'Mr. Clutch' Josh Naylor ready to clean up Guardians' messes again

May 20—An unidentified teammate played a prank on Josh Naylor on May 20 by sprinkling a trail of infield dirt about a foot wide and about 15 feet long forming a path to Naylor's locker in the Guardians clubhouse.

Naylor grumbled a little, fetched a narrow carpet sweeper from a locker room attendant, and cleaned up the mess.

"I'm setting up a camera in my locker," Naylor said, only half smiling. "Somebody's screwing with me. I'm not liking it. But I'll clean up the mess. If it's around my locker, I have to do it. This is my home. I've got to clean my home."

Much to his frustration and that of the Guardians' coaches, Naylor hasn't had much else to do these days. He has spent the last week or so binge-watching television, trying to stay in shape, and waiting. Mostly waiting.

Naylor tested positive for COVID-19 on May 11. A game with the White Sox scheduled for that day was postponed to July 23 because of a COVID outbreak among the Guardians' coaching staff, including manager Terry Francona.

Josh Naylor of the #CleGuardians is eager to get back to baseball after missing a week of baseball. He is available as a pinch hitter Friday vs. the Tigers at Progressive Field. pic.twitter.com/BOjGC0wyh2

— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) May 20, 2022

Naylor missed all three games in Minnesota May 13-15 and the two games against the Reds on May 17 and 19. He was activated from the COVID injured list on May 20, but was not in the starting lineup. Acting manager DeMarlo Hale (Francona was absent May 20 for a medical procedure) kept Naylor on the bench for pinch-hitting duties. Naylor is expected to be back in the starting lineup on May 21.

"I trust the head office, I trust the trainers, the coaching staff, so whatever they think is best, is best," Naylor answered when asked if he was disappointed about not being in the starting lineup. "I go with it. No rush. I'm all right. I'm feeling great. Awesome. I'm ready to go."

The Guardians lost four of the five games Naylor missed prior to playing the Tigers for the first of 19 times this season. It might be too simple to say they lost because Naylor didn't play. But it is not a stretch to say they sorely missed his bat.

"He's the ultimate competitor," Guardians hitting coach Chris Valaika said. "He competes. He fights. He wants to be that guy up at the plate. It's kind of worked out that he's got those opportunities and produced for us."

Naylor is hitting .347 with five home runs and 22 RBI in 20 games. He is hitting an outstanding .636 with runners in scoring position and has two home runs and 12 RBI in those situations.

"Those games are in the past," Naylor said. "Whether they're good or bad games, they're in the past. I'm focusing on the future and focusing on the present and just trying to take every day, work my hardest and get my routine done and try to focus on the task at hand."

Per agreement by MLB and the players' union, players were tested for COVID when they got to spring training, but after that only when they experience symptoms.

Naylor could have continued playing as the COVID outbreak ran through the coaches, but he felt an obligation to be tested because he wasn't feeling 100 percent.

"I really wasn't feeling the best," Naylor said. "I had a mini, mini cough. I always play the safe card.

"I don't ever want to come to the field, whether it's a little cough or a cold or the flu or whatever, even if it's nothing big. I want to make sure I protect the guys here and I don't want to come in here and potentially get someone else sick and then they take it home to their kids, their wife, whoever. And then they get sick and it trickles down. I didn't want to do that. Just decided to test. I felt fine and it came back the way it came back and I just had to hang with it."

"Hanging" for 10 days on the COVID injured list was nothing for Taylor compared to what he experienced last year. Naylor suffered a fractured leg and torn ankle ligaments in a collision with second baseman Ernie Clement last June 27. He was activated from the injury list on April 15 and bounced back better than ever. It should not take long for him to get back in the groove this time.