Josh Naylor Joins Elite Company As Career Year With Guardians Continues

Josh Naylor's breakout season for the Cleveland Guardians is something that has only been done by a small list of players.

Josh Naylor started the season as an option to platoon first base/designated hitter with Josh Bell. He had not shown he could hit left-handed pitching and still had problems with how much he would swing and miss.

However, he's quickly become not only the Cleveland Guardians' best hitter but also one of the best hitters in all of baseball.

Heading into Wednesday's action, Naylor was slashing .303/.341/.501 with an OPS of .842. Each one of those stats is career-high across the board and is towards the top among league leaders. His batting average is good enough to place him top 10 in baseball.

Naylor has already collected 102 hits, 15 home runs, and 76 RBI this season which has placed him in some pretty elite company with Cleveland baseball greats.

He is just the eighth Cleveland hitter with a .305+ average, 100+ hits, and 75+ RBI through the team’s first 100 games since 1954, joining Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, Juan González, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, and Carlos Baerga.

That list is full of legends that will be remembered by Cleveland fans, and baseball fans in general, for years to come. Josh joining them in these feats puts into perspective just how amazing this season has been for him.

MLB really went and had an "All-Star Game" without Josh Naylor, huh?#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/L18OJJLdNT

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 18, 2023

We also have to remember that Naylor has done this after a rough start to the year where he hit just .250 in March, .208 in April and only had 15 RBI in those first two months.  

Regardless of how this season goes for the Guardians as a team, signing Naylor to a contract extension should be high on the front office's priority list come the offseason. 

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Read More:

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Chris Antonetti Explains Guardians' Plan Ahead Of MLB Trade Deadline

Terry Francona Talks About Gabriel Arias' Current Role With Guardians

Josh Bell Still Has More To Give The Guardians

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Photo Credit © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports