Major League Baseball-playing brothers from Mississauga split up as one dealt to Arizona

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Published December 24, 2024 at 3:38 pm

Josh Naylor traded away from Cleveland and his brother from Mississauga.
Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (left) is congratulated by big brother, Josh, as he arrives back at the dugout after slugging his first career MLB home run in Kansas City in 2019. The Mississauga brothers will play for different teams next season. (Photo/screen capture: Cleveland Guardians Twitter)

For the Naylor brothers of Mississauga, it was good — really good, by all appearances — while it lasted.

The Major League Baseball-playing siblings, one just starting his career and the other entering his prime, enjoyed the better part of the last two seasons playing together as members of the Cleveland Guardians.

During that time, they set some records and had some fun — a lot of fun, by all accounts.

And among a baseball bucket-full of special moments, perhaps one stands out from the rest, etched forever in the memories of both brothers as Josh, roughly two-and-a-half years older than Bo, now heads to Arizona after a Dec. 21 trade sent the hulking first baseman to the National League’s Diamondbacks.

But back to the cherished memory.

On June 28, 2023, Bo Naylor, a rookie catcher, slugged his first MLB career home run in a mid-week game in Kansas City against the hometown Royals. One week earlier, also on a Wednesday, the Mississauga native, 23 years of age at the time, had collected his first career hit at the big league level.

Kansas City, though, was the special moment shared by the brothers, both products of St. Joan of Arc Secondary School (Mississauga) and each a first-round MLB draft pick out of high school (Josh a 2015 first pick of the Miami Marlins and Bo a top pick of Cleveland in 2018).

As Bo circled the bases in his first MLB homer trot, Josh, who already had several major league seasons under his belt with a couple of teams, cheered wildly in the dugout in celebration of his little brother’s accomplishment.

Josh Naylor, in the midst of a stellar season in which he established himself as one of the best hitters and RBI men in the game, and Bo embraced seconds later in the dugout, the smile on big brother’s face arguably wider than the one sported by the rookie.

Coming off a 2024 season in which he hit .243 with a career-high 31 homers and 108 RBIs in helping the Guardians to an American League Central Division title, Josh Naylor, 27, was dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks this past Saturday for young pitcher Slade Cecconi.

In 2023, the 5-foot-11, 250-pound slugger hit a career-best .308, his average falling this past season as he focused more on hitting the ball out of the park and driving in runs. With the bigger numbers, Josh Naylor earned his first all-star appearance in 2024.

Bo, 24, continues to develop his stroke at the plate. The 6-foot, 205-pound backstop finished the 2024 regular season with 13 homers, 39 RBIs and a .201 batting average in 354 at-bats.

So far in their young professional baseball careers, Josh and Bo Naylor have already set a few records and realized some other pretty cool accomplishments, too.

In their first full MLB season together this past season, they helped Cleveland to the division title and a playoff berth.

However, after the Guardians were eliminated by the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series, competing in and winning a World Series together is now something that might not ever be in the cards for the Naylors, unless they again wind up on the same club in the years ahead.

Before they were ousted from the playoffs, though, the Mississauga siblings accomplished yet something else noteworthy to baseball watchers — they became the fourth set of brothers to ever have one drive home the other with a base hit during post-season play.

The Naylor brothers have also shown in their brief time together so far in the major leagues they have a penchant for dramatic moments.

Not only did Josh and Bo hit home runs in the same inning in a game earlier this season to help the Guardians to victory, they did so on National Siblings Day (celebrated in both the U.S. and Canada) of all days.

And that wasn’t the first time the Naylors accomplished the feat. They pulled it off initially one season earlier, on July 14, 2023 in Texas.

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