Last night, it was announced that the San Diego Padres will be calling up Josh Naylor to make his major league debut against the Blue Jays. Coincidentally, Naylor will be making his debut right where he grew up as Naylor is Canadian. Also, he has played at the Rogers Centre multiple times before which is where he will be playing tonight for the first time in a major league jersey.

About Josh Naylor

Josh Naylor was born on June 22, 1997, in Mississauga, Ontario. He grew up playing for the Mississauga North Tigers and Ontario Blue Jays as well as the Canadian Junior National team which he was apart of since the age of 15.

He has a younger brother Noah "Bo" Naylor who is a prospect in the Indians organization.

Professional career

Josh Naylor was selected with the twelfth overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Marlins and signed for $2.25 million.

In Rookie ball, he played 25 games where he slashed .327/.352/.418 with 32 hits and 16 RBIs.

In 2016, he was involved in an ill-fated trade which sent him to the Padres along with two other players for two months worth of Andrew Cashner for the Marlins. The same year, he was involved in a prank gone wrong where he accidentally injured then-teammate Stone Garrett with a knife who required surgery. Due to the incident, he was suspended by the Marlins organization. Even with all the off-field occurrences, he slashed .264/.302/.407 with 75 RBIs and 127 hits.

In 2017, his first full season for the Padres organization, he slashed .280/.346/.415 with 123 hits. He was also on the World team at the 2017 Futures game during all-star weekend.

2018 saw him hit .297/.383/.447 with 149 hits spending the whole season at the Double-A level.

This season, he got his first taste of AAA ball where he played 45 games collecting 55 hits, 10 home runs, 35 RBIs and slashed .299/.378/.538.

Player comparison: Kendrys Morales

There are many similarities between Naylor and Morales. First off, Naylor and Morales are close in height with Naylor being 5'11 and Morales being 6'1, but, Naylor is eight pounds heavier than Morales is.

With the condition both of their bodies are in, Morales and Naylor can hit with a lot of power.

At times, Morales has the ability to hit the ball far beyond the fence. Naylor has the ability as well. When Naylor was 15, he hit a home run 457 feet. Also, both are middle of the order type hitters. Naylor could very well be the future cleanup hitter for the Padres for many years to come.

The one weakness, in both Morales and Naylor, is defense as neither are the most agile players you'll find on the diamond. Morales is a primary designated hitter which is the position that Naylor is best suited for but since he plays in the NL, the Padres will have to find him a position to play. Naylor was brought up as a first baseman but switched to the outfield as the Padres have Eric Hosmer entrenched at first for the next six-and-a-half years.
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