How Can the Guardians Best Handle Cooper Ingle?
Whether he's used as a trade chip or plugged into Cleveland's lineup, Cooper Ingle is going to be a valuable asset for the Guardians.
| | 
As with every trade that goes down in sports, there are always layers that begin to unfold once the transaction is official. When the Cleveland Guardians traded for catcher Patrick Bailey, the questions began swirling about the incumbent catcher on the roster.
It is fair to say that Bo Naylor has been an unmitigated disaster for the Guardians to this point. As soon as the trade went down, a corresponding move was made that sent Naylor down; however, not to Triple-A.
Naylor was sent down to the Arizona Complex League for a “temporary reset” and an opportunity to work with minor league coordinator Craig Massoni in an attempt to revamp his swing. Prior to the demotion to the basement, Naylor had been hitting .143 with a .200 OBP, two home runs, and was a negative fWAR player (-0.5).
The move to acquire Bailey was a head-scratcher, considering his offensive game was no better.
However, for us prospect aficionados, our minds went elsewhere.
Cooper Ingle came into this season ranked as the Guardians’ No. 6 overall prospect, per the Top 15 Guardians Prospects list on Just Baseball. The left-handed hitting catcher was entering his third season in the organization after being selected in the fourth round of the 2023 draft.
With the way he was currently progressing through the minor leagues, all indications were that the 2026 season would be when Ingle would make his major-league debut for the Guardians. A move that Guardians fans would certainly be looking forward to after having to bear the struggles of the Naylor-Hedges combination behind the dish.
Who is Cooper Ingle?
Before breaking down what the next move for Ingle and the Guardians will be, let me break down who he is as a prospect.
Cooper Ingle is a left-handed hitting catcher who possesses one of the higher offensive floors at the position in the minors. As with the majority of the catching prospects in today’s game, the athleticism is certainly above average. So much so that he has been splitting time behind the dish and the outfield as he has progressed through the levels.
At the plate, his overall approach is sound. Since his professional debut in 2023, his contact percentage has not fallen under 82.4%, which just so happened to be in his first season. Another thing that sticks out is the walk and strikeout rates. As a whole, he seems to be aiming to mirror the two percentages as he matures.
More often than not, Ingle is walking at a higher rate than he is striking out. In this season alone, through 35 games played in Triple-A, he is walking at a 21.8% rate while striking out at a 20.4% clip. Both are currently career-high marks.
He has also proven to be an above-average hitter as a whole, posting wRC+ marks easily over 100 in each season. The 182 wRC+ in 2026 would be another best in his career. Where he tends to fall behind the pack is in the power department.
Ingle has 30 career home runs in the minors to this point. What I find most interesting about this is that 2026 looks to be the year when he figured out how to fix that fault.
His nine home runs already this year have led to a .301 ISO, which easily clears the previous two years at each level. Being able to accomplish this feat in this sample size is impressive, especially when you consider he only hit one in the 28-game sample we have of him in Columbus last year.
Through the positive developmental trend, we are witnessing what appears to be the true breakout season for the Guardians’ catching prospect.
However, the question remains: What are they going to do with him now?
Should He Stay, or Should He Go?
I mentioned this previously, but even though Patrick Bailey is considered one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, he is a negative at the plate.
Nonetheless, the Guardians felt confident enough in what he would bring to the team that they were willing to deal one of their better pitching prospects, Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, and a Competitive Balance Round A pick in this year’s draft for the catcher.
That’s a hefty price to pay for one player who doesn’t provide value on both sides of the ball.
Either way, that leaves us wondering whether Ingle is still a part of Cleveland’s plans going forward. As with everything else, there are two avenues in which they can approach this: They either dangle him in trade talks to address other needs on the roster, or he is still in the plans and will be up later in the year to help the big-league club make a deep postseason run.
If the Guardians do plan on keeping the young catcher, what role does he play? Following the acquisition of Bailey, it’s fair to assume that he is locked in as the starting catcher.
Kyle Manzardo is currently locked into the designated hitter spot due to the fact that he is a liability at first base, and even he has struggled at the plate this year. I believe that Ingle’s bat is polished enough that he wouldn’t be a hole in the lineup, should he be the designated hitter.
Rhys Hoskins currently mans the first base position, and a platoon of the two could prove to be the route they take.
