Bo Naylor: The Cleveland Guardians' Rising Star Behind the Plate
It’s no mistake the Cleveland Guardians were desperate behind the plate during the 2023 season. The club had signed free agent catcher Mike Zunino in the offseason to a one-year, $6 million contract, and he didn’t make it to the All-Star break due to poor play.
Zunino was designated for assignment by the club in mid-June, and the Bo Naylor era officially began. Naylor, having logged eight plate appearances the season prior at the end of the year, found himself back up with the club that was starved for any plus production.
For the 2023 season, Naylor started off slowly offensively, but got his feet under him as the year went on, slashing .237/.339/.470 with a .809 on-base in 208 plate appearances. He also had 30 walks, 11 home runs, and finished with a 1.5 WAR.
In comparison, Zunino produced a line of .177/.271/.306 with a .578 OPS in 148 plate appearances. The former 2021 All-Star had hit just three home runs this season for the team before being DFA’d.
Highlights Of Bo’s Campaign
Some highlights to note during the season was Bo hitting a home run in the same inning as his older brother and teammate, Josh, against the Texas Rangers. The Naylor brothers were the first siblings to hit a same-game home run for the club, and 13th pair in baseball to do so.
Naylor also snagged some spotlight in a game against the Royals. Reliever Trevor Stephan missed a pitchout, which sent him into a 360 spin before firing the ball down to second to catch a runner stealing.
He also homered in three games in a row against the Minnesota Twins while on the road, helping the club win the series. And, seven times during the year he had the go-ahead hit for the Guardians.
Defensive Progress
The club cited reasons of development for the delay in which it took for Naylor to join the big league team once again -- which came to light during a statement by Guardians' assistant GM and former director of player development, James Harris, earlier in the year.
In blocks above average, Naylor settled in the middle of the pack (32nd of 68 catchers) with zero in 2,416 opportunities. For perspective, Cam Gallagher finished with two (ranked at 21) in 1,734 opportunities, and Zunino, who came in at C1, finished in 65th, with -11 in 1,489 opportunities.
For additional insight, former Guardians' catcher Austin Hedges finished seventh with eight blocks above average in 2,743 opportunities. Hedges, who was a free agent following the 2022 season, is currently serving in the backup catching position with the Texas Rangers. After signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates for a one-year, $5 million deal, prior to the 2023 season, he was traded to the Rangers in August.
Among 63 catchers, Naylor finished 22nd in framing runs with three in 1,756 pitches. Gallagher fared slightly better, finishing 15th with five framing runs with a lower pitch count of 1,430.
And, to go back to Hedges and Zunino -- the former finished second with 13 catcher framing runs in 2,018 pitches, and the latter at 29th with one in 1,070 pitches.
Naylor finished 26th out of 81 in pop time, coming up with a 1.94 -- beating out all the above mentioned. For context, Hedges finished 35th, Gallagher at 43, and Zunino in 75th with a time of 2.04.
The negative detractor on the catcher's leaderboard list for Naylor was caught stealing above average. He finished 46th of 63 with -2, which trailed behind the others listed previously.
To say the least, the worries the front office had about Naylor's defensive abilities were why the club seemingly held him back -- yet he outpaced the person they went out and signed for -- then DFA'd -- in Zunino.
All-in-all, the 23-year-old backstop’s rookie season was a great leaping off point for the young catcher. Naylor's offensive production in the catching position is one the Guardians desperately needed, and with continued reps and a full season as C1, one could expect to see the numbers to progress on the other side of the plate as well.
