Josh Naylor found himself in the middle of another testy moment over the weekend, and this time it came against his former club.
In the top of the sixth against the Guardians, Naylor clearly stuck his arm out in front of a Shawn Armstrong pitch on purpose and reached base. The exchange didn’t end there.
Naylor and longtime teammate Austin Hedges started chirping at each other, and Naylor was caught on a hot mic calling Hedges a "f-ing loser." According to Jomboy’s lip readers, Hedges fired back, "No one likes you!
Literally nobody likes you."
There’s some disagreement about Hedges’ exact words - others think he said "no one asked you" - but for Tigers fans, the bigger point is the same: this was a little bit of payback in the Josh Naylor experience.
That experience was already fresh in Detroit. When the Mariners came to town in early June, Naylor irritated Tigers fans at every turn across the three-game set.
He nearly helped create a disastrous collision with Kevin McGonigle at first base, made a bush league move by tossing his sliding mitt at Dillon Dingler on a play at the plate, and then turned in a slide into second that was definitely illegal. Keider Montero answered with a fastball between the shoulder blades, maybe intentional and maybe not, but the two clubs kept things from boiling over and Detroit took the series.
Colt Keith summed up Naylor pretty neatly then: "You like him if you're his teammate, and you hate him if you're the other team."
The latest dust-up only reinforces that line. Naylor and Hedges go back well beyond their Cleveland days.
Naylor debuted with the Padres in 2019, while Hedges was in his fifth major league season. The two were traded together from San Diego to Cleveland in 2020, along with Cal Quantrill and a heap of prospects, in the deal that sent Greg Allen, Matt Waldron, and Mike Clevinger the other way.
They stayed teammates on the Guardians until Naylor was dealt to the Diamondbacks after the 2024 season.
So even with a former teammate in the other dugout, Naylor didn’t exactly dial things down. That’s the pattern with him: he’s a provocateur, and that’s how he plays.
Mariners fans embrace it. Tigers fans can’t stand it.
And now, after hearing a former teammate bark back at him, they’ve got even more reason to feel smug about it.
In Other News...
Tigers Linked To Deadline Bat That Could Finally Steady This Lineup
As the deadline approaches, the Tigers are doing what contenders tend to do when the lineup starts to feel a little too easy to pitch around: looking for a bat that can change the shape of an inning. San Francisco outfielder Jung Hoo Lee has emerged as the name worth watching, and his season has given him plenty of appeal. He has been one of the steadiest hitters on the market, pairing a high average with strong contact skills and enough extra-base pop to make him more than just a table-setter.
Getting him, though, would not be simple. Buster Posey has signaled that most of the Giants roster could be in play aside from Logan Webb, which only raises the competition and the cost for anyone calling on Lee. Detroit would likely have to put together a serious offer, especially with Lee holding a player option after the 2027 season, the kind of detail that can turn a rental pursuit into something much more attractive for a club trying to stabilize its offense beyond this summer. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Head To The Bronx With One Big Concern Looming
A trip to the Bronx can tighten the shoulders of a pitching staff in a hurry, and the Tigers head into New York carrying exactly that kind of baggage after a rough finish in Houston. Detroit got five shutout innings and nine strikeouts from Jack Flaherty, but a 3-0 lead slipped away and turned into a 7-5 loss in 10 innings, the sort of defeat that lingers when a road swing is just getting started.
Now the focus shifts to a six-game series against the Yankees, with Casey Mize taking the ball for Detroit in the opener against left-hander Ryan Weathers. The matchup offers the Tigers a chance to steady themselves quickly, but it also puts more pressure on a team already looking for a cleaner answer after the bullpen let a win get away. [Read more 🡒]
Tigers Move On From Lefty As Bullpen Reality Sets In
The Tigers trimmed a bit of bullpen depth earlier this week when they moved on from left-hander Konnor Pilkington, a minor league signing who had been in the organization since before Spring Training. Pilkington spent his time with Triple-A Toledo, trying to carve out a path back to the majors, but the numbers again pointed to the same issue that has followed him through his pro career: inconsistent strike throwing.
Even in Toledo, where the Tigers were hoping to find a usable lefty option, Pilkington never got the command piece to settle in. He had the kind of performance that forces a club to keep looking for sturdier relief help, and with one minor league option still available, there is at least some roster flexibility in play as Detroit continues sorting through its bullpen picture. [Read more 🡒]