The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of catcher Dom Nuñez. Fellow backstop Austin Hedges has been placed on the seven-day concussion-related injured list. Right-hander Andrew Walters has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt spoke on the Hedges situation today, with video relayed by Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. Vogt says that Hedges was hit in the head by a backswing from Jazz Chisholm Jr. on Wednesday night (video of the incident from MLB.com). Vogt says that Hedges was experiencing some “low-level concussion symptoms” yesterday which have not gone away. Vogt adds that the club wants to be cautious due to previous concussions suffered by Hedges. According to his MLB.com transaction tracker, Hedges has previously gone on the IL for a concussion in 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Concussions tend to get more dangerous with each subsequent incident, so the caution is understandable.
Hedges has been backing up Bo Naylor at the catcher position this year but Nuñez will now tag in and take over that job while Hedges recovers. Calling up Nuñez was necessary because the Guards previously had just Hedges and Naylor as the two catchers on their 40-man roster. David Fry has catching experience but is limited to designated hitter duties this year due to undergoing elbow surgery in November.
The 30-year-old Nuñez signed a minor league deal with the Guards in the offseason. He has been playing at the Triple-A level since then, putting up a line of .136/.266/.369 in 32 games. That’s not a pretty slash but it’s held back by a .131 batting average on balls in play. Nuñez has six home runs and has been drawing walks at a 13.6% clip, though he’s also been striking out 30.4% of the time.
His major league track record consists of 111 games with the Rockies over the 2019-22 period. He hit just .180/.280/.373 in that time but generally received solid marks for his defense. Nuñez still has one option remaining and could be easily sent back down to Triple-A when Hedges gets healthy.
As for Walters, he landed on the 15-day IL a week ago due to a lat strain. His current status is unclear but it appears that the Guardians don’t expect him back anytime soon. With this transfer, he can’t be reinstated until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which means late July.
Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images
Should been on roster thrusday night to face left hander. Always a day late and dollar short.
Uh…
Nunez bats left handed.
Like l said should been in lineup thrusday night. Bases loaded 1 out and naylor strikes out and they don’t score.
So Dom Nunez, a left-handed hitting catcher, should have been on the roster yesterday to face a left-handed reliever…instead of Bo Naylor, a left-handed hitting catcher?
Naylor can’t hit in the clutch. Down 2 to 0. Have to score 1 run dude!
Bear in mind, also, that before tonight, Nuñez hadn’t faced major league pitching in a few years and is batting well under the Mendoza Line at AAA. Please explain how he would have been a better choice than Naylor.
As frustrating as losses are, Vogt knows far more about line-up construction and in-game decisions than any of us could ever dream of.
First Thomas now Hedges. What will they do to without the lost offense?
Make trades with the reds and red Sox. Both are falling out of the race. Haynes and fries of the reds available. Red Sox Duran, russynder, abreau available according to red Sox writers.
Who would CLE be willing to part with that either team would want?
Nunez and Noel will be able to hold down the fort until they return.
Chrome is tone deaf