Bo Naylor Hits Two Home Runs for Nashville
The swing that built Bo Naylor’s reputation in Cleveland made it to Nashville completely intact.
Bo Naylor spent four seasons as Cleveland’s starting catcher. From 2023 through 2025, he hit double-digit home runs every year. He was the guy behind the plate for a franchise that knew how to develop catchers. Then Patrick Bailey arrived.
Cleveland acquired Bailey — a premier defensive catcher — and Naylor lost his roster spot. The Guardians sent him to Triple-A on May 9. He batted .143 across 84 plate appearances before Milwaukee traded for him on August 1.
Most fans outside of Cleveland barely noticed. But that changed on August 14.
Naylor stepped into the box at First Horizon Park against the Indianapolis Indians in the first inning. The pitch came in and he turned on it. The ball left his bat at 106 mph and carried 428 feet to center field. Two runs scored.
That exit velocity belongs to a different conversation than most minor league at-bats. It means the pitch did not stand a chance. It also means the swing that produced it was sharp, not desperate.
The next inning, Naylor stepped in again. He hit a second solo-HR at 107.3 mph to right-center. Back-to-back innings. Back-to-back 106mph exit velocitys. The Sounds won 9-1.
In seven games with Nashville, Naylor had 7 hits, 3 extra-base hits, and 7 RBIs. Bo’s production was not a fluke; it’s what a hitter looks like when the fog lifts.
Here’s what a “change of scenery” actually means after stripping away the cliche. A new city does not give you a better swing. But it can remove the weight of a roster situation that was already decided. In Cleveland, the at-bats had dried up. The .143 average had become its own kind of pressure. Nashville gave Naylor room to be the hitter he already was.
Bo Naylor exiting the yard with 106 and 107.3 mph exit velocities were not novel hits. Cleveland’s decision to move on did not create them. Instead, transfer revealed an environment better suited to his talents.
For young catchers, that is the lesson inside these two home runs. Your tools travel with you. A trade, a transfer, a trip down to a lower level — those are changes of address, not changes of ability. Naylor arrived in Nashville on August 1 and spent seven games reminding people of that. The swing was the same one he carried out of Cleveland. He just finally had a reason to trust it again.
Try this at your next practice
- Exit velocity tracking. Take 10 full swings in a live BP round and have a teammate or coach use a radar app to log your exit velocity on each one. Notice which pitches and which mechanical setups produce your best numbers. You are looking for the swing that is already in you — the same one Naylor carried out of Cleveland.
- Adversity reset drill. Before you step into the box — at practice or in a game after a tough stretch — write down three things that make you a threat at the plate. Not what you want to do. What you have already done. Read it before you dig in. The swing does not change when the address does; the reminder is the part that helps.
- Consecutive at-bat focus. During scrimmage or batting practice, run two at-bats back-to-back with a 60-second break between them. The goal is to carry your same approach from the first at-bat into the second regardless of the result. Naylor hit 106 and 107.3 mph in back-to-back innings. That consistency is a discipline, not an accident.
Sources: Under-the-radar trade deadline acquisition crushes first two homers in Brewers’ organization · Bo Naylor Is Giving Brewers Fans A New Reason To Believe · Guardians trade Bo Naylor to Brewers · Bo Naylor’s Multi-HR Night Highlights Sounds’ Win