Why Guardians will continue to start Patrick Bailey despite an awful 20 OPS+

It was a bit of a surprise when the Cleveland Guardians traded with the San Francisco Giants for catcher Patrick Bailey earlier this season.

Bailey replaced Bo Naylor and took over the starting catcher role. But, there is one major issue: Bailey's offense is absolutely terrible. He has a 20 OPS+ on the season, which means he's 80 percent worse than the league average hitter.

However, as ESPN's David Schoenfield highlighted, the Guardians are still likely to continue starting him in the lineup. The reason why is simple: sunk cost fallacy likely stops the Guardians from taking their trade pickup out of the lineup.

Why Guardians will start Patrick Bailey despite awful offense

"The Guardians gave up the No. 29 pick in the draft and pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson to acquire Bailey, which suggests a long-term commitment to him," Schoenfield writes.

Cleveland spent a bit to acquire Bailey from the Giants, so it would be odd for them to give up on him this early in his Guardians career.

While his 20 OPS+ overall this season is a brutal figure, he's been a bit better in Cleveland. He has a 31 OPS+ across nine games and 27 plate appearances for the Guardians since coming over in a trade.

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He has 0.0 bWAR with one homer, three RBIs, two walks, and six strikeouts with a .120 batting average and a .465 OPS.

There's no denying that Bailey is a massive negative offensively, but his elite defense behind the plate is going to keep him in the lineup for the Guardians.

Austin Hedges is a fine backup, and even though Cooper Ingle is raking in the minors, his suspect defense is likely to keep him from a full-time catcher role right now.

Despite an awful 20 OPS+ on the season from Bailey, the Guardians aren't going to take him out of the lineup. His elite defense and the cost it took to acquire him will have the Guardians keeping the two-time Gold Glove winner behind the dish for now.

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