Hedges' early exit could open door for next Guardians debut

CLEVELAND -- Do the Guardians have another Major League debut in store?

Guardians catcher Austin Hedges was removed from Friday’s 5-2 victory in the series opener against the White Sox at Progressive Field in the middle of the fifth inning with a sprained right ankle. His tests postgame revealed no structural damage and Guardians manager Terry Francona is remaining hopeful that Hedges won’t need an injured list stint, but that won’t be determined until at least Saturday.

“I think tomorrow morning is a big,” Francona said. “I don’t know if it’s a hurdle or a test, but hope he continues to feel OK."

Hedges suffered the injury while chasing after a wild pitch that trickled toward Cleveland’s dugout. Just as it was about to roll out of play, he attempted to make a sliding effort to stop it. Instead, he slid down the stairs into the dugout, spraining his ankle in the process. He attempted to walk back to the field to continue the inning, but he called for the training staff to come out to check him before he limped into the dugout. Backup catcher Luke Maile replaced Hedges.

“You could see where his spike marks went over the metal grate and he felt like a pop,” Francona said. “And then when he went back out to catch, he didn’t think he could move to block a ball.

“I don’t know that we would start him tomorrow, but if he’s available to come off the bench at least, that would save us a roster move.”

What roster move would it save? It seems all too coincidental that Cleveland’s No. 5 prospect as ranked by MLB Pipeline (and Josh Naylor’s brother), Bo Naylor, was removed from his game in Triple-A Columbus just minutes after Hedges got hurt.

While Bryan Lavastida is still on Cleveland’s 40-man roster, he’s been working his way back from a hamstring injury over the last two months in Double-A Akron. That leaves Naylor as the more likely option to get the call-up.

Let’s take a look at the possible reasons for and against adding Naylor to the active roster.

The negatives
Because Naylor isn’t on the 40-man roster, a player will need to be designated for assignment to clear space. That shouldn’t be too difficult, though, if the club decides to part ways with someone like Anthony Castro or Kirk McCarty who haven’t had too much of an impact on the big league roster.

The rosters will also expand in September from 26 to 28 players. Usually, teams like to carry an extra catcher during the homestretch of the season, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Naylor was already in the blueprint for the Guardians’ near future. But at this point in the season, with the team sitting in first place of the AL Central, it may be difficult for a young catcher to hop in and handle a pitching staff as the No. 2 backstop.

Depending on the severity of Hedges' injury, this might not be a move Cleveland wants to make just yet.

The positives
Youth has worked so far, so why not try it again?

Naylor has given his organization every reason to be excited for his arrival. If he’s added to the big league roster on Saturday, his goodbye to Triple-A would be a three-run homer in Friday’s game against Toledo.

Naylor has vastly improved from last season -- where he hitting a mere .188 with a .612 OPS in 87 games with Double-A Akron -- now boasting a collective .890 OPS with a .264 average, 14 homers, 48 RBIs, 71 walks and 93 strikeouts in 93 games split between Akron and Columbus. Adding any bit of pop to the bottom of the Guardians’ lineup would be welcomed.

Naylor spent time with the big league squad in Spring Training this year and impressed the coaching staff. The Guardians could get the chance to see the improvements he’s made first-hand if he’s called up on Saturday. Maybe he’d have to do a lot of learning on the fly at a critical point in the season, but Cleveland has seemed optimistic that he’s ready for this next step.

“Really excited about how he turned that around,” Guardians assistant general manager James Harris said of Naylor’s improvements from last year to this year in June. “Where he started this season has been nothing short of remarkable.”