Josh Naylor elevated his game from being a solid bat in the Cleveland Guardians' offense to becoming one of the best hitters in the sport. His 2023 season was easily the best of his six years in the Big Leagues finishing with a .308/.354/.489 slash line including 17 home runs and 97 RBI.
But what helped Naylor take his game to the next level? It wasn't more reps in the cage or extra workouts in the weight room. It had to do with how Naylor led his teammates.
Cleveland's first baseman recently appeared on the Cleveland Guardians Weekly Podcast and talked about the specific areas where he grew during his breakout season.
"I think I grew a lot as a leader and I think that helped my game. I let the game usually take care of itself, not all days are gonna be great not all days gonna be bad. So just trying to stay even-keeled. I think I managed my emotions a lot better last year. Again, I think all these little things help contribute to my game on the field and performance-wise. So, I say try to grow as a person every year and every day a little bit more and more."
One of the most interesting parts of this answer was Naylor saying that his leadership helped his production on the field. He went on to explain why he felt this was the case.
"I think if you take yourself out of the equation and you start to look after everyone else and other people I know that’s a lot, but it takes the stress off you as an individual when you’re looking forward to seeing other people's success. Because when you start to do that I believe, and I have experienced it, where you start feeding off other people's success, and [become] really happy genuinely happy for them, the roles kind of get reversed and they’re happy for you and your success. So, everyone becomes happy as a team and happy for each individual and I think that’s what great teams are built around."
Putting up All-Star numbers is important for a team's overall success, but having a player step up and lead the rest of the roster can't be understated. In Naylor's case, these two things go hand in hand and the Guardians are better off because of it.
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