Naylor was called up by the Guardians on Saturday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Naylor, whose brother Josh also plays for the Guardians, is one of the game's more interesting catching prospects. The 22-year-old doesn't have the greatest defensive reputation, though he's improved in that area this season. He's also hit .263/.392/.496 with 21 home runs and 20 steals in 118 games across the two highest levels of the minors. The Guardians have gotten a .495 OPS from Austin Hedges and a .604 OPS from Luke Maile this season, so Naylor seemingly doesn't have many obstacles to playing time, though the team could still prefer Hedges for his defense and game-calling, leaving Naylor to fight for at-bats as a designated hitter. He'll spend his first day with the big-league team watching from the bench.
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Guardians' Bo Naylor: Raking in Triple-A
Rotowire
Naylor has a .295/.424/.558 batting line with five home runs and four steals through 27 games for Triple-A Columbus.
All told, he's whacked 11 homers (plus 18 doubles and four triples) and swiped 15 bags while getting on base at a spectacular .426 clip across Double-A and Triple-A this season. Naylor has also turned in much-improved work behind the plate this year, slashing his passed-ball numbers drastically while throwing out 41 percent of would-be base stealers. With Austin Hedges and Luke Maile offering almost nothing offensively, it might not be too much longer before the Guardians give Naylor a shot to join his big brother in the majors.
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Guardians' Bo Naylor: Rises to Triple-A
Rotowire
The Guardians promoted Naylor from Double-A Akron to Triple-A Columbus on Monday.
Naylor will move up a level in the wake of Columbus placing fellow backstop Bryan Lavastida (hamstring) on the 7-day injured list in a corresponding move. The younger brother of Guardians first baseman/outfielder Josh Naylor, Bo slashed .271/.427/.471 with six home runs, 11 stolen bases and a 20.9 percent walk rate over 220 plate appearances with Akron.
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Indians' Bo Naylor: Gets summer camp invite
Rotowire
Naylor will be a part of the Indians' 60-man player pool this season.
Naylor is the Indians' top catching prospect, and he will get to train with some of the organization's best pitching prospects at an alternate site while the other three catchers in the 60-man pool will train with fellow big leaguers at Progressive Field. Naylor hit .243/.313/.421 with 11 home runs and seven steals at Low-A last year.
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Indians' Bo Naylor: Assigned to Low-A
Rotowire
Naylor will open the year with Low-A Lake County, MLB.com reports.
This isn't necessarily surprising, but it represents a vote of confidence from the Indians, as prep catching prospects are often promoted pretty slowly through the minors. Naylor hit .274/.381/.402 (126 wRC+) with two home runs and five steals in 33 games in the AZL last year. He should get most of his starts at catcher, but will likely continue to get the occassional start at third base.
