Bo Naylor Brings More To Guardians Than Offense
When fans were begging for the Cleveland Guardians to call up Bo Naylor from Triple-A, it was because he was mashing baseballs there. Bo had 13 home runs and 48 RBI for the Columbus Clippers before being promoted.
Naylor is still looking to find his swing at the Big League level, but he's still offering the Guardians a lot by having him in the lineup. This is through his incredible defense behind the plate.
The Guardians were one of the worst defensive teams at the catcher position before they called up Bo, but the promotion has changed everything.
Naylor has already caught three runners stealing while allowing seven stolen bases. It's a small sample size, but Bo throwing out 30 percent of runners is already better than Mike Zunino who allowed 40 stolen bases while only catching eight runners.
Bo threw out two of these runners in the series opener against the Kanas City Royals. The first runner who tested Naylor was Nicky Lopez who was caught in his tracks.
The second throw-out of the night may be one of the craziest you'll ever see.
Trevor Stephan missed a pitch out and threw the ball high and inside. This forced Bo to catch it, do a 360, and throw it to Andres Gimenez at second base. He did all of that and was still able to tag Lopez out for the second time in the game.
Bo broke down this incredible play after the game:
I kind of had him in my peripheral, so as the throw was being made and once it had gone by me, I just assumed he was on his way. My next thought was to see where the runner rounding first was at, and then when I saw him running that's where my focus was at."
Naylor's swing will come. We've all seen what he's capable of doing when he gets hot. However, he's still showing why he's so valuable with what he's been able to do behind the plate.
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