Has Josh Naylor become the Cleveland Guardians second best hitter?

The Cleveland Guardians have found a huge boost from Josh Naylor but where does he rank on the team?

One of the biggest issues with the Cleveland Guardians all season has been the lack of consistent hitting from key players. One player who can safely claim isn’t having that issue is Josh Naylor. Naylor has been on a tear this year, which is great to see especially coming off of his leg injury from last year.

That leg injury worried many about his availability to return and how he’d play once he did. Since then he’s been a gem, succeeding at the plate but especially in clutch opportunities. Defensively he isn’t much to talk about, he rarely plays the outfield anymore and the team has a glut of first basement but he’s very impressive offensively speaking.

We all know that Jose Ramirez is the top dog on the team, but what about number two? Would we say that Naylor is the second-best hitter on the team; with guys like Andres Gimenez, Steven Kwan, and Amed Rosario to consider as well? Frankly, yes, yes I would.

But the “why” is the important part.

Why Josh Naylor is firmly the second-best hitter on the Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians have had some late-inning successes this season, especially due to Naylor. That’s not why I’m bringing him into the conversation, however. Naylor is the second-best hitter simply due to his production.

While he’s only fifth on the team in batting average among eligible hitters, Naylor is producing at a very impressive clip.

Naylor is only seventh on the team in games played at-bats and hits. Despite that fact, he’s second on the team in home runs (14), second on the team in RBIs (53), only six points behind Ramirez’s batting average (.285-.279), and is tied for fourth on the team with fewest strikeouts among eligible hitters.

He’s also third in slugging and OPS as well.

If Naylor, who has played 24 fewer games than Ramirez, had the same amount of opportunities as Ramirez, Naylor would have just as many home runs as Ramirez, if not more. Assuming his clip stayed the same.

Naylor is turning into a franchise-type player before our eyes, and if that wasn’t enough to get you geeked for him; remember that there are two of him. His brother Bo is in our minor leagues as we speak.

And he plays catcher, a position we desperately need offense from.