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The Cleveland Guardians have one of the least productive offensive catcher groups in baseball, ranked 26th in MLB in offensive WAR, home runs, and slugging percentage in the 2026 season.
Prospect and Clippers catcher Cooper Ingle could be a solution to the woes.
The Guardians made this season's first notable trade in Major League Baseball when they acquired San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey May 9 for starting pitcher prospect Matt Wilkinson and the No. 29 pick in the 2026 draft.
Bailey is known as a defensive specialist and sports a .154 batting average and a .445 OPS. In a corresponding move with the trade, the Guardians optioned Bo Naylor to Triple-A Columbus after he hit .148 through 28 games this season. The Guardians' primary starting catcher, Austin Hedges, is also a defensive specialist and is producing a below league-average bat with solid defensive metrics.
Ingle has yet to work his way into the major league mix. The No. 3 prospect in the Guardians system according to MLB.com, Ingle was promoted to the Clippers in August and hit .207 with a .702 OPS at Triple-A. He hit 10 home runs in the 2025 season between leagues and made it a goal to increase muscle mass in the offseason, he told the Dispatch in September 2025.
Before the halfway point of this season, Ingle has nine home runs in 133 at-bats, roughly a third of the at-bats it took for him to get to 10 in 2025. Ingle said he put on about 15 pounds of muscle mass in the offseason.
"I've pretty much seen a direct correlation during spring training with it," Ingle said. "...There's some big upticks in bat speed. Also, just approach-wise, like being able to slug across the whole field has opened up a lot of things for me."
A North Carolina native, Ingle played at Clemson and was drafted in the fourth round by the Guardians in the 2023 MLB Draft.
He had solid numbers as a college hitter − a .329 average with a .901 OPS − but became noticed in the minors after he won High-A Midwest League MVP with the Lake County Captains in his first season of pro ball.
This season, Ingle's power began to shine. Against the Iowa Cubs on April 19, Ingle hit two home runs, one to right field and an opposite-field line drive with enough juice to get over the wall. It was the second multi-homer game of his professional career.
Ingle, however, was more interested in the mindset and approach of those at-bats rather than the results of a single game. Bulking up in the offseason was not as easy as it sounds, and Ingle is proud that the offseason approach is blending well with the positive hit tools in his game.
One of the best-known advantages in Ingle's game is plate discipline. This season, Ingle is walking at a 21% clip, which is the 99th percentile for AAA players. He has a masterful command of the strike zone and swings at only 18.4% of pitches outside the strike zone (96th percentile), according to tjstats.com. Combined with his 50% hard-hit rate (90th percentile), Ingle has great value to a major league team.
Ingle described himself as a steady player, a possible explanation for how he bounced back from a short stint on the injury list due to a sore sartorius muscle. Ingle landed on the injured list on April 22 hitting .394. He returned on May 3 and batted .340 over his first 11 games with three home runs.
In the wake of his increased production at the plate. Ingle acknowledged the catcher-depth movement at the big league level.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it," Ingle said. "At the end of the day, it's a business, and the only thing I can control is how hard I play, the preparation that I do every single day and just locking into my own career and pouring my energy into the guys that I have here in Columbus with me. I think it's more important than all of that."
Ingle also saw his friend, teammate and former roommate Travis Bazzana, get the call-up to the majors in May. Bazzana, a former No. 1 draft pick by the Guardians, became close with Ingle when the two played together in High-A Lake County.
"Just seeing his growth and development as a player is really cool and fun to watch," Ingle said. "The growth of him as a person and the way he thinks about the game has helped me a ton, too."
Defensively, Ingle has been trying to improve all areas of his catching game, whether it's blocking pitches, throwing out runners or working with various pitchers. In Triple-A, Ingle has gotten the opportunity to work with a rotating cast of pitchers with experience at the major league level.
"I constantly ask them for feedback," Ingle said. "Guys like [Logan Allen], Pedro Avila, many others, especially the bullpen guys. Being able to talk to them, just to see how I handle situations through their perspective, is huge for me."
The Guardians, however, may need Ingle's hitting regardless of the catcher depth in the organization. Ingle appeared in left field for the Clippers in three games in June, a position he has not played since college.
For now, Ingle is committed on staying healthy. He has never had any major long-term injuries at the professional level, but the short stint on the injured list made him eager to keep improving his routine. The results have made Ingle one of the hottest hitters in the minor leagues and a potential impact bat for the Guardians in the near future.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Guardians top prospect Cooper Ingle finding his power with Columbus Clippers
Continue reading...
