With the re-signing of Austin Hedges this offseason, it’s clear the Guardians view Bo Naylor as their catcher of the future. What did we learn about Bo in 2024?
First, the stats: Bo had a 74 wRC+, 31.4/7.5 K/BB% and 1.6 fWAR, while putting up 11 Defensive Runs Saved, 8 Statcast Fielding Runs Above Average and 7.9 Framing Runs Above Average. With the addition of folks like manager Stephen Vogt, bench coach Craig Albernaz and Hedges to the already existing Sandy Alomar presence around him, Bo thrived as a defensive catcher by the metrics. He was slightly below average in preventing base-stealing (-1) and slightly below average in the nebulous game-calling metrics (-1), but in every other measure, he made huge strides from his numbers in 2023.