Josh Naylor Continues To Improve At Doing This At The Plate For The Guardians
Josh Naylor stepped into the batter's box during the first inning of Friday night's game against the Boston Red Sox with James Paxton on the mound. Paxton, being a left-handed pitcher, clearly had the upper hand against Naylor who's struggled against lefties his entire career.
Or did he?
Naylor put a soft easy swing on a cutter from Paxton and drove it down the right field line. He pulled it to second for a double as Steven Kwan crossed the plate to score the game's first run.
This hit coming off a lefty may have come as a surprise to many with Naylor's history against Southpaws. This was exposed at a national level by the New York Yankees' Nestor Cortes and Wandy Perlata in last year's ALDS.
However, Terry Francona continues to have Naylor face left-handed pitching and that decision is starting to pay off for Naylor and the team.
Last season, Naylor had 110 at-bats against lefties. In those plate appearances, he only had 19 hits, struck out 34 times, with a batting average of .173.
So far in 2023, Naylor has 46 at-bats against left-handed pitching and has 10 hits including a double and a couple of homers as well. He owns a .217 batting average and slugging .370 against the Southpaws with just six strikeouts.
Yes, those numbers could be better. However, they do show how Naylor has improved at his biggest weakness.
Fans may grow frustrated with the organization with how patient they are with players. But this scenario is showing that waiting can sometimes pay off. If Naylor continues to improve he can be more than just a platoon player which could be critical to how the Guardians construct their lineup in the future.
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