No offense to Josh Naylor, but when somebody was going to make stolen base historical past in Main League Baseball, you wouldn’t suppose it might be the Seattle Mariners‘ first baseman.
He doesn’t precisely appear like a speedy man, and in reality, he’s not speedy. MLB’s official speed-tracking knowledge confirms that Naylor is gradual.
And but on Saturday, Naylor made steals historical past.
Josh Naylor Stolen Base Historical past
Naylor reached the 30-steals mark by swiping a bag on Saturday. It’s his second consecutive season with a minimum of 30 steals.
He’s the primary major first baseman to do that in back-to-back seasons for the reason that legendary George Sisler, who did it from 1920 by means of 1922, in accordance with MLB Community’s Sarah Langs:
Josh Naylor is the primary major first baseman with 30+ SB in consecutive seasons since 1920-22 George Sisler
(Min 50% video games at 1B)
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 27, 2026
There have really been some actually good base stealers who performed first base in current instances.
Jeff Bagwell may swipe a bag in his prime. So may Paul Goldschmidt.
However they by no means did this. It’s Naylor someway matching a feat that appeared probably unlikely to ever be matched.
And it’s really type of wild that it was Naylor.
Coming into the 2025 season, his career-high for steals in a season was 10.
He then swiped 11 luggage in 93 video games to start 2025 with the Diamondbacks. As soon as he was traded to the Mariners, he stole 19 bases in 54 video games — and wasn’t caught as soon as.
He turned a grasp of education the pitcher’s timing and taking bases with relative ease.
Groups are a bit extra onto Naylor this season. He’s been caught 9 instances.
However the common rule of thumb is that for those who’re protected a minimum of 75% of the time, it’s strategic play — and Naylor is 30-for-39, simply above that share.
How Sluggish Is Josh Naylor?
That’s the factor, although: Naylor is legitimately gradual.
This isn’t the case of a man who seems to be like he’d be gradual really possessing some wheels.
Certain, he can activate the afterburners only a bit, however the knowledge says he’s certainly one of MLB’s slowest gamers.
Based on Statcast knowledge, Naylor is within the 1st-percentile of dash velocity throughout the game. That implies that 99% of gamers are quicker than him.
He averages 24.3 toes per second on his sprints.
He’s really thought to be a poor baserunner general by the metrics, with only a Ninth-percentile Baserunning Run Worth (that means how a lot he contributes to his groups on the basepaths), marked as a negative-3 for Naylor.
However someway, once you put that every one collectively, he’s base stealer.
It’s probably the most inconceivable feats in current baseball historical past, however someway Naylor has achieved it.
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