Josh Naylor is one of the slowest and slowest players in the Major League Baseball. He's everywhere, and he's already one of the most prolific base stealers in the game.
Naylor's 11 bags have ranked second in that slam over the past month. This is the same sum of the famous Speedsters Elly de la Cruz, Jarren Duran and Pete Crow-Armstrong. Naylor stole three bases five times this season. He stole three catchers who won the gold gloves. He has a career-high 22 steals a year, half of which have been arrested only twice in an attempt to steal his home since he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in late July. He has not been stolen since late April.
“I don't think it's a fear of failure,” said Neller. “Don't be afraid to seize opportunities. It's a big deal for me. I try not to think about failure. Try not to think about, 'What if I do this?' I just love playing baseball, and try to play.”
Those who have witnessed Naylor's bold running method (including those who have played with him since the kids) say the explanation of this shrug is too simple and reveals the thorough resistance needed for the game preparation and baseball acumen to make us so thoroughly resistant to the expectations of elite-based thieves.
No, Naylor is not built like Bobby Witt Jr., nor run like he does. Naylor was listed at 235 pounds, which made him–according to Stathead, he only had one of nine active players who weighed so much without being over 6 feet tall (the other eight steals combined this season). The average sprint speed of Naylor measured by Statcast is 24.5 feet per second.
Witt is the fastest player in baseball, 30.3 feet per second, while Naylor is ranked 532nd, having been hit at least 10 of the 546 players. Naylor is the only 6-foot player with a weight of at least 235 pounds, according to Stathead once Stealing over 20 bases in one season.
Josh Naylor is the first @mlb Since Billy Hamilton was with the Cincinnati Reds from September 3-25, 2013, he has had more than 10 players from the stolen base in his first 12 games.
– Sailor PR (@marinerspr) August 7, 2025
So, how did he do it? How can the big, slow first baseman steal more bases this season than Duran, shohei ohtani or Corbin Carroll? He has been caught only once in the past four months?
“For Josh, it’s the intellectual of the game,” said Bonnelle, the Cleveland Guardians catcher.
The Expo knows. He is Josh's younger brother.
“It's pattern recognition, being able to take advantage of these things,” Bo continued. “You compare him to a speed-crazy guy who can only trust their legs to do the job. For everyone who has the potential to steal the base, it just depends on your ability and making the most of it.”
Naylor's stealing rate this season is 92%. (Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
Naylor's ability is not the original speed. He played seven seasons in the Grand Slam, the slowest he has ever had. Naylor last stole more than 10 bases in a season in 2016, when he was 19. Even then, he only stole 11. But he grew up watching baseball with his father, and his lifelong view of details. Naylor brought it to Major League Baseball clubs.
“He has a good base IQ, a good instinct,” said Sandy Alomar Jr., first base coach of The Guardian. “He saw tendencies and things.”
Naylor has played with Guardians for the past five seasons. Amar said they rarely asked him to steal because they had speed for it, and Neller's job was to drive them in. His base metrics aren't great, but they're not bad, and usually, when the pitcher gives him a lip or the catcher gives him a chance, he gets a bag.
“I know what he looks like,” said Kyle Hudson, former guardian coach and current Boston Red Sox coach. “He doesn't look athletic, but he's also athletic. When he first traded to us (from San Diego Padres in 2020), I thought, 'This guy's moves really well.' And you won't expect him to be quick.”
Naylor traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks this winter, stealing three bases in the first and a half weeks of the season. He was abandoned, trying to steal his home on April 20 (in an additional inning) and was found to steal again in the next game, but hasn't been thrown away since then, 18 innings in the past four months.
Josh Naylor tries to steal home.
The Dbacks-Cubs series keeps getting weird.@12sportsaz pic.twitter.com/b5tcllarjk
— JakeGarcía (@Jake_M_Garcia) April 20, 2025
Naylor shipped sailors to trade deadlines since the Mariners debut on July 25. Only New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (12) has stolen a lot in the past month. Naylor has stole two bases in one game since he arrived at the Mariners.
In one or two games, he stole four touted Chicago White Sox rookie Kyle Teel. Earlier this season, he stole powerful thrower JT Realmuto of the Philadelphia Phillies and Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants. He also faces Colorado Rockies catcher Jacob Stallings, another Gold Glove Champion (although not a particularly strong arm). Naylor's bases for the winemakers, Giants, Nationals, Blue Jays, Phillies and Cubs were stolen, all in the top 11 of the majors who captured the percentage of theft.
“I mean, if you have this burner skill, speed always makes a plus,” said Mariners’ first base coach Eric Young Jr. “But I think if you have good eyes, know what you want, and then know what you are capable of and what you are good at – he (he (he), he can take advantage of it.”
Naylor has the ability to gain leaning and leverage them in a fascinating game this week when he heads to Cleveland to play the Guardians. Naylor will compete with his former team – the Guardians have been one of the best players in baseball this season – and his brother should be behind the plate. The Naylor family is planning to fly to Cleveland to participate in the series.
Will the slowest basic stealer in the major league try to brush a bag at his brother with his mom and dad in the stands?
“Oh, 100%,” Bonnelle said. “Honestly, I would be shocked if he didn’t.”
((sportsAndy McCullough and Zack Meisel contributed to this story)
(Top photo: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)