Josh

Naylor

Naylor underwent triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) repair surgery on his right wrist on October 3rd and is expected to be fully recovered before the start of Spring Training. The 29-year-old hit .261 with 10 home runs, 57 RBI, 58 runs scored, and 30 steals this season with just a .667 OPS. Naylor has a career .756 OPS and hasn’t been at .700 or below since 2021, so the wrist injury could have a lot to do with his struggles this season.

Naylor is the first first baseman to steal 30 bases in consecutive seasons since George Sisler did so each year from 1920 through 1922. Which is incredibly cool, even if it doesn’t save Naylor from being a major disappointment in the first season of a five-year contract. Stealing 30 bases simply doesn’t come close to making up for hitting .261/.318/.349. Even with all of the steals, he’s scored only 58 runs in 646 plate appearances. And he’s driven in 56. He has exactly as many runs scored and RBI as Baltimore’s Leody Taveras, who has also been pretty bad and who has 164 fewer plate appearances than Naylor.

In a must-win game for the Mariners, Naylor put them over the top with a 10th-inning single as Josh Hader imploded. It was a nice moment, but it doesn’t change how incredibly disappointing Naylor has been in his first full season with Seattle. He hadn’t had a hit since last Friday, that RBI was just his 55th overall, and he only has two home runs in the last three months.

The second steal was of third base in the seventh inning. Afterwards, though, he got himself doubled off third base thinking that a sinking liner to short caught by Zach Neto had hit the ground. Fortunately, Seattle was up 7-2 at the time, so it wasn’t a huge deal in terms of win probability. Still, it’s another one to add to the extensive 2026 Mariners bloopers reel.

Naylor entered last season with 25 career steals, and he surprisingly swiped 30 in his age-28 campaign. That led to plenty of offseason discussion about whether the aggressiveness could continue with another year in Seattle. He’s up to 26 thefts with three and a half weeks to play, but he’s been caught seven times after just twice last season. Naylor’s batting average and counting stats have also declined from a season ago, tying his fantasy value to an unusual source of speed at first base.

Naylor helped break this game open with a two-run single off Dustin May in the second inning to make this game 7-0. The Mariners stopped scoring after that, but still had enough to win the game. Despite a poor season at the plate, Naylor has recouped some of his fantasy value with 25 stolen bases.

Naylor returns to first base and will hit sixth following a one-game absence due to right wrist soreness. The 29-year-old has been a disappointment from an over-the-fence power and batting average standpoint, hitting just .263 with 10 homers across 474 plate appearances in 111 games. He’s managed to salvage his season from a fantasy perspective by tallying 23 stolen bases, putting him on pace for his second consecutive 30-steal campaign.

Naylor tweaked his wrist on a swing last week. It doesn’t sound like a significant concern, especially since he launched a pair of round-trippers during Sunday’s series finale against the Rays. However, the Mariners are going to proceed with an abundance of caution to prevent it from developing into a greater concern. Fantasy managers should consider Naylor day-to-day for now. It’ll be Weston Wilson taking over at the cold corner in his absence.

Naylor had 10 total bases tonight. The rest of the Mariners had five, all on singles. It’s Naylor’s seventh career two-homer game and the first to come in a loss. He has 10 homers on the season.

He’ll get a breather against Tigers LHP Framber Valdez. Naylor is hitting .267/.330/.314 since July — with zero homers — and .260/.323/.355 on the season. He’s still giving you the occasional steal, but it’s been a rough year for Naylor so far.