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Josh Naylor

Born: 06/22/1997 (Age: 19)
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Height: 5' 11" Weight: 250
Primary Position: 1B
Physical/Health
Squat, round middle, low waist, thick thighs; compact mass, present strength through chest and shoulders; high-maintenance body, projects to low aging cuve
Evaluator Wilson Karaman
Report Date 08/29/2016
Dates Seen 7/10, 8/24, 8/25/17
Affiliate Lake Elsinore Storm (High A, Padres)
MLB ETA Risk Factor OFP Video
2019 High 50 Yes
Tool Future Grade Report
Hit 50 Aggressive, one-piece hand load, pinches front shoulder, load creates max torque; wide base with moderate stride, gets too wide at times, extreme separation, can get unbalanced; quick into the zone, quality hip-shoulder alignment, explosive rotation, plus bat speed, quality hand-eye, plus barrel control; attacks early fastballs, swings hard, doesn't tone down, extremely aggressive hitter, no present two-strike approach; poor timing on off-speed, will lose back side, keeps hands back, ability to sweep barrel through the zone and dump pitches over infielders when beaten; offers all around the zone, will get himself out on pitcher's pitches
Power 55 Plus raw to pull, above-average oppo; hard line drives and fly balls with above-average carry to the pull side, moderate leverage, plane to drive balls to all fields; in-game utility limited by hit-everything approach, lacks patience to consistently attack pitches he can punish
Baserunning/Speed 30 4.84 on a two-step check; heavy-footed runner, some surprising explosiveness in start-up, lacks second gear; body type will not retain speed post-prime
Glove 50 Moderate agility, quick to the bag, sets an early target at first; poor present footwork, raw situational awareness; smooth actions on picks, raw but projection for average defensive utility
Arm 55 Limited exposure, but gets on top of throws, quality velocity, above-average arm strength; raw technique flipping to covering pitchers, messy footwork compromises present accuracy
Overall

Drafted 12th overall out of high school in Canada by the Marlins in 2015, traded to San Diego in the Andrew Cashner deal this summer. Naylor's body is mature and the frame is pretty well maxed out for a 19-year-old. His physique is one that will carry ample maintenance weight throughout its middle, though he shows impressive present agility and some explosiveness to his actions. He's a hyper-aggressive hitter whose quality barrel control and plus bat speed have hindered him in developing much of an approach to date. A good portion of his plus raw power should play in the form of hard line-drive contact and carry to the pull side, though the approach will limit the game utility enough to where it's like to wind up short of a true impact bat.

He's not a base-clogger, but the speed is decidedly below-average and likely to peter out quickly. It's a first base-only profile, and while he is quite raw at present his actions suggest potential to develop into a won't-hurt-you defender there. The tools to become a solid big-league hitter are here, though this is a higher risk prospect due to proximity and a bat-first profile that will require his hit tool max out in spite of the approach.

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