Jim Moore: Josh Naylor proves he’s most important new Mariner

Published 8:30 am Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Geno Suarez arrived with much more fanfare, returning to Seattle with all of his home runs, bringing back “Good Vibes Only,” and getting a raucous celebration on the team plane’s flight from Sacramento last month.

I’m not sure how Josh Naylor arrived, but I’m guessing it was on a commercial flight, maybe even in a coach seat, followed by an Uber ride to a local hotel.

And I’ll bet if that’s how it happened, he was perfectly fine with it. You’ve got a much better chance of recognizing Suarez in public, but Naylor has been the Most Valuable Diamondback that the Mariners acquired at the trade deadline thus far.

It’s not even debatable. Suarez came here two weeks ago with 36 home runs and has hit only one for the Mariners while averaging .105, going 4 for 38.

Naylor’s averaging .288 as a Mariner, making the best first impression possible with some dazzling plays at first base and some wild cleats while basically being something else on the base paths.

If we didn’t notice him with his first two teams, the Padres and the Guardians, we certainly knew who he was on June 9th when he hit a walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning as the Diamondbacks beat the Mariners.

That confirmed what my brother-in-law, a Diamondbacks fan, had told me about Naylor before — he’s the most clutch player on the team.

All of this escaped me, but further proof in a brief Internet search shows that Naylor had phenomenal moments in Cleveland too, such as the night in 2022 against the White Sox when he had eight RBIs in his last three at-bats with a run-scoring double in the eighth, a game-tying grand slam with two outs in the ninth and a game-winning three-run homer in the 11th.

Glimpses of his impactful past have turned into nightly appearances in Seattle, where Naylor has become a welcome addition, if not an absolute sensation.

I’d go so far as to say that Naylor is more important to the Mariners’ potential success than Suarez. When Naylor suffered a sore shoulder that caused him to leave the game against the White Sox last week, fans were concerned about it possibly being a long-term injury.

Fortunately, it wasn’t. Naylor missed Friday night’s game but was right back to his hitting self Saturday night, smacking two doubles and hitting a home run Sunday afternoon.

Think about it, if Suarez gets hurt, at least you’d still have Ben Williamson in Tacoma, ready to take over at third base, returning with his magical glove and so-so bat. But if you lost Naylor? You’d be reduced to Donovan Solano sprinkled in with Dylan Moore and a little bit of Luke Raley at first base, three guys combined who aren’t half the player that Naylor is.

I haven’t reached the point of stopping everything I’m doing when Naylor’s at the plate, but I made a good decision to keep the TV on before going to bed the other night when he spoke to the media.

Frequently, player interviews are largely useless, but not this one, not when Naylor spoke thoughtfully about his ability to steal bases at an amazing clip. He talked about intently watching the game from the dugout, particularly opposing pitchers, seeing their tendencies, picking up “tells” in their moves to first base.

He was talking to everyone, but I felt like he was specifically speaking to all of us slow guys in the world, making us feel like maybe we, too could have done what he’s doing in our baseball playing days.

I don’t care about his 8 RBI game or his walkoff slam against the Mariners, this is his most amazing accomplishment to date — Josh Naylor has the most stolen bases in the majors in the last three weeks with 11.

This in spite of being the 516th fastest major league player out of 530, according to Statcast metrics detailed in a Seattle Times story by Adam Jude. I mean, you or I might be able to beat him in a 40-yard dash. Well, you anyway.

And he rarely gets caught. Naylor is 22 for 24 on stolen bases this year and a perfect 11 for 11 with the Mariners. The guy even steals third if you’re not paying attention to him — he’s done it twice at T Mobile Park.

Naylor credits Diamondbacks coach Dave McKay for helping him become a stolen base threat, and Mariners manager Dan Wilson’s aggressive approach with base runners has played to his strengths.

It goes beyond amazing and incredible, two adjectives I’ve already used, to astonishing. He’s listed by the Mariners at 5-foot-10 and 235 pounds, but he’s gotta be 250, if not 255 or 260. Everything about him suggests plodder, not sprinter. But there he is again, sliding safely with his oven mitt touching second base before the tag.

There’s a lot to like there. You can go with his stolen bases or his colorful cleats that sometimes match, sometimes don’t, but always stand out. On Sunday’s ROOT Sports broadcast, Angie Mentink told us that Naylor has 75 pairs of colorful cleats and 450 pairs of regular shoes.

I also appreciate his high-socks look and the fact that he’s Canadian cool. But the best thing about him is what sets Cal Raleigh apart in my book too — Naylor’s humble, a grinder who is massively talented and wants to make the most of it.

“I love baseball, I love playing hard, I love trying to make a difference on the field,” Naylor told Jude.

At 28, he’s a rental who could sign elsewhere in the offseason, but the Mariners need to do whatever it takes to keep the difference maker in Seattle long term.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. He appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. on Jason Puckett’s podcast at PuckSports.com. He writes a Substack blog at jimmoorethego2guy.substack.com. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) @cougsgo.