This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell's Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Let¡¯s stop wasting time. It¡¯s 2025 already, which means baseball season is around the corner. So, it¡¯s time to go around the horn.

Over the next few weeks leading up to Spring Training, we¡¯ll go position by position to break down each area of the Guardians¡¯ roster. Let¡¯s start with catching.

Projected starter: Bo Naylor
Look solely at his offensive numbers from 2024 and you¡¯ll be underwhelmed. Naylor was just barely over the Mendoza Line with a .201 average and just a .614 OPS (73 OPS+). He hit 13 homers and knocked in 39 runs in 123 games but also struck out 122 times. But still, if you ask anyone in the Guardians¡¯ organization, they¡¯ll tell you they were thrilled with the year the young backstop had.

It¡¯s more than just offense and defense for a catcher. It¡¯s learning a pitching staff, understanding how to come up with a game plan, figuring out how to call a game at the Major League level, gaining the confidence to run pitchers¡¯ meetings and so much more. These are the areas that Cleveland¡¯s front office and coaching staff saw Naylor grow exponentially last year, which should help with his confidence going into ¡¯25.

The backup: Austin Hedges
The Guardians were quick to lock up Hedges again for the 2025 season after ¡¯24 came to a close. After carrying him on the ¡¯22 roster, losing him for the next season and then bringing him back, it was clear that the backup catcher is the glue that holds this clubhouse together. He¡¯s the leader in the room who can connect with anyone, including serving as a right-hand man to his manager Stephen Vogt and assistant manager Craig Albernaz.

Vogt will be the first to tell you, though, that Hedges is more than a cheerleader. Collectively, his offensive numbers weren¡¯t attention-grabbing, but he did deliver a handful of big hits for Cleveland last year when it needed them most. He also is still one of the best defensive catchers in the game. And with Naylor looking to continue his development behind the dish, there isn¡¯t a better partner for him than Hedges.

This year, the Guardians will be leaning heavily on Hedges to handle the backup duties when Naylor isn¡¯t on the diamond, because David Fry will not be able to catch. At the end of last season, Fry underwent elbow surgery and will not be able to play in the field for all of 2025. At some point, he¡¯ll be able to at least DH. This was the case for Cleveland for the second half of ¡¯24 because of Fry¡¯s injury, so it¡¯s nothing the team isn¡¯t already used to.

Question to answer: Can Naylor finally take the offensive step forward this organization has been waiting for?
This is the second consecutive offseason that the Guardians are hoping Naylor will be able to improve his offense. In 2023, the narrative was that it was his first big league season, so it¡¯s easy to be overwhelmed. In ¡¯24, it was his first full big league season, so he was still learning so many things. But now, the reasons for his offense lacking are running thin.

Naylor had a great bat in the Minors, hitting as many as 21 homers in 2022 (between Double- and Triple-A) and compiling as high as an .891 OPS in 60 games in Columbus in ¡¯23. The potential is there. Naylor just needs to prove he can take this last developmental step in ¡¯25.

Who else is in the Pipeline?
? Guardians No. 11 prospect Jacob Cozart (High-A Lake County)
? No. 13 Cooper Ingle (Double-A Akron)
? Unranked catcher Dom Nu?ez (Triple-A Columbus)