The Cleveland Guardians traded for catcher Patrick Bailey on May 9, giving themselves one of the league’s best tandems behind the plate, together with Austin Hedges. Bailey, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, is known for his ability to get the best out of pitchers, among other things.
This ability quickly became evident with Cleveland’s starters. Naturally, he caught each one of them for five, six, or seven innings every five days, so he had time to develop chemistry with them and get familiar with their stuff, strengths, and weaknesses.
It’s a bit more difficult to do that with relievers, though, because catchers usually see them once or twice a week tops. It takes more time for a newcomer catcher to develop that chemistry with them.
Well, it seems that we’re finally there. The Guardians’ bullpen surrendered just a couple of runs in the series against the Cincinnati Reds, in 11.1 innings, with a whopping 19 strikeouts. The unit lost Shawn Armstrong and has seen many guys go up and down between the majors and Triple-A, yet Bailey did his best to guide them, alongside Hedges.
Cleveland’s bullpen boasts the fourth-best ERA in the American League at 3.73, and allows only 25.6 percent of inherited runners to score, the second-lowest rate in the junior circuit.
“The bullpen guys always take longer to really settle in with because you don’t catch them as often. When you do, it’s 12 to 15 pitches. So sometimes it takes seven to eight outings catching a bullpen guy to really understand and get on the same page. Patty’s acclimated himself to all the starters, all the bullpen guys, and it takes a while,” manager Stephen Vogt said, per Joe Noga of Cleveland.com. “Just a credit to him and his hard work.”
Bailey himself explained that it’s a long process, and that there are still guys he needs to get comfortable with, but he’s pleased with how far they have come. Everybody in the organization is happy with Bailey and his contributions.
These things tend to improve with time: the longer Bailey catches for the Guardians, the better, because he will have more time and chances to understand patterns, tendencies, and the little details that lift the team to a victory. Cleveland’s decision to bring in an offensively challenged catcher is paying off, largely because he has been decent at the plate with a 78 wRC+, and because he has been a huge asset behind it.
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