Another route they can take is plugging him into the outfield, but those three spots are currently spoken for with Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, and Angel Martinez.
Kwan is another one who hasn’t been able to find it at the plate this year, but I have a hard time seeing the Guardians benching him due to the fact that he’s a threat to get on base at the top of the lineup via the walk. That in itself provides value.
If we wanted to truly “force” the issue, he would likely slot into left field over Angel Martinez, but Martinez on his own has provided positive value for this team in 2026.
There are clearly some options, but none of them seem ideal.
Then there’s the trade chip route.
The Guardians currently lead the AL Central by 1.5 games over the White Sox and possess the third-best record in the American League. They are certainly set to be buyers at this year’s deadline. So, how do they approach it?
If someone were to ask me, pitching is out of the question. The pitching staff as a whole is fourth in the American League in ERA, first in strikeouts, second in team saves behind one of the league’s best closers — Cade Smith — and first in innings pitched. To the surprise of no one, the Guardians’ pitching staff has been dominant since the beginning of the year.
Offense is the way to go.
The gaping hole in the lineup would be the aforementioned first base/DH position. I do not have any hesitation in saying that both of the current players in those spots can be upgraded at the deadline.
The one trade target that sticks out like a sore thumb to me would be the Astros’ first baseman, Christian Walker.
Walker’s first season in an Astros uniform, after signing the three-year, $60m deal in free agency, was one to forget. While the power numbers were still there, having clubbed 27 home runs in 154 games, it was a down year for the first baseman.
This season has been different for the 35-year-old. In 60 games, he is hitting .249/.324/.511 with 16 home runs, 43 RBIs, and a 130 wRC+. Year after year, we are asking the Guardians to acquire some thump behind Jose Ramirez, and Walker provides just that. Where the added boost comes from the fact that he is a plus defender at the position, which is something else the Guardians could use.
The issue would come with the remaining salary left on Walker’s deal. He is still owed $32.7 million through the end of 2027. Cleveland is notorious for not wanting to pony up the big bucks when it comes to players outside of Jose Ramirez, so there’s a chance their front office is hesitant to give up a prospect of Ingle’s caliber, but we also just saw them give San Francisco a hefty return for Bailey. So, what am I saying?
Should the Guardians feel the same way I do about the fit with Walker, there is also a chance they might want to try finding a way to replace Erik Sabrowski’s role in the bullpen. Though they throw with opposite arms, adding another high-leverage reliever like Bryan Abreu would, as they say, strengthen a strength. There is a deal to be had here between two teams seemingly heading in different directions.
To me, there is no better fit for this team than Christian Walker.
Willson Contreras’s name is one I want to pay closer attention to as the deadline nears. Should the Red Sox decide to sell off pieces at this year’s deadline, despite having just acquired Contreras from the Cardinals this offseason, Contreras is one who I think would also fit into this lineup nicely.
You then go around the diamond, and every other position feels set. There are always the Byron Buxton trade rumors floating around, but while he would be an upgrade in the outfield, an intra-division trade involving a face-of-the-franchise player seems incredibly unlikely.
Another player who could find themselves on the trade block that could fill the first base void for the Guardians, should they decide they want to address their need more cheaply, would be Rangers first baseman Jake Burger. However, that feels like a marginal upgrade over what they currently have.
If they wanted to expand it to players at other positions who could possibly play first base for them, Eugenio Suarez is an interesting name to monitor should the Reds fall too far back in the standings and look to sell.
Then we have Rafael Devers, whose name is certainly intriguing, but there’s the combination of the large contract ($171 million due through 2033) and the struggles he has battled through this year. His numbers are starting to even out a bit more, but it is nowhere near the production that awarded him that contract.
But perhaps he is a change of scenery candidate. To be fair, I never thought the fit in San Francisco was a good one, but who am I but a writer on baseball’s greatest media company?
There’s an argument for both sides when it comes to Cooper Ingle and where his value will provide dividends for this ball club. Whether it comes via a trade or he is plugged into the lineup on a nightly basis come October, Cooper Ingle is going to be a positive-impact player for an organization as soon as he makes his debut.
Become a Member of Just Baseball
Subscribe and upgrade to go ad-free!
* Save 25% by subscribing annually.
Written by
Cristian has been at Just Baseball since 2021, when he first started writing about prospects. He spent eight years working in Major League Baseball with the…