The Guardians have referred to as up catching prospect Bo Naylor to the 26-man roster, based on MLB.com’s Jesus Cano (Twitter hyperlink). Naylor is scheduled to make his 2023 debut on Sunday, as Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Seller writes that Naylor can be behind the plate for Tanner Bibee’s begin towards the Diamondbacks.
That is the third time Naylor has been referred to as up from Triple-A, as he appeared in 5 video games final season and one sport earlier this season as the additional twenty seventh man for a doubleheader. The 23-year-old continues to be on the lookout for his first hit after going 0-for-10 towards MLB pitching, but Naylor certainly now appears to be poised for a for much longer stint as a daily within the Guardians’ catching combine.
Naylor’s temporary cup of espresso in the course of the 2022 season appeared to trace that he’d be a part of Cleveland’s lineup as early as Opening Day 2023, particularly for the reason that Guardians non-tendered Luke Maile and let Austin Hedges depart in free company. Nonetheless, the Guardians regarded elsewhere for catching in the course of the offseason, getting concerned within the Sean Murphy commerce talks earlier than in the end signing Mike Zunino to a one-year, $6MM deal, and Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria to minor league offers.
This trio and utilityman David Fry have seen nearly the entire motion behind the plate for the Guardians this season, with disastrous outcomes. Cleveland’s catchers have mixed to hit a measly .168/.238/.270 over 248 plate appearances, translating to a league-worst 40 wRC+. Viloria was already launched in Might, and the larger transfer got here yesterday, when Zunino was designated for task (thus clearing a roster spot for Naylor).
It’s protected to imagine that Gallagher or Fry will nonetheless get some taking part in time as Naylor acclimates to the majors, and Cleveland’s teaching workers may also desire a first-hand take a look at the defensive changes Naylor has been engaged on at Triple-A. Questions on Naylor’s glovework have been requested for a lot of his professional profession, but scouts and pundits have usually been impressed along with his enhancements. This season at Triple-A Columbus, Naylor acquired off to a tough begin when it comes to throwing out baserunners, and has allowed 55 steals in 66 possibilities to this point.
The Guardians have strongly prioritized protection from the catcher place in recent times, because the group has been prepared to simply accept little to no offensive manufacturing from the likes of Hedges or Roberto Perez so long as the backstops saved delivering Gold Glove-caliber work. That being stated, with Zunino struggling so badly each offensively and defensively, the Guards could have determined that even when Naylor’s protection continues to be one thing of a piece in progress, it’s well worth the tradeoff of getting his bat into the lineup.
There isn’t a lot left for Naylor to show at Triple-A, after hitting .255/.379/.507 with 28 homers over 560 PA with Columbus during the last two seasons. Whereas naturally Naylor received’t be anticipated to instantly replicate that manufacturing towards Main League pitchers, it’s exhausting to think about he received’t be some form of an improve over the mediocre numbers posted to this point by the Guardians’ catchers. Within the greater image, the Guards’ lineup is struggling on the entire, which is the first cause for the membership’s uninspiring 32-37 file. Nonetheless, Cleveland stays solely 2.5 video games out of first place within the weak AL Central, so there’s nonetheless loads of time for the group to mount a turn-around.
If Naylor stays on Cleveland’s roster for the rest of the 2023 season, he’ll financial institution 107 days of massive league service, giving him 113 days of MLB service time in complete. Which means in calling him up on June 17, the Guardians will possible have prevented Naylor from reaching Tremendous Two standing, and Naylor received’t obtain an additional 12 months of arbitration eligibility. It’s protected to imagine that this performed a task within the group’s determination to advertise the catcher, contemplating how cost-controlled younger expertise has been the muse for the historically low-spending Guardians.