The San Diego Padres acquired 1B Josh Naylor in a trade with the Miami Marlins. What sort of player is he?
Who Is He?
The Marlins picked Naylor as the 12th overall selection in the 2015 draft out of high school in Ontario, Canada. He was known as a big power lefty bat that was going to be a “bad body” guy and need to hit a ton to succeed. He did just that in his first exposure to pro ball in the Gulf Coast League for the Marlins team in that league, hitting .327/.352/.418 with a home run and 4 doubles.
The Marlins sent Naylor to Greensboro in the low-A, full season South Atlantic League, a significant jump for a 19 year old, but not uncommon for such a high pick. He responded with solid production, but not exactly the power that the Marlins were looking for, hitting .269/.317/.430 with 9 home runs, 24 doubles, and 10 stolen bases with a 22/62 walk-to-strike out rate. He was part of the trade with the San Diego Padres that brought Andrew Cashner to the Miami Marlins.
On June 5th of the 2016 season, Naylor was involved in an incident that may have predicated his trade from Miami and made him perhaps more available than expected for a player just a year removed from being a top-15 pick in the entire draft. He injured teammate Stone Garrett in what was initially described as a prank by multiple news sources. However, Garrett’s agent refuted the team’s account of the “prank”, stating that there was more malicious intent. Garrett’s injury to his hand required three stitches and surgery on his thumb, and Naylor ended up suspended for a game. Upon the trade, Stone Garrett had this to say, via Twitter:
Not exactly a warm send off…
Next: Naylor's scouting report