No worries for Naylor as rebound builds on '23 success

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell's Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CLEVELAND -- We’ve looked at all the stats to show what Josh Naylor has been doing better this year (since midway through 2023, really) to arguably be the biggest producer in the Guardians' lineup.

But none of this tells how.

How did Naylor go from a .250 hitter with an OPS that floated around .700 each season to hitting .300 with an OPS around .850? Well, it began with a slow start to the 2023 season.

“It was horrific,” Naylor said. “I think I was at like .180 going into May. I learned a lot from that. I learned that things aren’t gonna go your way all the time. Sometimes you’re gonna be really bad. As long as you keep your confidence and as long as you keep up with your preparation, keep up your work off the field, continue to do early work and things are gonna come to fruition. You’re gonna be great eventually.”

It wasn’t quite as bad as Naylor remembered it. He hit .212 in March and April last year, with three homers and 15 RBIs in 25 games. His expected numbers at the time were much better than what was reflected in his stat line, but that didn’t matter to him.

“You can hit a ball 199 mph, but it could be right at a guy and now you’re out and your average goes down, but you hit a ball super hard,” Naylor said. “I don’t chase results. I just chase a good approach and have a good at-bat, quality at-bat for the team, try to get on base any way I can, whether it’s a walk or a hit and get the next guy up.”

From there, Naylor flourished and finished with a .308 average and an .843 OPS with 17 homers and a career-high 97 RBIs, which allowed him to go into the offseason with a new perspective.

“I just kind of grew this offseason a little bit, understanding how last year went,” Naylor said. “I took a lot of time off this offseason to digest last year and just understand how bad it was in the beginning and how good it was in the end. … Everyone remembers what you did last.”

So Naylor knew he didn’t need to panic when he hit a skid this season. He even said he doesn’t believe in slumps. He came out of the gate scorching hot this year, but from April 23 until May 3, he had a stretch where he was just 3-for-34 (.088) at the plate.

“I knew I wasn’t doing great, but I wasn’t really worried, to be real with you,” Naylor said. “I went through a rough patch the last few series, but I had to learn how pitchers were now pitching to me and how teams were trying to execute their game plan against me. I think I’m doing a better job of that, slowly. I’m not gonna say I’m back. I just take it one day at a time. If I take it one day at a time, things are gonna be good.”

Naylor said he noticed pitchers were no longer throwing him offspeed pitches down and in, or fastballs up and in. Everything was away. He struggled during that period, but since making an adjustment, he’s gone 5-for-12 with two homers and four RBIs in his past four games. Naylor wasn’t rattled, knowing that he can force pitchers to change their game plan if he stuck to his -- a mantra that’s proven to be the key to his success for nearly a year.

“When you do something well, it’s a chess match,” Naylor said. “I think that’s why baseball is so beautiful.”