One of Major League Baseball’s top prospects is from Mississauga

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Published January 31, 2023 at 1:28 pm

Bo Naylor, left, with big brother Josh.(Photo: Bo Naylor Twitter)

Mississauga’s Bo Naylor, with nothing left to prove in professional baseball’s minor leagues, will likely join his big brother for good with Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians this season.

Naylor, a 6-foot, 205-pound catcher, is among the top prospects at that position, and overall, in all of baseball as the 2023 MLB season fast approaches. Spring training starts up in February, with the regular season opening on March 31.

The only catcher in the minor leagues last year to smack 20 home runs and steal 20 bases, the St. Joan of Arc Secondary School (Mississauga) grad made his big-league debut with the Guardians last fall, batting fifth in the lineup right behind older brother and clean-up hitter, Josh.

Bo Naylor, 22, served as Cleveland’s No. 3 catcher during the playoffs, but didn’t see much action.

That’s expected to change this year, according to baseball experts south of the border who tab the Mississauga native as being ready to see at least part-time MLB action in the coming season.

“Naylor joined his brother, Josh, in Cleveland late in the 2022 season and will be ready for more MLB reps in 2023. He is coming off the rare 20-homer, 20-steal season for a catcher, compiled at Double-A and Triple-A, and checks a lot of boxes in terms of contact, discipline and impact,” reads the brief synopsis from Baseball America’s 2023 Top 100 Prospects list released last week.

That list, published annually for decades and widely viewed as the most credible such compilation in the industry, pegs Bo Naylor at No. 68.

Another greatly respected prospect list, MLB.com’s Top 100 Prospects, puts him at No. 64.

“Not only will Naylor provide more offence than most catchers, he’s also faster and more athletic than most players at his position. He didn’t become a full-time backstop until he turned pro, yet quickly took to receiving, framing and blocking pitches. He also does a nice job of running a pitching staff and used his strong arm to erase 32 per cent of (potential) base stealers last season,” that synopsis reads.

The Mississauga siblings, both former first-round picks in MLB’s annual first-year player draft, made MLB history early last October in Cleveland when they appeared in the starting lineup together against the Kansas City Royals.

Josh, a 25-year-old slugging first baseman/outfielder, hit cleanup that game with Bo hitting right after him in the No. 5 spot in the batting order.

And the Naylor family isn’t done making baseball history just yet.

A third brother, 17-year-old Myles Naylor, is the No. 62 prospect on MLB.com’s list of top 100 prospects for this summer’s 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Myles Naylor is a third baseman and has a chance to be a first-round selection this summer, as both his brothers were in past years (Josh in 2015 and Bo in 2018).

If that happens, the Naylors would be only the second brother trio in MLB history to all be first-round selections. Recent baseball stars J.D. Drew (1997 draft), Stephen Drew (2004 draft) and Tim Drew (1997 draft) are currently the lone trio to hold that honour.

Myles Naylor, the lone right-handed batter of the Mississauga siblings, has committed to Texas Tech University next year and is currently finishing up studies at St. Joan of Arc Secondary School, where his brothers also attended.

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