CLEVELAND, Ohio — The nameless, faceless nemesis waits for Josh Naylor at the center of the diamond every day around 2 p.m. Nobody is in the stands to witness the rote nature of their confrontations, but every encounter has helped the Guardians slugger on his path to a career season.
Naylor has cemented himself as an emerging star in the middle of manager Terry Francona’s lineup thanks in part to daily work against the club’s batting practice pitching machine — a piece of equipment that flies in the face of old-school baseball norms.
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Usually manned by hitting assistant JT Maguire, the machine fires fastballs and breaking pitches over and over with the sole purpose of sharpening Naylor’s reactions and honing his timing for when those pitches are live during a game.
And the extra work has paid off with big dividends.
Naylor is hitting at an elite level over his last 39 games since May 30. The 26-year-old is batting a major league-high .395 in that stretch with eight home runs, 43 RBI and 27 runs scored in that span. His 186 wRC+ ranks second behind Shohei Ohtani (211) in that span, and his 1.059 OPS is also second to Ohtani (1.191).
Naylor is the only hitter in baseball with a batting average of at least a .310 and 70 or more RBI.
Francona said baseball is very slow to adapt and change its approach to technology at times, but using a pitching machine is now seen as something that can help hitters learn to make adjustments.
“They used to say ‘You can’t hit off the machine, you’ve got to see it out of the arm,’” Francona said. “But there’s some validity to it, and it can help.”
Hitters can not always practice at game speed because it would burn through pitchers’ arms. But Francona said when you can simulate the conditions, it can help.
“You can’t do it all the time, but if your body will allow you, it can be a really good thing,” Francona said.
Working with the pitching machine has helped Naylor improve his hitting against offspeed pitches, but according to Francona, confidence has played an equally big part in Naylor’s positive results.
“He gets in that box right now and he’s pretty fearless,” Francona said. “He’s always fearless, but I think he feels like if he can reach it, he’s going to hit it.”
One of the biggest changes in Naylor that Francona has observed is the adjustments he makes from pitch to pitch.
“So often, before, if his helmet came off you’re like, ‘Oh man,’” Francona said. “Now, he kind of reels it back in, and that’s just showing the maturity that you hope young players do.”
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