On Wednesday night, Cleveland Guardians fans, for a second, believed that the organization might be calling up catching prospect Cooper Ingle. After all, their catching situation is a bit of a mess right now with starter Bo Naylor struggling with a .130 batting average and a 17 wRC+.
They thought he was going to the majors because he was removed early from the Columbus Clippers game in Triple-A. That wasn’t the case, though, as the removal was related to injury.
“Cleveland Guardians 24yr old (C) prospect Cooper Ingle extended his on-base streak to 15 games tonight (2-2, 2B, 2 RBI), driving in a pair of runs for Columbus. Unfortunately, Ingle left the game due to injury in the 3rd inning. 2026 season: 13-33, 14 R, 1 (2B), 4 HR, 16 RBI, 20 BB AVG .394, OBP .630, SLG .788, OPS 1.418,” Guardians Prospective posted on X.
Cleveland #Guardians 24yr old (C) prospect Cooper Ingle extended his on-base streak to 15 games tonight (2-2 2B 2RBI) driving in a pair of runs for Columbus.
Unfortunately Ingle left the game due to injury in the 3rd inning.
2026 season:
13-33 14R 1(2B) 4HR 16RBI 20BB
AVG… pic.twitter.com/L01VUda2EE
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 23, 2026
There’s no concrete information about Ingle’s injury, which body part is affected, and how long he will miss. It would be a shame to see him on the shelf for an extended period, though, because he was lighting the world on fire as the stats suggest.
Ingle isn’t on the 40-man roster, so calling up wasn’t going to be easy even if he was fully healthy. Still, since the Guardians are only carrying Naylor and backup Austin Hedges (who is also making a case for more playing time) behind the plate, Ingle would probably be the next man up if something were to happen to those two. He has to be healthy for that to happen, though.
You can’t deny the strides he has made as an offensive player. Yes, the sample is still tiny at this point, but a 265 wRC+ in 15 games in Triple-A is incredibly impressive.
Ingle has walked in a whopping 37 percent of his plate appearances while striking out in just 16.7 percent of them. Oh, and he has showcased the power with four long balls, a double, and 16 RBI.
At this point, he looks like an upgrade over Naylor behind the plate for Cleveland. There’s an injury involved, though, so there’s nothing anyone can do other than hope for the best.
In any case, Ingle is looking like a future starter for Cleveland, and that future might arrive sooner than you imagine.
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