Bo

Naylor

The stunning early-season trade is now official. Bailey is universally regarded as one of the top defensive specialists in the entire game and should immediately strengthen Cleveland’s entire pitching staff. The 26-year-old backstop is a non-factor at the plate, but he’s a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and seems to fit the mold of what the Guardians front office is looking for in a defensive-oriented starting catcher. It’ll be Bo Naylor heading to Triple-A while veteran Austin Hedges sticks around as his caddy. Bailey’s departure means the Giants are going to roll with youngsters Daniel Susac and Jesus Rodríguez as their catching tandem moving forward.

Naylor’s departure coincides with defensive wizard Patrick Bailey’s arrival in Cleveland following a trade with the Giants. The 26-year-old backstop is hitting .143/.200/.238 with two homers in 28 games this season and has batted .199 in 346 games at the highest level since 2022. Veteran defensive specialist Austin Hedges will stick around in a backup role behind Bailey.

Naylor’s homer to seemingly put the game away in the seventh — it made the score 8-2 before the Royals were able bring it back to within three — was just his second of the year. It upped his RBI total from four to seven. Naylor actually has a greatly improved contact rate with pretty solid exit velocity numbers this year, but it’s produced only a .143/.200/.238 line in 90 plate appearances. One imagines he’s due for a run of good luck.

Ingle, who’s 24 years old, has now safely reached base in all 13 games he’s played this year while slashing .357/.617/.786. He has four home runs and 12 RBI on the season with an absurd 9/18 K/BB ratio. With Bo Naylor slashing .156/.224/.244 in 49 plate appearances and playing league-average defense, you have to wonder if the Guardians would consider making a change at some point.

Even with tough left-hander Cole Ragans on the mound, the Guardians will have DeLauter back in the lineup after one day off. He will hit fifth instead of second, but it’s nice to see that he is not in a strict platoon. It does seem like Kyle Manzardo and Bo Baylor are in strict platoons, as both of them will sit yet again with Austin Hedges catching and Rhys Hoskins at first base.

Hoskins has hit well in his first few games with Cleveland, although he did have one of the most bizarre baserunning mistakes you’ll see when he tried to tag up and score on a 200-foot pop-up. Chase DeLauter is the designated hitter Saturday against Bryan Woo, Angel Martinez will handle left and CJ Keyfus is in right. Bo Naylor also gets a break with David Fry hitting fifth and catching.

The 33-year-old slugger is expected to be a regular against left-handed pitching for the Guardians, but he’s in there against a right-hander as well on Opening night. If he’s able to stay healthy and regain his power stroke, he could wind up providing some mixed league viability. Here’s the full lineup that manager Stephen Vogt will use against Logan Gilbert and the M’s on Thursday: Steven Kwan (LF), Chase DeLauter (RF), Jose Ramirez (3B), Kyle Manzardo (DH), Bo Naylor (C), Rhys Hoskins (1B), Daniel Schneemann (CF), Gabriel Arias (SS) and Brayan Rocchio (2B).

Naylor made things much more interesting as his two-run shot off of Gabe Speier in the sixth inning, pulling Team Canada to within two runs at 5-3. That would be as close as they would get. The 26-year-old backstop also singled in the ballgame. He’ll now rejoin Guardians’ camp and get ready for the start of the regular season.

Heyman adds that Hedges will receive $500,000 in performance-based incentives. The 33-year-old backstop will return for his sixth season in Cleveland. He’s been a complete non-factor at the plate, but he’s remains a sublime defender from a pitch-framing perspective. He’ll serve as Bo Naylor’s primary caddy next season.

Naylor put the game to bed with a three-run shot that extended the lead from 3-1 to 6-1. The 25-year-old did almost nothing in the regular season at the plate, but he’s helped Cleveland get to within a game of the ALDS against Seattle.