Patrick Bailey continues to validate Guardians’ surprising trade faith in him 

Earlier this month, the San Francisco Giants selected prep arm Carson Bolemon with the No. 36 pick in the MLB Draft. 

Normally, that selection would have been front-page news in Cleveland given the Giants nabbed Bolemon using the pick the Guardians traded to San Francisco as a part of their return for Patrick Bailey. 

But that hasn’t really been the case. While part of that is likely due to the fact that Bolemon hasn’t signed yet, another reason could also be due to the fact that he’s still years away from stepping on a big league mound. 

But perhaps the biggest reason has been Bailey’s strong play, as he’s gone from being an afterthought in San Francisco to a crucial part of the Guardians’ roster. 

Thursday’s game against the Twins was perhaps the perfect example of that, as the 27-year-old smashed a solo home run 420 feet while guiding Gavin Williams to seven scoreless innings behind the dish.

Patrick Bailey’s impact was on display on Thursday against the Twins 

When the Guardians traded for Bailey, it seemed like the Guardians were going all in on defense behind the plate. And while that’s been true, Bailey’s offensive production has been a fun surprise. 

After hitting just .146 in 30 games with the Giants this season (and having an OPS+ of just 9), Bailey is now slashing .246/.287/.412 with four home runs and 14 RBI with the Guardians. 

Bailey’s productive run with the Guardians has come at the same time that Austin Hedges has authored a signature season of his own (.280 batting average, 108 OPS+). 

No one’s going to mistake either of them for Cal Raleigh, but neither of them have been the kind of automatic out that we expected them to be when the trade happened at the beginning of May. 

Guardians’ pitchers entered play on Thursday having combined for a 3.57 ERA in the 63 games since the Guardians traded for Bailey, so that offensive uptick clearly hasn’t impacted his work behind the plate either. 

Thursday’s loss was the perfect example of that, as the Guardians blanked the Twins on the back of a magical outing from Gavin Williams (seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts). 

The Guardians’ decision to trade for Bailey was a calculated risk since he could make an immediate impact while also having three years of team control remaining. 

The Guardians clearly didn’t value any of the players they could have taken with the No. 29 pick more than they valued Bailey, and they nabbed him using an aggressive trade. 

While there’s a chance Bolemon could end up making the Guardians regret this trade, Bailey’s met the moment so far.

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