'You can't help but smile and laugh': Josh Naylor's hitting, energy lift the Guardians
CLEVELAND — His Guardians teammates might need helmets and protective gear whenever Josh Naylor does something monumental, but as long he's destroying opposing pitching like this, they're fine with it.
Naylor has been on an absolute tear to start the 2024 season. And as the Guardians found out in 2022, Naylor can be pretty intense in his celebrations, but they certainly love the energy he provides.
In Saturday's win over the Oakland A's, Naylor crushed a go-ahead, two-run home run to center field. He watched it fly for a moment, and then once he was about halfway down the first base line, he hit himself in the helmet with his bat and then spiked it into the ground.
When he crossed home plate, he yelled — more of a celebratory roar — at Steven Kwan, who could only smile and laugh.
This is all relatively new to manager Stephen Vogt, who has the Guardians at 16-6 in his first 22 games at the helm. Vogt joked that as long as Naylor doesn't concuss himself, he loves the lift Naylor provides.
"I mean, it just gives energy to the other guys, right?" Vogt said. "When he gets going, you can't help but smile and laugh, and you get fired up, and I think that's what he brings on top of being a great player and a great teammate."
Josh Naylor celebrations range from head-butts to bat flips to spiked bats
In 2022, Naylor launched a walk-off home run and then head-butted former manager Terry Francona. The next time Naylor hit a home run, Francona jokingly put on a helmet of his own.
"I get nervous, not only for Josh, but for the people around him, as we've seen," joked president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, with a smile. "I don't think he's showing signs of a concussion yet today, so that's a positive. He hit himself pretty hard."
Naylor said the bat to the helmet didn't really hurt. That was just him being fired up.
Josh Naylor stats in 2024 among MLB's best
He's been hitting opposing pitchers much harder. Naylor has been among the hottest hitters in baseball to start the season. After Sunday's win over the A's, in which Naylor cleared the bases with a three-run double, his 187 wRC+ (an offensive metric focused on overall value to a lineup, with 100 being average) is seventh in the game.
He's now hitting .302/.393/.623 and has 20 RBIs in 21 games in which he's played. By far and away, Naylor has been the best hitter in a lineup that includes Jose Ramirez.
In particular, he's crushed left-handed pitchers. He entered Sunday with a 1.218 OPS against lefties this season, which came before that three-run double that propelled the Guardians to their 16th win in 22 games.
"I think we're seeing Josh continue to develop into one of the best hitters in the American League. There's really not much in the batter's box that he's not capable of doing," Antonetti said. "He obviously hits for average, can impact the ball and now he's impacting the ball at really productive angles."
Naylor said Saturday night that he's always trying to take his "A-swing," no matter what. Lately, it's been among the best swings in baseball in 2024.
"I'm a believer in always taking your A-swing, whether you miss it or hit it," Naylor said, referring to his best swing. "I try to tell my youngest brother (Myles) that too, because he's kind of growing into the game a little bit … You always take your best shot, no matter in what situation, you just take your best shot at it and if it goes well, it goes well."
Sometimes Naylor's celebratory energy can get a little chaotic, but it's all in a positive manner. The Guardians love every bit of it. And as long Naylor keeps producing like this in the No. 4 spot in the lineup, they might be seeing plenty of similar celebrations.
"He has infections energy," Antonetti said. "He plays the game with a passion the vast majority of time that's energetic and uplifting in the right direction. Maybe a couple times it's gone awry — like ask Tito for the head-butt — but it's awesome."
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Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Josh Naylor's celebrations help energize Cleveland Guardians
