The Curious Case of 2023 revisited
In 2023 we had a decent run, until we didn't. We signed Josh Bell and Mike Zunino in the offseason and it looked like they were decent signings. That is, until the season started.
Josh was coming off of a decent year with Washington and San Diego. He swatted 17 HRs between the two stops, gave us a decent option at 1B, and was a switch hitter. We got him for a 2-year deal, although he had an opt-out in the 1st year. We as fans thought we could make a run at the playoffs with his production from both sides of the plate.
Then we had the catcher situation. We moved on from Austin Hedges, and wanted some more thump in the bat for the catcher position. We signed Mike Zunino who was coming off of a decent 2020 where the Rays went to the WS. In 2021 he went off for 33 bombs! In 2022 he had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, and it kept him out from June til 2023.
Josh signed a 2-year $33M deal, and Mike signed a 1-year deal worth $6M. We all know how the season went. It wasn't the HR powerhouse that could have been if both reached their full potential. However, there was a silver lining to Josh pounding the baseball into the ground constantly: the front office managed to salvage the signing at the trade deadline. We sent Bell to Miami and brought back Kahlil Watson, a former first-round pick who is now on our 40-man roster and working his way up in Columbus.
But while the front office was figuring out the Bell situation, we were watching Mike Zunino working through his struggles behind the plate, and a murmur began growing around the fanbase.
It grew louder and louder with every time Mike would pop out or strike out. Every time he would miss a throw or not be able to catch the ball cleanly. That sentiment was Bo Naylor. In every social media post with every loss people would post a picture of Bo. It got to the point where the production at the catcher position was so bad that they ended up releasing Mike Zunino.
They ate the $6M salary, and brought up our catcher that we picked in the 1st round in 2018. Was he perfect? No, but he had pop in his bat. It wasn't something to blow you away, but it was decent and had the potential to be better for the catcher position.
One thing that was missed on the fans was that during the roster shuffle, one former top-10 overall pick was given a chance to shine in 2023 once Bo got the call. Who was that guy? From June 17th on, that guy was Zack Collins.
Prior to that we had a catching tandem in CBus that was impeccable. Zack had an insane .289/.387/.515 slash for a .902 OPS. 15 doubles, 13 dingers, 69 hits overall with a 127 wRC+! All great numbers, until you looked under the hood. He had a .226 ISO, .366 BABIP... those are highly likely not to sustain. And unfortunately they didn't. Once he became the everyday catcher his numbers diminished.
Although he did get his cup in Cleveland, it showed us 2 things. One, his production was not a mirage. In 2 games he had 2 hits. Two, after going back down after his cup, he completely fell off the wagon. Whiffs went up, contact went down, he went back to the player that he would have normally been. He had 4 hits the rest of the season, a single 2 doubles and one HR.
Zack was a great player in CBus, but while his BABIP stayed high, at .357, his ISO dipped to .115. As a result his OPS dropped below .700, and his wRC+ dropped to 74 in that time. So while Bo was in Cleveland working through his rookie season, Zack was coming back down.
All this is to say, the numbers don't lie. When a player is doing well, there are inflated numbers somewhere. And while we all want Bo to return back to his 2023 self, we have to remember when the numbers were inflated in the wrong direction in 2023 for another catcher on our roster.
Zack never played baseball again. Well, I shouldn't say again because currently he is a 31 yr old FA, waiting on a team to sign him. But, at least we have the memories of Zack Collins mashing for Columbus.
H/T Fangraphs/TJStats
J/K
#GoGuards