Naylor was optioned to Triple-A Columbus by the Guardians on Friday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.
Naylor is likely the Guardians' catcher of the future, but they'd like him to get more reps in the minors. Mike Zunino will handle the bulk of the catching duties for Cleveland, with Bryan Lavastida, Cam Gallagher and Zack Collins battling for the backup spot.
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Guardians' Bo Naylor: Unlikely to break camp in majors
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The Guardians would prefer for Naylor to open the year at Triple-A Columbus, where he could play consistently and get more reps under his belt before getting promoted to the majors for good sometime this summer, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports. "He's 22 years old," manager Terry Francona said. "We told him it's not always on your timetable... but if you knock the door down, that sort of makes the timetable. But I think he's got a really good head situated really well. He's got a pretty good outlook."
While Naylor is Cleveland's catcher of the future and made his big-league debut already last season, the addition of Mike Zunino this offseason made it clear that Cleveland wasn't ready to hand Naylor the keys right out of the gate this year. As Bell notes, the expectation is for Naylor to get the call sometime this year to start sharing the catching duties with Zunino. Bryan Lavastida is the favorite to win the backup job to begin the season.
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Guardians' Bo Naylor: Called up by Cleveland
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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: 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
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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
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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.
