Elliott: Quick Naylor, Junior National Team’s top hitter, arrives with M's
Former Mississauga North Tiger and Ontario Blue Jays 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.)
October 12, 2025
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
In 2012 we saw for the first time the young player we had heard so much about.
On a night off, I was helping coach Andy Lawrence with his Mississauga Bengals bantams.
One night we played the Mississauga Tigers at Rivergrove Park and up stepped Josh Naylor. He homered first time up. He hit a ground-rule double second time up.
When he came up the third time with first base open, I asked Lawrence what he wanted to do.
“We’ll pitch to him, he can’t hit every ball over the fence,” Lawrence said.
Naylor hit the next pitch over the fence, over the berm and into the parking lot.
Lawrence chuckled and I asked “350?” Lawrence knew homers. He hit 63 during his seven years in the minors hitting 12 in 1982 when he was in the New York Mets’ system and another dozen at double-A Jacksonville when he was a teammate of Larry Walker in the Montreal Expos organization.
“If it is a foot, it’s 370 ... easy ... and it was into the wind,” Lawrence said. “He’s going to be a player.”
And Naylor was a minor bantam at the time, playing and learning from his father Chris Naylor.
Just as he was when he won the Home Run Derby at the same park against older players.
And he homered in Game 2 to become the first Canadian-born player to homer in the postseason as a visiting player in Canada. And the fourth Canadian-born player to homer in Canada during the playoffs, joining Blue Jays players Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.), Michael Saunders (Victoria, BC) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.).
* * *
Naylor, we think, is the greatest hitter ever to play for the Junior National Team, ahead of Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) and Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC). Lawrie once hit five home runs in a doubleheader in the Dominican ... two to left, two to right -- and in his final at-bat went deep to straightaway centre. Each pitch was off a fastball in excess of 90 MPH and this was before the guns were juiced.
Loewen was so respected and feared -- both as a hitter and a pitcher -- players from Korea, Japan and Taiwan would ask if they could get their picture taken with him. He went fourth overall in 2002 to the Baltimore Orioles.
Now some might ask what about Hall of Famer Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC)?
Well, taking nothing away from Walker, but he played one tournament with the Juniors. Naylor made four trips a year from grade 9-to-grade 12 with the Juniors.
In August of 2012, Naylor had finished grade 9 when he was asked to play for a Futures team by Walt Burrows, Canadian director of the Major League Scouting Bureau, against the Junior National Team at Connorvale Park in Etobicoke.
Facing RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.), then in his second year at Stanford, he flew out to right, then doubled off the top of the fence facing RHP Logan Seifrit (Spruce Grove, Alta.), home from playing with rookie-class Arizona League Mariners and then the left-handed hitter doubled down the first-base line facing LHP Travis Seabrooke (Peterborough, Ont.), who had been drafted by the Baltimore Orioles.
After the game players from both teams shook hands and mumbled “good game,” or “good luck.” The players from each team formed two lines. It was routine until Junior coach Greg Hamilton shook Naylor’s hand and then it went like this:
Hamilton: “What are you doing tomorrow?”
Naylor: “Working out with Brampton, they picked me up for the nationals.”
Hamilton: “How’d you like to come with us?”
Naylor “Where are you playing?”
Hamilton: “Italy.”
The next day was a blur as the Naylors rushed to obtain a same-day passport and then it was off to the airport and a flight to Italy.
And Naylor, who then moved to the Ontario Blue Jays and coaches Sean Travers and Danny Bleiwas, was hitting in the meat of the order when Canada lost the 2012 World Junior gold medal to Team USA.
* * *
At 16, in Santo Domingo, he turned around a 94 MPH fastball from Ivan Nova, who later pitched for the Yankees.
At the Worlds, he held his own against an 18-year-old closer clocked at 96 MPH.
Team USA manager and former New York Yankees third baseman Scott Broisus told a Canuck coach “we can handle most of your guys, but we’ve got nothing to get that kid (Naylor) out.”
