Josh Naylor’s name was already in the spotlight after a tense exchange with former teammate Austin Hedges, but a new account from another ex-teammate has pushed the conversation in a very different direction.
Naylor, now the Mariners’ first baseman, got into a shouting match with Hedges during the sixth inning of a June 28 game between Seattle and Cleveland, a 6-5 Guardians win. The back-and-forth came after Naylor appeared to lean into a pitch to get hit on the arm. Hedges, who played alongside Naylor with the Guardians from 2019-24 after both were traded from San Diego to Cleveland in 2020, was heard saying, “Literally nobody likes you.”
That line sparked plenty of debate online, with some fans hearing it as “nobody asked you” instead. Either way, the moment sent Mariners supporters rushing to Naylor’s defense.
Not everyone was eager to do that.
Former teammate Stone Garrett added another layer on June 29 by posting on Instagram about an incident from their time in the Miami Marlins’ minor league system 10 years ago. Garrett, now retired, accused Naylor of bringing knives into their apartment and described a frightening encounter in which Naylor allegedly hid in his closet and jumped out with a knife pointed at him.
“Josh Naylor liked to play stupid games,” Garrett wrote. “Dude would come into our apartment (we were neighbors) with aerosol and lighters multiple times, that wasn’t his first time in our apartment with a butchers knife, the guy hid in my closet waiting for me to get home, when I went to hang my shirt up he jumped out with a knife pointed at me.
“It caught my thumb, sliced it wide open, I went to the ER (he waits for me when I get back, first question is ‘are you gonna press charges?’) next day coach holds team meeting saying front office wants to keep it hush hush lmao!!!
“I get surgery (he cut my nerve, still can’t feel my right thumb), he got suspended for one game lol, two weeks later he goes to the futures game and gets traded. He is the most psychotic person I’ve ever met in my life.”
Garrett’s account lines up with a story that had surfaced at the time of the 2016 incident, when Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “I don’t think you’ll see Josh Naylor goofing around with knives anymore.”
For now, that’s where things stand.
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