Despite graduating a handful of stellar young talents such as Parker Messick, Chase DeLauter, and Travis Bazzana to the big-league roster recently, the Cleveland Guardians still have an exciting crop of potential future stars marinating in the minors. Cleveland is in first place in the AL Central largely due to the contributions of those three aforementioned young stars, and it will be interesting to see if any other prospects can break through to help the Guardians down the stretch in 2026.
One position that has needed a shot in the arm this season has been the catcher spot, which is why the Guardians acted quickly in trading for Patrick Bailey largely due to the massive struggles from Bo Naylor. As fantastic as Bailey is behind the dish, he is still one of the worst hitters in baseball and is batting just .140, which is why many are wondering when a certain high-upside catching prospect who is mashing in Triple-A could surface in Cleveland.
In a recent article for ESPN, David Schoenfield explored the league-wide trend of declining offense and wondered just how poorly a hitter can perform without being at risk of being replaced. In a year where batting average is at its lowest number since 1968 (.239) and homers have reached their lowest point since 2015, Schoenfield questioned the idea of catching prospect Cooper Ingle seeing time in the majors given Bailey’s struggles, but isn’t sure Ingle’s defense warrants it at the moment.
“What’s interesting is that catcher Cooper Ingle is hitting .337/.504/.618 in Triple-A, with more walks than strikeouts. But his defense is fringy, so while the bat looks ready for the majors, maybe he’s more of a backup catcher/DH,” Schoenfield wrote.
It’s tough to justify leaving a guy with an 1.088 OPS in the minors when the guy in his spot in the majors has a .413 OPS, but Bailey’s defense is that good. Ingle is 24 and has hit well during each of his stops in the minors and has the impressive distinction of having more walks than strikeouts in his minor league career, which is always a great sign that a hitter will translate well to the bigs. However, this organization has valued defense behind the plate over offense for many years, and it’s hard to see a path to Cleveland for Ingle with Bailey and Hedges in town.
Schoenfield did point out a potential backup catcher and designated hitter role for Ingle, which could be in the cards if someone gets injured or traded. Bailey and Hedges are similar players and this offense could still use another bat, so it’s not unrealistic that manager Stephen Vogt could consider this if Ingle continues to rake.
There is only so long a 24-year-old can put up a >1.000 OPS in Triple-A before the organization is forced to make a decision. Ingle’s bat looks ready, and the only questions now are in regards to his defense and how high the tolerance level is for Bailey and Hedges’ subpar bats.
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