2019 to 88th last season. McCann should be rostered in all one-catcher leagues and is a target for those willing to spend in two-catcher formats.
The Tigers non-tendered McCann, paving the way for the White Sox to sign him to pair with Welington Castillo. An early-season timeshare turned into bell cow duty for McCann as he outproduced Castillo in April and May, then Castillo battled assorted injuries the rest of the season. On May 12, McCann was slashing .382/.421/.607 with a 23% strikeout rate. The rest of the way, his line was .246/.305/.423 wile fanning 30% of the time, almost exactly what was projected for the 2019 season. His hot start can't be ignored, but it's likely an outlier. For the season, McCann's average exit velocity increased so it's fair to raise his baseline accordingly. The White Sox signed Yasmani Grandal, a superior hitter and backstop, but the club still plans to find action for McCann. He's unlikely to match last season's playing time or production, but remains in play in two-catcher formats.
McCann was a power sleeper at a shallow position coming into 2018, but the power remained comatose and never woke up. He had a horrendous season at the plate after showing three years of steady power improvement from 2015 through 2017. The non-power part of his game is rather non-existent, as he hits for the type of low average you would expect from a slow-footed catcher. He is best utilized in a platoon where he can face lefty pitchers (.231/.275/.322 against RHP for his career). The Tigers declined to tender McCann an offer for arbitration and he ultimately landed with the White Sox on a one-year contract. Assuming his exposure is limited and he can just feast on lefties, McCann will at least have some appeal as an injury replacement in two-catcher formats.
McCann was a below-average major-league hitter last season, but he wasn't bad at all compared to his contemporaries at the catcher position. He lifted 13 home runs in 391 plate appearances, lending hope to the idea that he could get to 20 homers with a full season of regular playing time. McCann's 6.6 walk percentage leaves something to be desired, but he trimmed his strikeout rate from 2016 by nearly six percentage points to 22.8 percent and showed improvement against right-handed pitching (.234/.296/.355, up from .200/.236/.219 in 2016). The pitch-framing statistics are not kind to McCann, but he has a great arm and grades out well on defense. He should be the primary catcher on Opening Day, and he could hit as high as fifth or sixth in the Tigers' batting order.
2016 was a bit of a disappointment for McCann, who faced high expectations following a 2015 season where he hit .264 in 114 games with 18 doubles, seven home runs and 41 RBI for the Tigers. This past season, the 26-year-old slashed .221/.274/.358 with 12 home runs and 48 RBI. The home run increase was a positive, but it came at a cost, as his strikeout rate increased from 21.2 percent to 29.2 percent. McCann, who grades well as a defensive catcher by most criteria, threw out 45 percent of potential basestealers, up from 41 percent in 2015. Barring a free agent acquisition, he figures to enter 2017 as the Tigers' starting catcher, where he'll hope to add to his power increase with a rebound in average and contact rate.
McCann won the 2015 Tigers' Rookie of the Year Award from the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association on the back of an outstanding season behind the dish. He caught 112 error-free games to lead all MLB catchers and became only the sixth catcher on record to be error-free in over 100 games. On top of the flawless glove-work, he threw out 40.6 percent of American League base stealers. But McCann is more than just a defensive specialist -- he hit .264 with 18 doubles, five triples, seven home runs and 41 RBI with the Tigers last year. His leadership is off the charts, especially for a guy entering just his second season. McCann's power stroke will continue to grow and double-digit home runs will arrive sooner rather than later.
After showing growth at the Triple-A level last season, McCann was rewarded with a September promotion. The 2011 second-round pick made nine appearances for the Tigers in September, hitting .250 with one double and two runs scored in 12 at-bats. Despite the improvements at the dish at Triple-A, McCann’s calling card remains his solid defensive play. He has thrown out 39 percent of base stealers in his first three full seasons in the minors while doing a quality job running a pitching staff. Detroit has opted to bring back Alex Avila as their lead backstop, but McCann is expected to get the opportunity to challenge Bryan Holaday for the backup gig in 2015. Given Holaday’s lack or production at the plate the past two seasons, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see McCann work his way into the backstop mix for the Tigers this season, and his role could expand quickly if Avila continues to deal with minor injuries and long droughts at the dish.
The Tigers selected McCann with the 76th pick of the 2011 MLB Entry Draft. He profiles as a solid defensive player behind the plate, but he needs to improve at the plate before cracking any fantasy radars. The 21-year-old backstop hit just .146/.222/.250 in his first season of pro ball.
More Fantasy News
Officially placed on IL
CArizona Diamondbacks
Quadriceps
May 19, 2026
The Diamondbacks placed McCann (quad) on the 10-day injured list Tuesday.
Analysis
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Bound for IL
CArizona Diamondbacks
Quadriceps
May 18, 2026
McCann is expected to be placed on the 10-day injured list with a quadriceps strain, Alex Weiner of ArizonaSports.com reports.
Analysis
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Taking seat Wednesday
CArizona Diamondbacks
April 15, 2026
McCann is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles.
Analysis
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Out of Monday's lineup
CArizona Diamondbacks
April 13, 2026
McCann is not in the lineup for Monday's contest in Baltimore.
Analysis
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Contributes to win
CArizona Diamondbacks
April 13, 2026
McCann went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Phillies.
Analysis
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Unlikely to fit with NYM
CFree Agent
March 10, 2025
The Mets are unlikely to sign a free agent catcher like McCann or Yasmani Grandal following Francisco Alvarez's hand surgery, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.
Analysis
Alvarez is expected to miss 6-to-8 weeks following surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his left hand. However, it doesn't sound like the team plans to make any notable additions at catcher from outside the organization. The plan for now is to go with Luis Torrens as the starter at catcher while Alvarez is out, with non-roster invitees Hayden Senger, Chris Williams and Jakson Reetz competing to be Torrens' backup.
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