Editor's note: Austin Hedges was named the starting catcher over Bo Naylor for Game 3 on Thursday afternoon.

This isn¡¯t the time for drastic changes.

The Guardians have their backs against the wall once again. They aren¡¯t facing elimination Thursday night, but they¡¯ve dug themselves into an 0-2 hole to open the American League Championship Series. They¡¯ve had hits, but not timely ones. They¡¯ve gotten good pitching, but not from the starting rotation.

But still, this isn¡¯t the time to panic -- and the Guardians have continued to reiterate that since Game 2 ended. As long as the bullpen can stay strong, this team can get by with its pitching and defense. It¡¯s the offense that will need to have a breakout as soon as possible.

The Guardians will keep their same strategy moving forward: Create a lineup to beat the starter. That means if a righty is on the mound, lefty bats like Kyle Manzardo or Will Brennan may be in the lineup. If it¡¯s a southpaw, then David Fry and Jhonkensy Noel are switched in. They all may pinch-hit for each other later in the games, too.

The matchup game has been manager Stephen Vogt¡¯s favorite to play all season. It hasn¡¯t stopped in the playoffs, even with his catching tandem in Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges.

Naylor has earned the starting role. Even when lefties are on the mound (like Game 5 of the ALDS against AL Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal), the left-handed-hitting Naylor is still penciled into the starting nine. Why?

¡°There's a number of factors,¡± Vogt said over the weekend. ¡°I think one is Bo's been doing a really nice job navigating our starters in the early part of the game, and Bo is an offensive weapon as well.¡±

It¡¯s clear that Naylor is more of an offensive threat than Hedges. Hedges was brought in more for his defensive ability and leadership skills than his bat. So, it makes sense that the Guardians would want to start Naylor each night to try to have a better chance of having another threat in the lineup.

But maybe it wouldn¡¯t hurt Cleveland to have Hedges start instead.

One of the Guardians¡¯ biggest problems is that Naylor has gotten off to a slow start. He¡¯s gone 0-for-14 with four strikeouts in seven games this postseason. It¡¯s to the point that Vogt has started to go to a pinch-hitter for Naylor when a different matchup is more favorable at the biggest moments in the game.

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Sometimes those can happen as early as the third or fourth inning (like in Game 2 on Tuesday). That means once Hedges enters as the defensive replacement, he¡¯s a permanent fixture in the lineup for the rest of the night because the Guardians don¡¯t have another catcher to play.

So, what if the Guardians would utilize Hedges¡¯ defensive ability behind the plate early in games until he¡¯s the one due up to bat in a pivotal moment? Whether it¡¯s Fry, Manzardo, Noel or anyone else coming off the bench to have the most favorable matchup to try to get the big hit, Naylor can then enter as the defensive replacement and remain in the game for the crucial late-inning at-bats instead of Hedges.

If the Guardians are going to make any last-minute changes to their day-to-day routines, maybe it¡¯s a catcher swap. Maybe they believe that Hedges could have the big moment just as easily as Naylor. But the team knows it needs more production from its catchers to try to help give this offense a boost. Time is running out, but Vogt is confident that what he¡¯s seen in Naylor¡¯s and Hedges¡¯ approaches at the plate indicates better results could be in the near future.

¡°I love the word ¡®yet,¡¯¡± Vogt said, ¡°because at any moment, I think either one of them could break out and have a big game for us because they're prepared and they're ready to go.¡±