Josh Naylor is on one of the most improbable base stealing runs that baseball has ever seen.
Since joining the Seattle Mariners, Naylor is 11-for-11 stealing bases in 29 games. That would be his career-high for a season just taken by itself, let alone when added to the 11 he already stole this season with the Diamondbacks before being traded.
This weekend, if he wants, Naylor will get a chance to test a very familiar face. The Mariners are taking on the Cleveland Guardians, and behind the plate will be Naylor's younger brother, Bo.
It's all quite hard to believe, really. Naylor is 235 pounds and has a sprint speed of 24.5 feet per second, which is 532nd out of 546 players measured by Statcast this season.
"I think it's about not being afraid to fail," Naylor told The Athletic. "Not being afraid to take a chance. That's big for me. I try not to think about failure. Try not to think about, 'What if I do this?' I just like to play baseball, play hard."
Bo spoke to The Athletic for the same story, and he explained why Josh has made it work.
"For Josh, it's the intellectual part of the game," Bo said. "It's the pattern recognition and being able to take advantage of those things. You compare him to someone who has just crazy speed, they can just trust their legs to do the work. To everyone who has the potential to steal bases, it just depends on whatever your ability is and making the most of it."
The brothers previously played together on the Guardians.
Now they're opponents, and fans everywhere will be hoping Josh gets on base to test Bo.
And Bo is expecting his brother to take the chance if it's there.
"100 percent," Bo told The Athletic of Josh trying to steal on him. "I'd be shocked if he didn't, to be honest."
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