One fall trip to Florida, Naylor nearly spun the cap off Washington Nationals former first-rounder Lucas Giolotto, who was getting in some work before returning to the D.C.
* * *
“I’ve always said he is the perfect competitor,” said Hamilton. “He’s always about winning he has compassion and empathy. He’ll punch you in the nose to beat you and he’ll be the first guy to give a hug to someone who needs one.
“He has a hitter’s mentality, he adjusts and he has such strong belief in himself. Not everyone has that. All I can say if that his parents (Jenice and Chris) did a wonderful job raising their three sons.”
* * *
The Naylors are only the second household to have produced three first rounders, along with the Drew family.
The Naylors
1B Josh (1st) 12th, 2015, Miami (745 games over-all) $2.2 million bonus
C Bo (1st) 29th, 2018, Cleveland (318) $2,578,137
INF Myles (1st) 39th, 2023, Athletics (class-A Stockton) $2,202,500
The Drews
RHP Tim (1st) 28th 1997 Cleveland (35) $3 million
OF J.D. (1st) 5th, 1998, St. Louis (1,566) $1.6 million
INF Stephen (1st) 2004 15th Arizona (1,268) $4 million
The Drews win on average overall pick (16th) compared to the Naylors (27th). Both did well in total signing bonuses with the Drew family totaling $8.6 million and the Naylors $7,080,637.
* * *
Naylor was wed in January and as one guest said, “It was like going to see the Ontario Blue Jays play in 2014 or 2015.”
The wedding party of nine included former Blue Jays teammates Troy Daring (Brampton, Ont.), Conner Morro (Cheltenham, Ont.), AJ Padmore (Toronto, Ont.), Darren Shred (Brampton, Ont.), ex-coach Brandon Dhue (Toronto, Ont.) younger brother Myles Naylor, new brother-in-law Junior Collado and Aaron Civale, now with the Chicago White Sox.
Bo Naylor was Josh’s best man with Bo and Myles giving speeches at the reception.
* * *
When it comes to sprint speed, Alejandro Kirk of the Blue Jays is the slowest in the majors. Naylor is second. Yet, Naylor became the first, first baseman in major-league history to belt 20 home runs and steal 20 or more bases in a season and joined elite company with a 20-homer, 30-stolen base season.
He also set a Mariners record with 19 stolen bases as a first baseman, going 19-for-19 in stolen base attempts with Seattle.
As one scout said, “He’s not fast, but he sure is quick.” Father Chris says Josh gets his speed from mom Jenice, the former track star.
And he doubled off Detroit Tigers Tarik Skubal in the second inning, stole third and scored on a Mitch Garver fly ball for a 1-0 lead. The Mariners tied it in the seventh and won the right to play the Blue Jays in the 15th.
Naylor was hitless Sunday night at the Rogers Centre, but he and his team left with the Big W.
* * *
Chris Naylor brought Josh into the Ontario Blue Jays facility in 2009. Travers told Chris that his son would play in the major leagues some day. Travers also told Chris he should take his pre-teen to the upcoming Major League Scouting Bureau camp at Conorvale.
So, there they sat: father Chris with sons Josh, 12 and Noah, then nine, watching the prospective pros audition.
Travers saw the future. And now Naylor was back where is all began a 10-minute drive from that camp.
Many thought that they saw the future coming into Sunday night’s opener of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
_ Starter Bryce Miller with a 5.68 ERA pitching on three days rest.
_ The Mariners lost a possible clinching game Wednesday in Detroit, flew home Thursday, won the clinching game Friday in 15 innings and flew back east to open on the road in the noisy Rogers Centre.
_ The Jays scored 34 runs in four games against the New York Yankees.
_ And Seattle was facing Kevin Gausman, the Blue Jays’ best starter.
It was almost a reverse lock.
Except it was a 3-1 Mariners win.