Bo Naylor is the Guardians' best hope for (finally) some offense from the catcher position
CLEVELAND — There might be some hope for Guardians catchers at the plate — instead of just behind it — after all.
It's no secret that Guardians catchers have long represented a black hole in the lineup. It'd be an understatement to say the results haven't exactly been pretty.
Since 2020, Cleveland backstops have a combined 51 wRC+, meaning they've been 49 percent below league average. No other team is below a 63 wRC+. Only four others are even below 76.
Now, under manager Terry Francona, the Guardians have also viewed a catcher's defensive abilities as far outweighing his production at the plate. In that same time period, Guardians catchers have combined to rank seventh in the league for their defensive abilities, according to FanGraphs.
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The combination of those two metrics act as the best representation of just how poor the offense has been from that spot in the lineup. Despite being ranked seventh defensively, Guardians catchers since 2020 still rank last in fWAR, which combines all aspects of play, at -0.9.
The strong defensive work hasn't been enough to outweigh the lack of offense.
But a light at the end of that tunnel now exists. And like the famed bat signal, there's an outline of the No. 23 within that light.
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Bo Naylor is the Guardians' long-term opportunity to find some offense at the catcher position. But it's been a slow burn. He entered Tuesday night's game with a .191 average and two home runs in 68 at-bats.
All of the recent history is why Tuesday night's game must has been a breath of fresh air for the Guardians brass. Naylor launched two home runs and finished with three RBIs in the Guardians' 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. He also nearly hit a third home run, but that ball fell just short of the wall in left field.
"It was awesome, the way the ball felt off the bat, to say the least," Naylor said of a night that the team hopes serves as a breakthrough.
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Naylor had a 20-homer, 20-steal season last year in the minors. The offensive ceiling is sky high compared to his predecessors. But there is also an understanding that he's a 23-year-old rookie — he was called up at the end of last year, but saw limited playing time — who is also learning the pitching staff and the defensive side of things.
Naylor has been splitting time with Cam Gallagher, who fits the defense-first mold, and David Fry, a Swiss-army-knife type player who has shown a knack for coming through in big moments and entered Tuesday hitting .290 with an .810 OPS in 69 at-bats.
"I mean, we all know Bo's going to play a lot. I think we're trying to balance developing and winning," Francona said. "We've got one catcher that's one of the best defenders in the league. We've got another catcher that's hitting like crazy, but I was thrilled for [Naylor] tonight. That was pretty cool to watch."
Of course, it was only one game. Naylor's 2023 season hasn't quite gone as smoothly as he and the club might have hoped so far. But it's offered a lesson on life in the bigs. And big brother Josh — who has perhaps saved a struggling Guardians lineup over the last several weeks — has been able to offer some insight into how to handle it all.
"[Josh] is someone who always just tries to preach the same things as being confident understanding [all of that]," Bo Naylor said. "He always tries to tell me that I deserve to be here and to kind of have that confidence in anything that I do. … So shoutout to Josh."
David Fry is doing it all for the Guardians
Fry is the other reason a slight sliver of hope for some offense out of the catcher's spot exists. He's done anything the Guardians have needed, including one night when he started in right field and then switched to catcher mid-game, a rare positional change to happen on the fly.
Fry also already has a walk-off home run, and he tied Sunday's game with a home run with the Guardians down to their last out in the ninth.
"David's had a lot of big days," Francona said. "He's done a terrific job for us."
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Bo Naylor can be Cleveland Guardians answer to catching woes