Prospect and Clippers catcher Cooper Ingle could be a solution to the woes.
The Guardians made this season's first notable trade in Major League Baseball when they acquired San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey May 9 for starting pitcher prospect Matt Wilkinson and the No. 29 pick in the 2026 draft.
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Bailey is known as a defensive specialist and sports a .154 batting average and a .445 OPS. In a corresponding move with the trade, the Guardians optioned Bo Naylor to Triple-A Columbus after he hit .148 through 28 games this season. The Guardians' primary starting catcher, Austin Hedges, is also a defensive specialist and is producing a below league-average bat with solid defensive metrics.
Ingle has yet to work his way into the major league mix. The No. 3 prospect in the Guardians system according to MLB.com, Ingle was promoted to the Clippers in August and hit .207 with a .702 OPS at Triple-A. He hit 10 home runs in the 2025 season between leagues and made it a goal to increase muscle mass in the offseason, he told the Dispatch in September 2025.
Before the halfway point of this season, Ingle has nine home runs in 133 at-bats, roughly a third of the at-bats it took for him to get to 10 in 2025. Ingle said he put on about 15 pounds of muscle mass in the offseason.
"I've pretty much seen a direct correlation during spring training with it," Ingle said. "...There's some big upticks in bat speed. Also, just approach-wise, like being able to slug across the whole field has opened up a lot of things for me."
A North Carolina native, Ingle played at Clemson and was drafted in the fourth round by the Guardians in the 2023 MLB Draft.
He had solid numbers as a college hitter − a .329 average with a .901 OPS − but became noticed in the minors after he won High-A Midwest League MVP with the Lake County Captains in his first season of pro ball.
This season, Ingle's power began to shine. Against the Iowa Cubs on April 19, Ingle hit two home runs, one to right field and an opposite-field line drive with enough juice to get over the wall. It was the second multi-homer game of his professional career.
Ingle, however, was more interested in the mindset and approach of those at-bats rather than the results of a single game. Bulking up in the offseason was not as easy as it sounds, and Ingle is proud that the offseason approach is blending well with the positive hit tools in his game.
One of the best-known advantages in Ingle's game is plate discipline. This season, Ingle is walking at a 21% clip, which is the 99th percentile for AAA players. He has a masterful command of the strike zone and swings at only 18.4% of pitches outside the strike zone (96th percentile), according to tjstats.com. Combined with his 50% hard-hit rate (90th percentile), Ingle has great value to a major league team.
Ingle described himself as a steady player, a possible explanation for how he bounced back from a short stint on the injury list due to a sore sartorius muscle. Ingle landed on the injured list on April 22 hitting .394. He returned on May 3 and batted .340 over his first 11 games with three home runs.
In the wake of his increased production at the plate. Ingle acknowledged the catcher-depth movement at the big league level.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it," Ingle said. "At the end of the day, it's a business, and the only thing I can control is how hard I play, the preparation that I do every single day and just locking into my own career and pouring my energy into the guys that I have here in Columbus with me. I think it's more important than all of that."
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Ingle also saw his friend, teammate and former roommate Travis Bazzana, get the call-up to the majors in May. Bazzana, a former No. 1 draft pick by the Guardians, became close with Ingle when the two played together in High-A Lake County.
"Just seeing his growth and development as a player is really cool and fun to watch," Ingle said. "The growth of him as a person and the way he thinks about the game has helped me a ton, too."
Defensively, Ingle has been trying to improve all areas of his catching game, whether it's blocking pitches, throwing out runners or working with various pitchers. In Triple-A, Ingle has gotten the opportunity to work with a rotating cast of pitchers with experience at the major league level.
"I constantly ask them for feedback," Ingle said. "Guys like [Logan Allen], Pedro Avila, many others, especially the bullpen guys. Being able to talk to them, just to see how I handle situations through their perspective, is huge for me."
The Guardians, however, may need Ingle's hitting regardless of the catcher depth in the organization. Ingle appeared in left field for the Clippers in three games in June, a position he has not played since college.
For now, Ingle is committed on staying healthy. He has never had any major long-term injuries at the professional level, but the short stint on the injured list made him eager to keep improving his routine. The results have made Ingle one of the hottest hitters in the minor leagues and a potential impact bat for the Guardians in the near future.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Guardians top prospect Cooper Ingle finding his power with Columbus Clippers
Continue reading...
