The Cleveland Guardians just added Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants, and the defensive numbers behind what this catching corps now looks like together are genuinely staggering.
MLB analyst Luke Potosky put the context around the acquisition into perspective in a way that stops you in your tracks.
“IRON CURTAIN: Patrick Bailey’s Defensive Runs Above Average (DEF) of 102.4 is the highest in MLB since 2020, according to @fangraphs…his career began in 2023. Bailey (102.4) and Austin Hedges (81.3) hold the highest DEF ratings in MLB since 2021,” Potosky posted on X.
IRON CURTAIN: Patrick Bailey’s Defensive Runs Above Average (DEF) of 102.4 is the highest in MLB since 2020, according to @fangraphs…his career began in 2023.
Bailey (102.4) and Austin Hedges (81.3) hold the highest DEF ratings in MLB since 2021.#GuardsBall | @CleGuardians pic.twitter.com/7KuUn9FJ5t
— Luke Potosky (@LukePotosky) May 9, 2026
The two highest Defensive Runs Above Average ratings among catchers in all of Major League Baseball since 2021 now belong to the same team. The same roster. The same pitching staff.
Bailey’s DEF of 102.4 since his debut in 2023 is the highest mark in the entire sport going back to 2020. To put that number in context, Defensive Runs Above Average captures pitch framing, blocking, throwing, and overall game management behind the plate. A number in the 20s or 30s is considered excellent for a catcher in any given season. Bailey has accumulated over 100 in roughly three years of big league work. That is an almost absurd level of defensive performance.
And then there is Hedges, who himself sits at 81.3 over that same stretch, good for the second-highest mark in baseball. The same player who has been hitting .294 this season with an .782 OPS and an OPS+ of 120, numbers that have already made him one of the biggest surprises in the American League. The defensive foundation was always there for Hedges. The offensive production in 2026 has simply made the entire package impossible to ignore.
The Guardians have always prioritized pitching and defense as the foundation of how they compete. What this catching corps now looks like is that philosophy taken to its absolute extreme.
The Iron Curtain is real, and it is wearing a Cleveland uniform.
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