CLEVELAND, Ohio — The catching situation on the Guardians could be in for change in the near future. That is not necessarily a bad thing.
Luke Maile continues to recover from his strained left hamstring. Manager Terry Francona told reporters after Tuesday’s game against the White Sox was postponed because of cold weather that Maile may be able to join them on the West Coast part of their upcoming 10-game trip to New York, Anaheim, Calif., and Oakland.
If not for his hamstring injury, Maile would have made the club out of spring training. As it is, the Guardians are carrying rookie Bryan Lavastida as Austin Hedges’ backup. While Hedges and Lavastida have handled the pitching staff well, they have combined to go 1-for-29 (.034) with one RBI headed into Wednesday’s traditional doubleheader that starts at 2:10 p.m. at Progressive Field.
The Guardians and Houston catchers rank 15th and 14th, respectively, in batting average in the AL. Houston’s catchers are 1-for-27 (.037) with one homer and four RBI. The White Sox at 13th at .138 (4-for-29) with one homer and two RBI.
On the other end of the spectrum, Texas catchers lead the league with a .355 (11-for-31) average with three homers and 11 RBI. Toronto is second at .344 (11-for-32) with two homers and three RBI.
Maile, who has been on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Columbus, visited Progressive Field Monday.
“He’s doing really well,” said manager Terry Francona. “He drove to Indianapolis and is going to play there (with Columbus) through the weekend. Then the hope is joins us out on the West Coast.”
Maile, who signed a one-year, $900,000 deal with the Guardians in March, has appeared in two games for the Clippers and gone 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBI. In parts of six big-league seasons, Maile is a .203 (129-for-603) career hitter with 10 homers and 63 RBI.
What about the catching future? Gavin Collins is hitting .333 (5-for-17) with one homer and two RBI at Columbus, Bo Naylor is hitting .273 (6-for-22) with three RBI at Class AA Akron, Michael Ramirez is hitting .150 (3-for-20) with three RBI at Class A Lake County and Victor Plachart is hitting .286 (4-for-14) with four RBI at Class A Lynchburg.
Show me the money
Now that the extension dust has settled, Cot’s Baseball contracts is reporting that the Guardians’ 28-man payroll -- it’s actually 31 players including the injured list -- is $68,238,900. On opening day last season it was just under $50 million.
The extensions of Jose Ramirez, Emmanuel Clase and Myles Straw added $13,555,000 million to the payroll. Ramirez’s 2022 salary jumped from $12 million to $22 million thanks to an extra $10 million as part of his seven-year, $141 million extension. Clase and Straw received $2 million signing bonuses as part of their five-year extensions. Prorating that bonus over five years makes their 2022 salaries, $1.9 million and $1.65 million, respectively.
After the lockout the Guardians avoided arbitration with seven players. Their combined salaries added $24.5 million to the payroll.
The new basic agreement, which raised the minimum salary from $570,500 to $700,000, also served to increase the Guardians’ payroll. They have 20 players, including some on the injured list, who are making between $716,900 and $700,000.
What it means: The Guardians, according to Spotrac, rank 28th among MLB’s 30 teams in payroll. The A’s and Baltimore are the only teams with a smaller payroll.
First doubleheader of the year
The Guardians and White Sox will play a traditional doubleheader Wednesday starting at 2:10 p.m. at Progressive Field after Monday and Tuesday’s games were postponed because cold and wet weather. Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie will start for the Guards, while Dallas Keuchel and Jimmy Lambert start for Chicago.
Each team will be allowed to add a 29th player from the minors. The players will be optioned to the minors after the game. Since the option will be enforced before May 2, it does not count against the new rule via the basic agreement that limits teams to optioning players only five times during a season.
The 29th player will receive one day of major-league service time.
Fine print: Bieber is 5-2 with a 2.55 ERA against the White Sox. Keuchel is 4-2 with a 3.53 ERA against Cleveland. Jose Abreu is a .267 (8-for-30) career hitter against Abreu with three homers and four RBI. Amed Rosario is a .375 (6-for-16) career hitter against Keuchel with one homer and two RBI.
In closing
Francona said right-hander James Karinchak (right shoulder) has yet to throw off the mound. He opened the year on the injured list.
What it means: Karinchak, once he gets off the mound, will have to go through a version of spring training before he’s ready to rejoin the Guardians. That fact that he’s a reliever means the process won’t be as long as if he was starting.
The Guardians’ starting rotation ranks third in the AL with a 3.00 ERA, while the bullpen ranks 11th with a 4.03 ERA and has yet to register a save.
Guardians merchandise for sale: Here’s where you can order new Cleveland Guardians gear, including T-shirts, hats, jerseys, hoodies, and much more.
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