July 6, 2023

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

We are were seated at “our table” at a secret Tim Horton’s shop in Mississauga.

(We don’t want the location to get out or every high school player will want to dine there and the lineup would be out the door.)

The tradition started in the spring of 2015 when we met Josh Naylor for an interview at the same table. A few weeks later, Naylor was selected in the first round (12th overall) by the Miami Marlins. He now plays first base for the Cleveland Guardians.

Three years later, mom Jenice and father Chris Naylor sat on one side and I sat on the other side. We discussed middle son Noah, for a story. A few weeks later, the catcher, who now goes by the nickname Bo, also went in the first round (29th overall) to Cleveland.

And in the first week of June this year, mom Jenice and pop Chris were back at Tim’s. Again. At Our Table. As he often is, Chris is wearing a hockey sweater -- the same kind as the Las Vegas Golden Knights. This time we gathered at “our table” to discuss their third son ... infielder Myles Naylor. Myles is the top rated Canadian heading into the draft and is expected to go late in the first round or in the second or third rounds.

Of all the ball-playing families in North America only one household has had three brothers selected in the first round: the Drew brothers of Valdosta, Ga.: RF J.D. Drew, second overall in 1997 to the Philadelphia Phillies. He did not sign and went fifth overall the next season to the St. Louis Cardinals; RHP Stephen Drew (15th) to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004 and RHP Tim Drew (28th) to Cleveland in 1997.

* * *

MARSH-mellow fella: So “tell me a Myles story about when he was young,” we asked in our hard-hitting fashion.

Chris looked at his wife and asked, “Should we tell the marshmallow story?”

Yes, please.

Coming home from an out-of-town tournament, Myles was either three or four years of age. A bag of marshmallows was passed back to Myles, who didn’t pass it any further to his two brothers.

Myles jammed in one marshmallow. Another. And another. As many as would fit. Said Chris: “He was sticking them in like cotton balls.”

Young Myles jammed in so many marshmallows he soon was sick to his stomach and when his parents turned he was frothing white foam from the marshmallows.

Said Jenice with a laugh: “Poor Myles, he is still suffering from mashmallow PTSD.”

And then there was the hockey tournament of brother Noah in London. The Naylors were bunked into the Holiday Inn near Western Fair.

“Myles was down by the pool,” said Chris, “he was either or two or three. He thought he could swim like the rest of the kids and jumped right in ... he’d never been in a pool in his life.”

Fearless.

* * *

Now warming: When Josh Naylor played for the Mississauga North Tigers at Rivergrove, the father of infielder Royce Ando would stand on the grass behind the bleechers and play catch with the younger brothers of players. Some players would last a half inning. Others would go two innings tops.

Hiroki Ando met his match in Myles who would play catch from before the first pitch of the game until after the two teams shook hands post game.

“Myles wouldn’t stop, poor Hiroki was signalling to the bullpen asking for help, he wanted the lefty,” said Chris with a laugh. “Hiroki must have thrown 151 pitches.”

* * *

The Brothers Naylor: Scouts will tell you that ...

Josh is a power-hitting first baseman. He has 44 career homers in the majors, many of them majestic.

Bo is an athletic catcher who spent time at shortstop as a youngster. Bo is the fastest runner in the family and some argue he has more power than Josh. Josh hit 50 homers in 449 games (1,762 at-bats) in the minors, while Bo went deep 57 times in 405 games (1,461 at-bats) rising through the system.

And then there is third baseman Myles, who has light tower power and won the Canadian Futures Showcase home run derby hitting one ball to left which cleared the fence, the grass, the sidewalk and landed on the other side of the Coventry Road, according to a ball hawker who tracked it down. Myles is the tallest.

But who knows the three players the best? No one better than a mom? We asked Jenice about each son:

“Josh wears his heart on his sleeve. He is passionate, loyal and a leader. He wants to be the best. And if he’s not, he’ll work hard to be the best. He’s competitive. He is a nurturer to his brothers and very protective. He’s an advocate.

“Noah is calm. You can’t tell whether he went 0-for-4 or 4-for-4. But he is very competitive. Noah will show you. He’ll perform and perform. And he’s very loyal.

“Myles has more of Noah’s demeanor. He’s shy. He likes to learn. He sits, observes and learns. He is competitive, too.”

Chris explains that while all three are competitive Noah was the “silent assassin.” It wouldn’t matter if a board game at the Naylor household was Scrabble, or a card game such as, Uno. Chris said Noah “would fight to the death ... even going so far to hiding a card.”

And mom finishes the punch line if Noah was ever caught, saying “Myles would sit and laugh. Josh? Well, he might have flipped the board.”

* * *

Myles’ COVID-19 summer of 2021: The indoor facilities were closed in Mississauga from March of 2020 until early in the next year. Padlocked. Ditto for the ball fields. Intially when the weather warmed the ruling was a son could play catch with his father ... but not someone from another household. In the early days experts were worried about germs being spread by throwing a ball.

Would teams be able to cross the border in 2021? Like other teams, the Ontario Blue Jays were unsure of whether they would head south that summer.

