It's been a tough stretch for Naylor, both at the plate and in the field, but Dan Wilson has his back.
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Saturday was a tough game for Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor, who went 0-for-4 at the plate, stranding three runners in a critical spot in the seventh inning, and he made a critical error in the first inning which led to three runs. Furthermore, he had another play that could have been ruled an error on him in the eighth inning, but instead went to pitcher Eduard Bazardo. A run also scored as a result of that play.
Seattle lost 8-3 against the Washington Nationals to fall to 37-35 on the season. They still lead the American League West by two games over the Texas Rangers, but are now 4-5 on a difficult 10-game road trip through the East Coast.
Though Naylor homered in Friday night's win over the Nationals, it's been a generally tough stretch for Naylor over the last few weeks. He has five errors this season, but multiple have come in the last 15 games, and he's hitting just .233 in his last seven games and .242 in his last 15. He has only three home runs in his last 30 games, which is hard for the team to overcome, as they are relying on his power in the absence of Cal Raleigh, Brendan Donovan and JP Crawford.
But despite his recent difficulties, manager Dan Wilson is sticking behind Naylor, telling this to reporters after Saturday's loss:
Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor (12) hits the ball into play against the Washington Nationals during the seventh inning at Nationals Park. Rafael Suanes-Imagn ImagesI mean, he continues to grind. He's our leader, and he continues to put up every single day and post up every single day, and he plays as hard as anybody, and sometimes it doesn't go your way, but he's the same guy every single day, and he keeps pushing and keeps pushing forward, and he's gonna be just fine.
Naylor hasn't had the same impact this season as last season, when he came over in a midseason trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 54 games with Seattle in 2025, he hit .299 with nine homers, 59 RBIs and 19 steals.
In 67 games this season, he's hitting just .252 with eight homers, 33 RBIs and 13 steals. His numbers are universally worse in more games, and the M's need him to get hot if they want to win their second consecutive American League West title.
The Mariners and Nationals will be back in action for the rubber game on Sunday morning at 10:35 a.m. PT. Emerson Hancock will get the ball for Seattle while PJ Poulin opens for Washington. Miles Mikolas is expected to pitch the bulk of the innings.
The Mariners will be off on Monday before beginning a new series with the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night at 6:40 p.m. PT in Seattle.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
