Cleveland Baseball Insider

It's Time For The Guardians To Make A Change At Catcher

The Cleveland Guardians should hand the catching duties off to top prospect Bo Naylor.

Tommy Wild

It's Time For The Guardians To Make A Change At Catcher
It's Time For The Guardians To Make A Change At Catcher /
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Everyone knew it at the end of 2022. The Cleveland Guardians had a pretty complete lineup, outside of their catchers. 

Cleveland catchers, led by Austin Hedges and Luke Maile, combined to have a batting average of .180 and an OPS of .534 which was at the very bottom of baseball. The front office knew that this was going to be something that needed to be addressed in the offseason.

With acquiring a catcher that had offense potential at the top of their to-do list, the Guardians signed Mike Zunino to a one-year deal. His defensive woes weren't a secret from anyone, but it was worth the risk considering he hit 33 home runs in 2021.

However, that offensive promise has yet to be seen from Zunino. He's slashing just .165/.276/.318 this season and is currently 0-for-27 with 21 strikeouts in the month of May alone. 

At the same time, Bo Naylor has been lighting it up at Triple-A Columbus posting a .262 batting average with a .926 OPS. This includes nine home runs for the power-hitting backstop.

This sort of production cannot be ignored, especially with how inconsistent Cleveland's lineup has been. It's worth giving Bo a shot to see what he's capable of at the Big League level.

Calling up Naylor doesn't mean letting Zunino go.

In fact, I still think that Zunino has a valuable role on this team. When he was originally signed, the veteran catcher explained how excited he was to mentor and lead Naylor if the opportunity presented itself. 

That scenario may quickly be turning into more of a reality than a possibility. 

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Tommy Wild
TOMMY WILD

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