Patrick Bailey Has Proven He Should Start Regardless Of Who’s Pitching For Guardians

One of the Cleveland Guardians' newer members has shown he is more than capable of leading from behind the plate so far this postseason. Cleveland Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and his team acquired Bailey from the San Francisco Giants on May 12th.

In the five postseason games Bailey has started so far, the Guardians are 3-1. Bailey is also tied for the club lead with two home runs. With 18 at-bats under his belt thus far, Bailey has tallied six hits and three RBIs.

Bailey has not been in the starting lineup only when Parker Messick is the starting pitcher. Messick has preferred Austin Hedges at catcher throughout the season. Offensively, Hedges is 0-for-3 with one walk. He simply has not provided any leverage for Cleveland's offense.

Bailey's batting average in the postseason is .350, and Hedges' is .000. On top of that, when you compare their cWPA (championship win probability added), a stat that measures how a player's performance changes the chances of winning a championship, Hedges measures at -0.16%, and Bailey at +0.43%.

In all three games Hedges has started, Bailey has replaced him after Messick's outing ended. In his pinch-hit at-bats, Bailey is 3-for-5 with one home run and two RBIs. He has also scored three runs in games when he has been used as a substitute.

Patrick Bailey has also brought his veteran instincts to catching and is willing to take on challenges in tense situations. Bailey has successfully overturned four of his eleven catching challenges. Although he succeeds on only about 36.6% of his challenges, his misses average only 1.10 inches outside the strike zone.

While not solely on Austin Hedges, his reluctance to challenge a 3-2 pitch in Game Two of the ALCS allowed Junior Caminero to reach base as the leadoff batter in the fourth inning.

Following the walk, the Guardians had a defensive meltdown when a double-play opportunity failed to get both runners out. Then, with two outs, José Ramírez made a critical error that allowed the Rays to score first.

By the end of the inning, Tampa Bay had scored three unearned runs, putting Cleveland behind. The deficit was not insurmountable, though Cleveland struggled offensively for the rest of the game. Patrick Bailey scored the lone run of the game when Chase DeLauter drove him in in the seventh inning.

"We had our chances. We had a lot of chances," Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt said. "We just weren't able to come up with that big hit," he admitted.

In postseason games Cleveland has lost, the most runs they have lost by is three. Given that in those games Cleveland left 21 runners on base, offense should be a priority. Starting Patrick Bailey is the clear option for generating production in the bottom of the lineup as the Guardians return home for a three-game stand.