Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor is a former All-Star, a former first-round draft pick, and a fan favorite in Seattle. He has also been traded four times in the last decade, rare for a player of his talent.
Naylor’s off-the-field reputation among his peers was called into question in a game against the Cleveland Guardians. He and Guardians catcher Austin Hedges were teammates from 2019-24, traded together from San Diego to Cleveland in 2020.
But they engaged in a shouting match during the sixth inning of a June 28 game, a 6-5 Guardians win, after Naylor appeared to lean into a pitch to get hit on the arm.
Did Hedges say to Naylor “nobody asked you” or “nobody likes you?” Many assumed the latter, sparring his defenders in the Mariners’ fan base to come out of the online woodwork in his defense.
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Others were not so quick to defend Naylor’s antics June 29 — notably former teammate Stone Garrett.
Garrett used his Instagram account to comment on a Naylor story from their time in the Miami Marlins’ minor league system 10 years ago.
“Josh Naylor liked to play stupid games,” wrote Garrett, who is now retired. “Dude would come into our apartment (we were neighbors) with aerosol and lighters multiple times, that wasn’t his first time in our apartment with a butchers knife, the guy hid in my closet waiting for me to get home, when I went to hang my shirt up he jumped out with a knife pointed at me.
“It caught my thumb, sliced it wide open, I went to the ER (he waits for me when I get back, first question is ‘are you gonna press charges?’) next day coach holds team meeting saying front office wants to keep it hush hush lmao!!!
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“I get surgery (he cut my nerve, still can’t feel my right thumb), he got suspended for one game lol, two weeks later he goes to the futures game and gets traded. He is the most psychotic person I’ve ever met in my life.”
Garrett’s version of events add color to what was reported at the time of the 2016 incident. For those who weren’t following tales from deep within the Marlins’ minor league ranks at the time, it drew fresh blood.
“I don’t think you’ll see Josh Naylor goofing around with knives anymore,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel at the time.
So far, so good — as far as we know.
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