The Arizona Diamondbacks have been mostly a middling team this season, sitting fourth in the NL West, with a 38-37 record. Despite this, and the fact that baseball is a team sport, it would be hard to find fault in Josh Naylor’s performance this season.
“The Impaler” has been an absolute baller and beacon of consistency for the D-Backs, producing a season worthy of a second All-Star honor, but we’ll get back to that. First, peep the stats.
Over the past ten games, Naylor has been on a heater, batting .400 with 17 hits, 2 home runs, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored.
In 73 games played this season, the first baseman is hitting .304, with nine bombs, 17 doubles, 49 RBIs, while already tying his career high with 10 stolen bases. American League, National League, Cactus League, whatever, it doesn’t really matter to Josh; he’s going to ball out when he steps up to the plate.
Over the past ten games, Naylor is batting .400 with 17 hits, 2 home runs, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored. Individually Naylor’s play has been stellar, and he’s on pace to set a career high in several hitting categories. His 84 hits this season not only lead his ball club, but also rank fourth in all of Baseball, proving last season’s All-Star nod was not fugazi.
Now, back to the all-star game – the first updated ballot dropped this past week, and Naylor is currently slotted at seventh in National League All-Star voting behind the likes of Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Pete Alonso (Mets), Michael Busch (Cubs), Bryce Harper (Phillies) and Luis Arraez (Padres). All of the aforementioned players have played outstanding baseball for their respective teams this season, but outside of Freeman and Alonso, there’s certainly a case that can be made that Naylor has been the third best NL first baseman this season. He deserves to be on the field in Atlanta on July 15th for the Summer Classic and most likely will represent Arizona as a reserve.
Another question looms. Naylor, now 28 years old and in his prime, is playing great baseball at the right time – a year before hitting free agency. This makes him an intriguing player to monitor as the July 31st trade deadline approaches. Will they trade him or pay the man what he deserves? We’ll have to wait another month for the answer to that question, but one thing is for sure, there will be many contending teams calling to inquire about the services of “The Impaler” this summer.