The Naylors didn’t want Myles to miss at-bats during the 2021 season. Josh had a place in the Phoenix area. So, Chris and Myles joined Josh and Bo on Feb. 17. They had a place to stay. Now where to practice? In Ontario, parks are open to the public, but in Arizona they are private.

Chris bought an L screen. Josh provided balls for batting practice. They found a high school softball practice field to work out.

“We must have been kicked off about once a week ... by the same people, ‘Do you have a permit?’ No. ‘You have to go,’” Chris explained. In 2021, Myles trained from February through most of May in Arizona.

Then Myles hooked up with the Canes West team (made up of players from Arizona and California for a tournament in Surprise, Ariz.). Next came a trip east to play with the Canes National in a Perfect Game tourney in Cartersville, Ga.

Myles played for the Canes American in Atlanta and Hoover, Ala. On June 6, he hooked up with the Ontario Blue Jays in Atlanta for a tournament and two more in Florida. After that, Chris and Myles flew to San Diego for the Area Code Games, playing for the New York Yankees.

They then headed to Toronto Aug 17. A lot of flights, hotels, rental cars, food and most importantly ... baseball on the six-month tour, as Chris pointed out.

“Despite the uncertainty with COVID and restrictions in Ontario in December 2020, we as a family had to make a decision to guarantee Myles get on a field for the entire summer of 2021,” said Chris - especially since Myles played only five weeks in the fall of 2020. “We wanted to make sure he played, but we didn’t want to jump the gun, until we knew what was going on in Ontario.

“Playing for different teams and not knowing anyone when he arrived wasn’t easy for Myles.”

* * *

Going or staying: Chris Naylor should be considered as a bit of an expert with this draft process. Name any father with two sons selected in the first round. Chris has watched the flow of talent south by players in grade 12 the last few years. US teams are all selling the fact there is more exposure playing for travel teams south of the border.

Some have even bolted the Junior National Team which was good enough for the likes of LHP Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC), SS Kevin Nicholson (Surrey, BC), 3B Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC), INF Scott Thorman (Cambridge, Ont.), RHP Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.), RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.), C Kellin Deglan (Langley, BC), RHP Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta.), RHP Chris Reitsma (Calgary, Alta.), LHP James Paxton (Ladner, BC) and RHP Kyle Lotzkar (Tsawwassen, BC). One and all were first-rounders.

The three Naylors travelled the same path: Mississauga North Tigers, Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team. All three won MVP awards with the Juniors. Never once did a Naylor consider heading south and missing time with the Junior National Team.

“We would never have left Team Canada, out of loyalty to Greg Hamilton and what the program delivers,” said Chris. “For all three of our sons the Junior National Team checked mulitiple boxes for us: facing pro pitching, using a wood bat, putting players in the spotlight.”

Added Jenice: “The Junior Team’s goal is to promote Canadians, they teach you life skills, provide a financial workshop with RBC and most of the assistant coaches are former pros.”

* * *

Turning point: Myles attended the 2021 Area Code Games in San Diego. He could have competed against the underclassmen, however, he wanted to see how he fared against the 2022 draft eligibles.

It didn’t go well.

“Myles realized ‘I have to get better,’” Chris said.

In 2022, he was one of the better players on hand.

A lot of help went into the development of all three. The main influencers for Josh would have been coaches Danny Bleiwas and Sean Travers. For Bo, it was Mike Steed and Travers. And for Myles, it is Corey Eckstein and Steed.

* * *

Memories: It all started for Myles in the backyard of his Mississauga home. When he was not playing catch with his red glove as a three-year-old, he was using one of those oversized bats to hit the ball over the fence.

“We chased a lot of balls into the neighbour’s yard,” Chris said.

And there have been countless other memories for Myles on the way to his top Canadian draft prospect status.

Like playing for the Ontario Blue Jays 14U, Myles had a walk-off single facing Kaleb Thomas of the Tri City Giants in extras. The bottom of the ninth base hit gave Myles’ team the Fergie Jenkins League title.

Or the day the Ontario Blue Jays were in Buffalo and down 8-4. Myles hit a grand slam to tie the game.

Or playing for the Yankees at the 2022 Area Code Games where he doubled and tripled against the Royals at the University of San Diego.

Or playing for the Junior National Team when he had two homers against Peru at the World Qualifiers in 2022.

* * *

Support system: Besides growing up in a loving household, Myles has grandma Metzi Naylor on Chris’s side. Plus Winsome, better known as ‘Granny’ the boys grandmother and Jenice’s mom, who lives with the Naylors.

And he has his two brothers and best friend OF Chase Williams (Brampton, Ont.).

The Naylors know: Cleveland is a four-hour drive from Mississauga ... from there it is a two-hour drive to Columbus when Bo was squatting there ... and a 50-minute drive to Akron, where Bo used to play.

Papa Naylor had made it three times through the Perfect Game tournaments from Jupiter, Fla. to Fort Myers and the Area Codes in California. He and his sons have stayed at the same hotels and ate at their favorite on-the-road restaurants.

And they will have the same nervousness when the three-day draft begins Sunday night.