Bo Naylor is beginning to look like a franchise catcher for the Guardians

When Cleveland drafted Bo Naylor with the No. 29 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, he seemed destined to be the team's next franchise catcher.

The 25-year-old did his time in the minor league system before being promoted to the majors at the end of the 2022. While the young catcher has flashes of promise since, this season has been a bit unkind to him.

But even if his slow start to the year means that his season-long numbers will be a bit tough to look at, he's begun to turn things around and show why he should be considered a part of the team's long-term future.

Naylor currently has a .187/.281/.362 slashline with 12 home runs and 35 RBI across 326 at-bats this year. Those numbers are a far cry from two years ago when he hit .237 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI across 67 games.

The biggest problem for Naylor in the majors has been strikeouts. He has a strikeout rate of 27.1% in his big league career, and it peaked at 31.4% last season.

But even if his stirkeout rate of 24.4% this year is still a bit high, it's lower than that margin. He's also increased his walk rate (11.4%) and barrel rate (9.5%).

Those advanced statistics have turned into on-field production recently, as he's hit .310 in nine games this month with four doubles, one home run and four RBI. On Sunday, he mashed an RBI double early in the game before hitting the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning.

Bo Naylor is ending his season on a high note after struggling for most of the summer

But even as he's worked to put it together at the plate, he's been phenomenal behind it. He's thrown out 27 batters behind the plate this year, and Guardians pitchers have posted a 3.76 ERA with Naylor behind the plate.

The good news for the 25-year-old is that he's still on the right of the team control equation. He won't be arbitration-eligible until the 2027 season, which means that he's still on the same trajectory as minor league rising stars Chase DeLauter and Travis Bazzana.

He also has earned some goodwill with the fanbase given how things were before him. From 2019 (the first year after the Yan Gomes era) to 2022, Guardians catchers combined for a wRC+ of 64, which was tied with Colorado for the worst mark in the league.

That was a time frame where they cycled through guys like Austin Hedges, Sandy León, Luke Maile and Kevin Plawecki. Naylor is more intriguing (and has more potential) than all of those options.

His hard-hit rate has taken a huge jump over the past two seasons, and his newfound plate discipline is also a great sign.

If Naylor can get more walks, cut down on strikeouts and get back to driving pitches in the strike zone, he could push his batting average up to league average.

There aren't many catchers in baseball that have the pure talent that Naylor has. Even when his offense takes a major dip, those defensive contributions matter, and the front office knows that.

They won't get rid of Naylor unless they absolutely have to, or younger prospects show more promise.

Fortunately for Naylor, the biggest catching prospect in the Guardians' system is Cooper Ingle, who is likely two years away from making his major league debut.

It's clear that Naylor needs to make some adjustments to be a consistent big leaguer, but the Guardians should give him all the runway he needs to do that.