Josh Naylor records 100th RBI of MLB season

With his two-run home run on Monday, Ontario Blue Jays grad and Cleveland Guardians slugger Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) became the 14th Canadian to register 100 RBIs in a major league season.

September 3, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

With his two-run home run on Monday, Cleveland Guardians slugger Josh Naylor became the 14th Canadian to register 100 RBIs in a major league season.

The Mississauga, Ont., native went deep off Kansas City Royals left-hander Kris Bubic in the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium to propel the Guardians to a 4-2 win. The Royals are now four-and-a-half games back of the Guardians in the American League Central division.

It was Naylor’s 29th home run of the season which also represents a career-high.

With his homer, Naylor became the first Canadian-born player since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.) had 111 RBIs in 2021 to record 100 RBIs in a big league season.

Naylor reached the century mark in RBIs in 130 games, which according to TSN Stats Centre, is the eighth fastest a Canadian has reached 100 RBIs in a campaign. Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) reached 100 RBIs in a season the fastest. He did it in just 106 games in 1999.

An Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team grad, Naylor, who’s in his sixth MLB campaign, will have to collect 31 more RBIs in the Guardians’ remaining 24 games to break the Canadian single-season RBI record of 130 shared by Walker (1997) and New Westminster, B.C., native Justin Morneau (2006).

According the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Tip O’Neill (Woodstock, Ont.) was the first Canadian to register 100 RBIs in a major league season. He had 107 RBIs for the American Association’s St. Louis Browns in 1886.

With his home run on Sunday, Naylor joined teammate Jose Ramirez in the 100-RBI club. This made them the first set of MLB teammates to have 100 RBIs this season. Ramirez has knocked in 105 runs.

Complete List of Canadians with 100 RBIs in a MLB Season (Courtesy of Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame)

130 – Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.), Colorado Rockies, 1997

130 – Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.), Minnesota Twins, 2006

129 – Morneau, Twins, 2008

123 – Walker, Rockies, 2001

123 – Jeff Heath (Fort William, Ont.), Cleveland, 1941

123 – Tip O’Neill (Woodstock, Ont.), St. Louis Browns, 1887*

119 – Jason Bay (Trail, B.C.), Boston Red Sox, 2009

115 – Walker, Rockies, 1999

113 – Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.), Cincinnati Reds, 2010

113 – Spud Johnson, (Upper Canada), Columbus Solons, 1890*

112 – Heath, Cleveland, 1938

111 – Morneau, Twins, 2007

111 – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.), Toronto Blue Jays, 2021

110 – O’Neill, Browns, 1889*

109 – Bay, Pirates, 2006

107 – George Selkirk (Hunstville, Ont.), 1936

107 – O’Neill, Browns, 1886*

106 – Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.), Oakland A’s, 1998

104 – Walker, Rockies, 2002

103 – Votto, Reds, 2011

103 – Corey Koskie (Anola, Man.), Minnesota Twins, 2001

102 – Stairs, A’s, 1999

102 – George Wood (Pownall, P.E.I.), Philadelphia Athletics, 1890**

101 – Bay, Pirates/Red Sox, 2008

101 – Bay, Pirates, 2005

101 – Walker, Rockies, 1995

101 – Selkirk, Yankees, 1939

101 – Bill Phillips (Saint John, N.B.), Brooklyn, 1887*

100 – Votto, Reds, 2017

100 – Morneau, Twins, 2009

*Recorded 100 RBIs in the American Association

**Recorded 100 RBIs in the Players League