Jonah Heim

Jonah Heim

29-Year-Old CatcherC
Texas Rangers
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Whether it was World Series hangover, simple regression or a combination of the two, Heim experienced a sharp decline in performance last season. The switch-hitting catcher easily led the position with 95 RBI in 2023 while adding 18 home runs, but those numbers fell off in 2024 to 59 and 13, respectively. Heim's hard-hit rate fell to a career-low 36.4 percent, his barrel rate dropped to a career-worst 5.9 percent and his pull rate dipped significantly to 38.3 percent last season. When you add in that he's a fly ball hitter and the ball didn't travel as well league-wide in 2024, that means lots of lazy flyouts. Heim was again much worse after the All-Star break (.527 OPS) than he was before it (.644 OPS) and now has a career .579 OPS in the second half versus a .732 OPS in the first half. A scaled back workload would make sense, and that's expected to happen after the Rangers brought in Kyle Higashioka to share time with Heim. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
From Preseason
$Signed a one-year, $3.05 million contract with the Rangers in January of 2024.
Will share time with Higashioka
CTexas Rangers
December 3, 2024
Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said Tuesday that Heim and Kyle Higashioka will receive equal playing time at catcher next season, Jeff Wilson of AllDLLS.com reports.
ANALYSIS
It's not a surprise to hear that Higashioka will play extensively after the Rangers announced a two-year, $13.5 million contract with the veteran catcher. Heim made the All-Star team and won a Gold Glove in 2023, but in 2024 he fell off to just a .602 OPS and also saw his defensive metrics dip significantly.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 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
2
2
17
42
24
1
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
2
16
2
6
4
2
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+20%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+17%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+17%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+30%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .786 340 44 12 56 2 .273 .329 .457
Since 2022vs Right .653 1102 113 35 146 3 .224 .283 .370
2024vs Left .679 117 14 4 14 0 .241 .291 .389
2024vs Right .578 374 31 9 45 1 .214 .259 .319
2023vs Left .856 91 13 2 22 1 .325 .374 .482
2023vs Right .733 410 48 16 73 1 .243 .305 .428
2022vs Left .833 132 17 6 20 1 .267 .333 .500
2022vs Right .640 318 34 10 28 1 .210 .283 .357
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+8%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+7%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+19%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+3%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .710 708 83 27 103 0 .238 .290 .421
Since 2022Away .659 734 74 20 99 5 .233 .298 .360
2024Home .622 252 24 7 30 0 .225 .270 .352
2024Away .582 239 21 6 29 1 .215 .264 .318
2023Home .823 248 36 12 48 0 .261 .323 .500
2023Away .689 253 25 6 47 2 .255 .312 .377
2022Home .686 208 23 8 25 0 .227 .274 .412
2022Away .705 242 28 8 23 2 .226 .318 .387
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Jonah Heim 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
0.29
 
BB Rate
5.3%
 
K Rate
18.3%
 
BABIP
.246
 
ISO
.115
 
AVG
.220
 
OBP
.267
 
SLG
.336
 
OPS
.602
 
wOBA
.268
 
Exit Velocity
88.5 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
31.8%
 
Barrels/PA
4.5%
 
Expected BA
.228
 
Expected SLG
.356
 
Sprint Speed
21.1 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
42.4%
 
Line Drive %
17.6%
 
Fly Ball %
40.0%
 
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
2024
2023
2022
2021
Any concern Heim would split catching duties with Mitch Garver were vanquished early with Garver missing most of April and all of May with a knee injury. During that time, Heim posted a .785 OPS, locking down the primary backstop position. For the season, Heim posted a career-high 103 wRC+ while continuing to excel behind the plate as a receiver and pitch framer. For the second straight year, Heim experienced a second half swoon, posting a .282/.338/.474 line before the break, compared to .217/.282/.656 after. However, Heim's average exit velocity and hard-hit rate were nearly identical in both halves, so he likely benefited from a fortuitous .313 BABIP over the first half and a snake bit .246 mark the rest of the way. Heim has shed the all-glove label, and catchers tend to develop more power as they get older. He'll be entering his 29-year-old season, so it may manifest, but the catcher inventory is such it isn't necessary to chase the potential upside.
Heim appeared set to fill a part-time role in 2022 after the Rangers acquired Mitch Garver, but Heim ended up working as the team's primary backstop as Garver mostly served as a designated hitter before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery. Heim took advantage of the playing time and delivered a .781 OPS with 12 home runs during the first half of the season, but he struggled after the All-Star break with a .181/.279/.311 slash line. Despite the second half struggles, he showcased better plate discipline throughout the campaign and finished with a 9.2 percent walk rate, up from 5.4 percent in 2021. Garver is expected to be cleared for catching duties by Opening Day, but Heim flashed well enough last season to warrant regular reps behind the plate, especially since he's the far superior player defensively. Still, Heim's fantasy appeal would likely be limited to AL-only formats if he and Garver are splitting time.
A very strong defensive backstop, Heim played roughly half the time for Texas last season, hitting .196/.239/.358 with 10 home runs and three steals in 285 PA. He belongs on a big-league roster, but the Rangers traded for an upgrade atop the depth chart, acquiring Mitch Garver from the Twins shortly after the lockout. Garver's biggest weakness is his durability, so Heim could still set a career best in plate appearances this year. However, the Garver acquisition relegates Heim primarily to AL-only appeal.
After a strong showing in the upper minors in 2019, Heim made his big-league debut last year and appeared in 13 games without making much of an impact at the plate. The 25-year-old switch hitter excels at making contact, and he could emerge as a solid OBP source even without the kind of BABIP boost (.395) he saw at Triple-A Las Vegas, but it's his impressive defense that has locked him into the No. 2 spot on the depth chart for the A's. Starter Sean Murphy has a higher offensive ceiling but has also had some injury issues in his career, which should open the door for more playing time for his backup. Heim likely isn't going to supply enough power to be a real difference-maker in the modern fantasy environment, but in deeper formats he could settle in as a catcher who won't hurt you either, along the lines of Francisco Cervelli in his prime.
More Fantasy News
Not starting Saturday
CTexas Rangers
September 28, 2024
Heim is absent from Saturday's lineup against the Angels.
ANALYSIS
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Out of Texas lineup
CTexas Rangers
September 26, 2024
Heim is not in the lineup for Thursday's contest in Oakland.
ANALYSIS
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Goes deep in Tuesday's loss
CTexas Rangers
September 25, 2024
Heim went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and two RBI in Tuesday's loss to the Athletics.
ANALYSIS
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Getting breather Saturday
CTexas Rangers
September 21, 2024
Heim isn't in the Rangers' lineup for Saturday's game versus the Mariners.
ANALYSIS
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Plates two in win
CTexas Rangers
September 18, 2024
Heim went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, two RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's 13-8 win over Toronto.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Poor outlook from organization
CTexas Rangers
October 24, 2024
According to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News, the Rangers no longer consider Heim an everyday option at catcher.
ANALYSIS
A contract extension seemed possible after Heim posted a .755 OPS over 131 games in 2023, but he struggled to a .220/.267/.336 slash line this year. The 29-year-old was still solid defensively, but that likely won't be enough for the Rangers to give him 120-plus starts for a third straight year in 2025.
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