Throughout baseball’s 127-plus year history on the shores of Lake Erie, the Cleveland Guardians and all of their previous iterations have been known for exceptional pitching. It seems to transcend every era of the game; from Cy Young in the sport’s infancy to Bob Feller and Bob Lemon in the 1940s, Sam McDowell the entirety of the 60s, Charles Nagy and Bartolo Colon in the 90s, and the likes of CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Corey Kluber, and Shane Bieber since the turn of the century. Perhaps slightly overlooked in Cleveland’s history have been the batterymates paired with those great pitchers through time.
We all know the names Sandy Alomar Jr., Victor Martinez, even Ray Fosse. How many know that Jim Hegan caught a combined 754 games of Bob Lemon (264), Early Wynn (250), and Bob Feller (240)? Each of those by the way rank in the top-12 all-time for games started as a duo, and Hegan is the only one to catch over 200 games for more than one pitcher. The sport has changed so much as things tend to do over time, but catcher has felt truly underappreciated in Cleveland until the news of Roberto Perez’s departure to Pittsburgh just before the lockout began.
We have bemoaned Perez’s injury history and offensive ineptitude excluding 2019 enough, but his true value was behind the dish. His baseball IQ and skill as a game-caller were considered elite by many around the league, as well as being a respectable pitch framer. Now with a two-time Gold Glove winner departing — someone often credited with the success of so many arms in Cleveland — and only one catcher with Major League experience on the roster, where do the Guardians go from here? The likes of Buster Posey and Javier Molina are unicorns in and of themselves, but Cleveland may have found a nugget prospecting for gold further downstream.
Bryan Lavastida is a name that nearly became household for Guardians fans in 2021. Lavastida, 23, and appropriately referred to as ‘Lava’ by his teammates, jumped into the driver’s seat of the catcher of the future conversation this past season. Before being drafted in the 15th round of the 2018 amateur draft, Lavastida played the infield at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa Bay before undergoing the arduous task of converting to catcher. Since joining Cleveland’s farm, Lava has been nothing short of productive.
Lavastida made his pro debut in 2018 playing 33 games in Rookie ball and spent most of 2019 in Low-A before the 2020 minor league season was wiped out. During those two stops, Lava slashed .319/.412/.441 across 91 games, collecting 23 doubles, three home runs, and driving in 58 runs. Perhaps most notable was the 0.94 BB/K ratio during that stint, showcasing impressive patience and pitch recognition for a youngster. Even after not playing competitive baseball in 2020, Lavastida took his game to new heights in 2021.
Lava began the season playing 48 games with High-A Lake County and by the end of the season found himself in Columbus playing seven games for the club’s Triple-A affiliate and knocking on the door of the majors. Along the way he collected high praise from his coaches and the pitching staff in Lake County, commending his work ethic and his growing knowledge as a game-caller and skill as a framer. It showed both on the field and in the metrics, as Lava finished second in all of High-A in Called Strikes Above Average (0.019) and Framing Runs (10.3) according to Baseball Prospectus despite playing just 38 games behind the dish. Those numbers trailed off as he climbed the system, but given the sample sizes and needing to adjust to new pitching staffs on the fly, I think we can give Lava the benefit of the doubt.
Welcome to Triple-A, Bryan Lavastida! pic.twitter.com/O3qzIYKJtP
— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) September 2, 2021
From the more traditional defensive measures, there’s still some work to be done by the 23-year-old. Across all three levels in 2021, the then-22-year-old Lavastida registered a .983 FLD% spanning 465 innings and caught just 22% (16/74) of attempted base stealers on the season, a little below the Major League average of roughly 30%. Offensively, however, is where Lava truly made a name for himself as he worked through the system.
Lavastida played 84 games in total during 2021, slashing .291/.380/.456 in all contests, amassing 19 doubles, nine home runs, an uncharacteristic 16 steals for a catcher, and driving in 51 runs. His impressive pitch recognition and patience also displayed itself once again with a 12.4 BB%. His K% ballooned slightly in 2021 to 20.1% but can be attributed to his rough adjustment to Triple-A pitching (10 strikeouts in 19 at-bats during his seven-game stint). If you remove Lava’s seven-game sample with Columbus his offensive numbers truly shine, never having a batting average below .291 and never registering a wRC+ lower than 130 at any level, though his .344 BABIP in 2021 and roughly 50% career ground ball rate would suggest some regression is possible going forward.
MID 1: Welcome to AA Bryan Lavastida! The other newcomer gets a hit in his first RubberDucks at bat driving in Rocchio to give us the early lead! @Lavastida_
AKRON 1 – ERIE 0 #QuAkron pic.twitter.com/KccP2XL7vy
— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) July 31, 2021
So what should the fans and the Guardians expect of Lavastida in 2022 and beyond? Among the 11 prospects added to the 40-man in November, Lavastida was the only catcher and would be the primary backup to Austin Hedges if the season began tomorrow. It seems unlikely that Lava would be given that opportunity with only seven games under his belt at the Triple-A level, but the team would have to make a trade or two to open up a spot for the only other catcher in the organization with Major League experience in Sandy Leon. Anything is possible, and I’m just some guy on the internet, but I would expect Lava to begin the season as the primary catcher in Columbus when 2021 gets underway. He’s another quick-rising prospect with under 200 professional games to his name, but a hot half-season might have him in a Guardians uniform sooner rather than later.
Side note, FanGraphs 2022 ZiPS projections have a comedic disdain for Cleveland catchers, projecting Ryan Lavarnway and Wilson Ramos to register 0.7 WAR each compared to Hedges and Lavastida projected at 0.4 WAR each. Pretty telling to see a pair of 34-year-old free agents — one with practically no ACL — projecting better than your actual two best catchers. Yikes.
Anyhow, Lavastida still has impressive near and long-term upside on both sides of the ball, with some power still to be found in his swing and room to grow as a receiver. If Bo Naylor can re-discover his swing and continue his climb of the system then Cleveland’s next wave of pitching is in good hands. Mitts? It shouldn’t shock anyone if Lava debuted sometime in 2022, especially if Hedges and Leon flail in the batter’s box as much as we expect them to, but at the bare minimum we should see him earn a September call-up late next year.