Guardians are making right decision about Cooper Ingle's defensive position

For almost all of this season, Cooper Ingle’s time in the field for Triple-A Columbus consisted of him squatting behind the plate as a catcher. 

That changed about two weeks ago when the Guardians decided to move Ingle to the outfield in the hopes it would help increase his chances of being able to make a big league impact. 

And that’s exactly what happened, as the Guardians recalled Ingle from Triple-A Columbus on Friday with the expectation that most of his playing time would come as a left fielder or designated hitter. 

Even if Ingle playing in the outfield isn’t as crazy of an idea as it sounds given he played the outfield while he was at Clemson, it’s still an aggressive move that not every team would be comfortable making. 

The Guardians are making the right decision by putting Cooper Ingle in the outfield 

The Guardians threw Ingle into the fire on Sunday when he played left field for the first time. Although he handled both of the balls registered as “chances,” he’s still registered -1 Outs Above Average since he didn’t get to a ball that Statcast believed should have been caught. 

But the Guardians would gladly take that tradeoff so long as Ingle provides Cleveland with the kind of production he was giving Columbus in Triple-A. Prior to getting promoted, Ingle had a .284/.416/.551 slashline with 12 home runs and 41 RBI in 51 games. 

He’s gone 1-for-7 in his three games with the Guardians this season and started Monday’s game against the Rangers on the bench. 

While Ingle would be the best offensive option of the Guardians’ catching tandem of Austin Hedges and Patrick Bailey, it seems like Cleveland’s leadership doesn’t feel comfortable letting him get a chance to work behind the plate in the big leagues just yet. 

But the good news (or bad news, depending on your perspective) is that he’s also arguably the Guardians best offensive outfielder alongside fellow rookie Chase DeLauter. 

DeLauter put together a great outing for the Guardians on Sunday in his return from the injured list, but the options next to him are a bit thin. Kahlil Watson has gotten off to a great start, but he still only has 11 big league games under his belt. 

Outside of those two, the Guardians’ options consist of Steven Kwan and matchup dependent options like David Fry and Daniel Schneemann.

It’s a bit unfair that there’s so much pressure on three rookies in DeLauter, Watson and Ingle, but this always became a possibility after the Guardians didn’t add a big leaguer to their outfield equation in the offseason. 

Still, the fact that Ingle’s even a part of Cleveland’s outfield equation deserves some kudos.

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