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The Cleveland Guardians are seeing Josh Naylor evolve in real time

By Chad Porto

CLEVELAND, OHIO - JUNE 10: Josh Naylor #22 of the Cleveland Guardians runs after an RBI single during the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field on June 10, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JUNE 10: Josh Naylor #22 of the Cleveland Guardians runs after an RBI single during the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field on June 10, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) /
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Josh Naylor has become a huge bat for the Cleveland Guardians.

Josh Naylor is not someone to mess with. The Cleveland Guardians first basemen got off to a horrendous start to the season, but there’s a reason why you don’t rush to the finish in baseball. As of right now, Naylor is, believe it or not, in 7th place in the Majors for RBIs driven in with 48. He’s second in the Majors in RBIs for first-basemen. He’s sixth in the AL for all players and first for first basemen.

Yet, he’s nowhere near the top of the charts when it comes to the fan-voting. You’d think leading the AL in RBIS as a first baseman would have him near the top of the AL for first basemen voting, but he’s not. He’s not even in the Top 5.

And honestly, that’s a bit fair if you ask me. He struggled out of the gate, the Guardians are still four games under .500, even though they’re surging, and the team as a whole hasn’t looked their best through May.

June has been different, but it’s understandable why Naylor is where he is with voters.

The Cleveland Guardiasn are seeing their next star in Josh Naylor

Naylor is not going to be so easy to ignore in the future. He has gradually gotten better throughout his career, and 2023 seems to be the season where he’s cementing his flag as a real star for the team. His splits are impressive as heck, considering that just a month ago, on May 15, he was hitting under .200.

Now he’s got a split of .286/.333/.461 and an OPS of .794.

Naylor isn’t hammering home runs with the best of them, but he’s doing enough to warrant the respect of those throwing pitches to him. To see your batting average raise by nearly 100 points in a month isn’t easy to do and it shows that Naylor isn’t your ordinary type of first basemen.

Will he be the next Jim Thome? Who knows, but he’s certainly done enough to warrant being seen as a key cog in the Guardians lineup, and a potential All-Star for 2023.

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  • Published on 06/15/2023 at 01:00 AM
  • Last updated at 06/15/2023 at 04:37 AM
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