With plate adjustments, Naylor hoping to step up in new-look lineup

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Guardians¡¯ lineup will have a new look in 2025.

After the club traded infielders Andr¨¦s Gim¨¦nez and Josh Naylor over the offseason, it will be looking for other hitters to step up. Catcher Bo Naylor -- Josh¡¯s younger brother -- could be one of them.

In 2023, Bo showed plenty of promise, posting a stellar .809 OPS in 67 games. In 2024 -- his first full season in the Majors -- he took a step back with a .614 OPS. Now, he is looking to get back on track.

¡°I¡¯m really just coming into the season with a detailed approach,¡± Naylor said, ¡°making sure that there's never a time in an at-bat where I'm not sticking to one.¡±

¡°It's just something that any hitter can easily take for granted,¡± he added later. ¡°It's a small thing, but I feel like, for what I've seen, it's something that can easily separate a good hitter from a great hitter -- just those few at-bats that the great hitter is locked in a bit more than the rest.¡±

Mechanically, Naylor said he is focused on maintaining his posture during his swing and firmly planting his back foot when starting his load. He credited hitting coach Grant Fink and hitting analyst Josh Tubbs with identifying and helping him make the necessary adjustments this offseason.

Manager Stephen Vogt is bullish on what Naylor can bring offensively in 2025.

¡°We all know what Bo's capable of,¡± Vogt said. ¡°Any time you catch your first full season at the big league level, you're going to go through a lot and we ask a lot of our catchers.

¡°We put a lot of things on his plate that he needed to handle, and he had a down year offensively, but that's OK. You're allowed to. For Bo, he's made some really good adjustments in the winter and he's in a really good head space about it. He's already had some really good at-bats this spring.¡±

Naylor has had only six Cactus League plate appearances so far, but Vogt said that he is doing a better job of keeping his hands back and getting to a variety of pitches.

¡°It¡¯s really exciting,¡± Vogt said.

For Bo, this will be his first season in the Majors not sharing a clubhouse with his older brother, Josh. While he certainly could help fill the void of Josh¡¯s departure offensively, Naylor said he is not trying to replace the big personality that his brother brought to the ballpark every day.

¡°Josh definitely has a way of impacting a team in a unique way that I don't know if many would be able to replicate that ¡ª especially myself, given the difference in our personalities,¡± Naylor said. ¡°That's OK. I think that's one thing that is really emphasized in this clubhouse is really just being yourself and amplifying that to the best of your ability.¡±

Cantillo impresses in first bid for rotation spot
Before left-hander Joey Cantillo took the mound for his first Cactus League outing on Monday, Vogt spoke about Cantillo¡¯s biggest key to success.

¡°When he¡¯s throwing strikes,¡± Vogt said, ¡°he¡¯s got some of the best stuff we have.¡±

Pounding the zone has been a big focus for Cantillo over the offseason and so far in Spring Training. And that is precisely what he did in Monday's 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks.

In two scoreless innings, the 25-year-old lefty needed only 21 pitches, 18 of which were strikes. He allowed one hit with three strikeouts and no walks.

¡°It felt good,¡± Cantillo said. ¡°My body feels good. It¡¯s definitely nice to pitch out there in front of a crowd again since it¡¯s been a while. A lot of solid firsts today.¡±

Last year, Cantillo pitched to a 4.89 ERA across nine Major League appearances, eight of which were starts. He also made three appearances during the Guardians¡¯ postseason run.

Cantillo is one of a sizable group of Guardians pitchers that is vying for a rotation spot this spring.

¡°I¡¯m a competitive person just like most of the guys on this team,¡± Cantillo said of the rotation competition. ¡°Iron sharpens iron. We¡¯re all rooting for each other, but, at the same time, we know that, like [Vogt] says, if a guy is doing really well, that means we gotta do really well. The internal competition between each other is great. It¡¯s just going to bring out the best in each individual.¡±