Commentary: There's no way around it -- the Mike Zunino era has to end

Welcome to fun with numbers. Batting average from the catching position for the Guardians over the last five years: 2023: .154 2022: .180 2021: .185 2020: .135 2019: .229 Catchers who have appeared in games with the Guardians over the last five years: Mike Zunino, Cam Gallagher, David Frye, Meibrys Viloria, Austin Hedges, Luke Maile, Sandy Leon, Bryan Lavastida, Roberto Perez, Rene Rivera, Wilson Ramos, Ryan Lavarnway, Beau Taylor, Keven Plawecki and Eric Haase. Bo Naylor, who has appeared in six major league games over the last two years, has been left off this list until he is finally called up from Triple-A Columbus to be the everyday catcher, a scenario frustrated Guardians fans dream about ... everyday. Until then, the vigil continues. Guardians officials, keepers of one of the most conservative payrolls in the majors, made an interesting decision in signing free agent Zunino to a one-year, $6 million contract. When Cleveland signed Zunino, Guardians officials had no idea how much he had left in his tank. Turns out it was fumes. Just two years ago, Zunino belted 33 home runs for Tampa Bay. This year, he's belted three for the Guardians. In his last six years, playing for three teams, Zunino has averaged 12 home runs per year. This year, he has three. Over those same six years, Zunino's cumulative batting average is .188, which was almost identical to the .186 average he carried into the Guardians' game Wednesday night. The Guardians signed Zunino in the hopes that he could, as a veteran catcher, handle the pitching staff and hit some home runs. Alas, he's come up short in both of those areas. Typically, when a team signs a free agent, the contract he gets is based on what he has done in his career but also on what the signing team thinks he can do in the next few years. That Guardians officials were wary of how much shelf life was left in Zunino's career was reflected in the fact that they signed him to a one-year contract, albeit for $6 million. In today's game, that's a modest salary for many players, but in today's game, which isn't exactly the golden age of catching, Zunino's $6 million salary makes him the 10th highest paid catcher in the majors. In hindsight — and under the assumption that, more than ever, Zunino's most important role may be to chaperone Naylor through the early portion of his career —that $6 million salary may not be gaudy, but you can see gaudy from here. Guardians officials apparently went into the season with the belief that they weren't going to summon Naylor from Columbus until he showed he was absolutely ready, in every sense of the word, to be a rookie catcher for what was expected to be a potential repeat division champion. Evidently, the front office feels Naylor still hasn't reached that level. In the meantime, according to Spotrac, the Guardians have spent 8.7 percent of their payroll, the fourth highest in the game, on the catching position. In return, Cleveland's catchers have delivered a combined .154 batting average, .231 on-base percentage, .250 slugging percentage and 76 strikeouts in 188 at-bats, which basically translates to one strikeout every other at-bat. On the right kind of team, that kind of empty offense from the catching position can be endured, but only if there is enough bludgeoning from other precincts in the lineup. That, of course, is not the case with the Guardians, who have too many holes in other parts of their lineup to overcome the large one at the catching position. The defense the Guardians have gotten — or, better said, haven't gotten — from Zunino, and his backup catchers has likewise been a problem. What's more, this is not a small sample size. Over one-third of the season has been played. What were blemishes in April and May can't be allowed to become season-scaring open wounds in the dog days of summer. This is especially true for the offensively-challenged Guardians, for whom every game is a grueling, grind-it-out litmus test in the art of run production and run prevention. The way the Guardians are constructed, even the little things are big things. They made it work last year. They're trying to make it work this year, but their margin for error is Steven Kwan-ish. Who knows? Summoning Bo Naylor from Columbus might be the "trade" for a potent bat that the Guardians wouldn't have to make otherwise. Or how about summoning Bo Naylor and trading for a potent bat? When the whole team is in a slump because nobody is hitting, because everyone is trying to make up for the fact that nobody is hitting, no wonder nobody is hitting. Bo Naylor? He's hitting. He's also a catcher. The Guardians need both. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com.