Cleveland Baseball Insider

Bo Naylor Is Off To An Outstanding Start For Akron

Naylor looks to be back on track as a top catching prospect in baseball

Todd Paquette

In this story:

Bo Naylor 

  • Age: 22
  • Position: Catcher
  • Current level: Double-A Akron
  • MLB ETA: 2023

Naylor so far in 2022 looks like a completely different player at the plate after struggling mightily in 2021. To be fair Naylor was one of the youngest players in Double-A ball last year and looked overmatched at times striking out 112 times over 87 games. He finished the year with a .188 average and .612 OPS. 

The Guardians assigned Naylor back to Double-A Akron to start the 2022 season and repeat the level. Through 31 games Naylor's strikeout percentage is down from 31.5% in 2021 to a more manageable 21.1% this year. His walk rate has drastically increased as well going from 10.4% in 2021 to a farm system leading 18.7% this year. He's doing so well getting on base currently sporting a .422 OBP that the RubberDucks manager Rouglas Odor has moved him up to the leadoff spot in the Akron order.

Naylor is making much better contact as well in 2022 as his swinging strike percentage is currently only at 6.5% compared to 12.8% in 2021. Last year Naylor got a little to pull happy looking to drive the ball out of the park every at bat. This year he's using more of the whole field as he's lowered his Pull percentage by over 3% and increased his opposite field percentage by 7% to start the season.

All of these improvements have led to some impressive numbers for Naylor over his first 31 games of the season with the RubberDucks.

  • AVG .287
  • OBP .422
  • SLG .475
  • OPS .897
  • wRC+ 153

Currently Naylor is riding a six-game hitting streak in which he's 11-for-25 good for a .440 average. In the six games he has five extra-base hits with three doubles and two home runs.

Obviously, the key for Naylor will be consistency. Can he keep up what he's shown in a short sample size to start the year throughout the entire season. Is his maturation at the plate for real? Will he continue to improve even more as he is still below the average age of position players at the Double-A level? 

All these questions we will hopefully get an answer to as the season goes on but for now Naylor is on the rebound and showing the immense potential he brings to the organization and the future.

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Todd Paquette
TODD PAQUETTE

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