Bo

Naylor

The deal is now official. Hedges returns to Cleveland in a backup role to young starter Bo Naylor. The 32-year-old backstop remains a standout defender behind the dish, but he’s been a non-factor at the plate since entering the league back in 2015.

The left-handed-hitting Naylor was out of the lineup in favor of Austin Hedges versus righties the last two days, yet he’s in there against lefty Carlos Rodón tonight. The lineup: LF Steven Kwan, DH David Fry, 3B José Ramírez, CF Lane Thomas, 1B Josh Naylor, RF Jhonkensy Noel, C Bo Naylor, 2B Andrés Giménez, SS Brayan Rocchio.

With the Tigers throwing left-hander Tarik Skubal, the left-handed hitter Naylor will take a seat in favor of veteran Austin Hedges.

The Guardians stole five bases on the evening, and Naylor was able to pick up a pair to bring his total to six. The homer was his 12th, and he also drew a walk and singled in the contest. Naylor has been more up than down in 2024, but there have been enough good moments to suggest he has a chance to be a strong fantasy catcher in the coming seasons.

Naylor played a pivotal role in Cleveland’s late rally to force extra innings as he delivered a one-out triple off Arizona stopper Ryan Thompson in the ninth inning before coming around to score the tying run later in the frame. He also singled and stole a base earlier in the back-and-forth affair.

Naylor gave Cleveland a commanding seven-run lead with a sky-high sixth-inning blast into the right-field seats off Tigers rookie Bryan Sammons. It was his seventh big fly of the year and first time he’s gone deep since July 11. The 24-year-old former top prospect hasn’t lived up to fantasy managers lofty expectations coming into the year, but he’ll continue to play regularly in Cleveland as a big part of their long-term catching equation.

Naylor took Jack Flaherty deep in the third to give Naylor his sixth homer of the season and the Guardians their only run of the game. The 24-year-old has not exactly lit up the fantasy leaderboards with the aforementioned number of roundtrippers and a slash of .207/.276/.350.

Naylor was called on to hit for Austin Hedges in the sixth inning with the Guardians trailing 3-2. He responded with a 378-foot home run that gave the Guardians a lead they would never give up. The 24-year-old is hitting just .205 on the season with five home runs, so he’ll need to do this a little more often to get back on the fantasy radar.

It’s the second steal of the season for Naylor. The 24-year-old drove in two with a single in the third to extend Cleveland’s lead to 5-1. Naylor has long-term appeal, but a .210/.277/.333 slash helps tell the story that it’s just theory at this stage of his career.

Naylor went 1-fot-6 over the first two games of the series, and he’s hitting just .175 with a .532 OPS thus far in 2024. Austin Hedges will get the start behind the plate and hit eighth in Naylor’s absence.