Josh

Naylor

After stealing no bases until April 20, Naylor now has a 40-stolen base pace. And he’s done it as one of the slowest players in the league. Remarkable. The 28-year-old has started swinging the stick at a quality rate as of late, too, and he’s been much better than his .260/.325/.370 slash indicates.

Naylor got off to a slow start this year, but he’s 14-for-36 (.389) to begin May. His bat speed is down so far, but his track record warrants patience in all formats. He’s also running at the same rate as he did between Arizona and Seattle last year, already at seven thefts entering mid-May.

Naylor did caught stealing twice; his first times being caught since joining the Mariners in 25 attempts. The 28-year-old drove in the tying run with an RBI single in the sixth, and put the game away with a three-run shot two innings later. After an awful start to the season, Naylor appears to be back in a groove, and he’s been much better the last few weeks than that .220/.295/.349 slash indicates.

Naylor is back at first base and hitting cleanup following a brief one-game absence due to a quad contusion. The 28-year-old power/speed combo threat has seemingly turned things around after an ice-cold start to the season, hitting .480 (12-for-25) with one homer and four steals over his last seven games.

Mariners’ skipper Dan Wilson told reporters before the game that the injury isn’t believed to be serious and that Naylor would be available to pinch-hit. Connor Joe will start in his place at first base and bat seventh against Cardinals’ right-hander Michael McGreevy on Sunday afternoon in St. Louis.

It just continues. Despite having some of the worst speed in baseball, Naylor has now stolen four bases, and he has yet to be caught in 23 attempts since joining the Mariners. That’s helped compensate a bit for a .208/.283/.317 slash, but it’s worth noting those numbers have improved considerably over the last week.

Naylor led off the fourth inning with a walk, swiped second base and scored on a two-out RBI single by Dominic Canzone. He then tagged Cardinals’ right-hander Andre Pallante for a 418-foot (107.3 mph EV) solo shot that gave the M’s a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish. His bat has started to show signs of life the past two weeks, though he’s still slashing a miserable .198/.278/.313 with three homers, 11 RBI and two stolen bases on the young season.

Naylor came into the day hitting .102 with no extra-base hits and two RBI in 15 games before hitting a line drive, three-run homer off Mike Burrows in the first. That one would have been a double in most ballparks. The second homer, though, was a 433-foot no-doubter that left his bat at 111.5 mph. That’s five mph harder than anything he’d previously hit this year. Naylor popped up in his final two at-bats, but today still seems like the start of a turnaround for him.

The 22-year-old second baseman is coming off of a very impressive Cactus League season. He’s expected to function in the strong side of a platoon for the M’s, though that role could expand while J.P. Crawford is shelved, which could allow him to carve out some deep league fantasy value. He’s the full alignment that manager Dan Wilson will send out on Opening Day: Brendan Donovan (3B), Cal Raleigh (C), Julio Rodriguez (CF), Josh Naylor (1B), Randy Arozarena (LF), Luke Raley (RF), Dominic Canzone (DH), Cole Young (2B) and Leo Rivas (SS).

Team Canada will miss Freddie Freeman, but it can still run out a pretty respectable lineup of SS Otto Lopez, 2B Edouard Julien, 1B Josh Naylor, RF Tyler O’Neill, LF Owen Caissie, DH Jared Young, C Bo Naylor, 3B Abraham Toro and CF Denzel Clarke. Jameson Taillon and Michael Soroka will lead the pitching staff, which also includes retired former major leaguers James Paxton and Phillippe Aumont.