TORONTO -- This series against the Blue Jays is a homecoming for Diamondbacks first baseman Josh Naylor, who grew up in Mississauga, located less than 30 miles from Toronto.
Naylor, who arrived on the team’s charter flight in the wee hours Monday morning, got to spend the off-day visiting friends and family along with his dogs before getting down to business with an RBI double in the D-backs' 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night.
Naylor drew a big crowd of local media prior to the series opener, where he was asked if it was extra special to get to play in games back home.
“Yes, of course, to come back home to see my family and have my friends in the crowd,” Naylor said. “You're playing at home, you have a ton of people who you met in your past or played with in your past that are coming to watch you play. It’s super, super awesome and I’m super blessed for that.
"But me, personally, I just love to win every day. It doesn't matter where I'm playing, who I'm playing, who I'm playing against. I really don't care. I just love to win. I love to celebrate wins in the locker room after the game with the guys.”
Naylor was acquired by the Diamondbacks in the offseason from the Guardians in exchange for right-hander Slade Cecconi, and has been a nice addition to Arizona’s lineup.
After the series opener against the Blue Jays, Naylor has a slash line of .302/.356/.474 with nine homers and a team-high 81 hits.
Naylor has fit in seamlessly in the clubhouse, which was aided by his familiarity with his new teammates. That includes left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who also knows Toronto well after spending 2018-22 with the Blue Jays.
“Honestly, probably the first day of spring,” Naylor said of when he became comfortable. “I walked in that locker room and it was like an expectation to win, work hard, compete with each other, play as a group, do a little things right, take care of the baseball. Execute wherever you need to execute, whether it's [to] get the guy over from second [or] sac fly situations. All those situations are kind of hard. It's not that there's pressure on you, but you need to kind of get it done. So I really pride myself on those situations, and I'm going to knock on wood before I mess a few of those up this series.
“But it was great the first day I walked in the locker room, you kind of felt that presence of everyone. They were in the World Series a few years ago [2023] and it was like, you know, we're going to get back there some way, somehow, and you need to find ways.”
Toronto is also a familiar place for Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, who was a first-base coach for the Blue Jays from 2011-12 before moving to the Red Sox as bench coach in 2013.
Lovullo said he lived in a building across the street from Rogers Centre and could make it from his couch to his locker at the stadium in under five minutes.
“I love Toronto,” Lovullo said. “It was two great years. I met some unbelievable people. Still have friends here in this organization that I'll have for life. This is a great downtown. [The ballpark is] a great environment. The fans are passionate. This place can really get pumping. And it's always nice to come back here and reacquaint myself with everybody that meant so much to me while I was here.”