Josh Naylor's Slump: A Small Blip in Mariners' Lineup

0:00On March 29th, Seattle Mariners' first baseman Josh Naylor is off to a rough start this MLB season, sitting at a batting average of 0 after 3. Games, he's 0 for 11 at the plate, with just two strikeouts and a couple of walks, including one intentional. Digging into his bat at balls out of 9 total, 8 have been grounders and only 1, a line drive. He's pulling 6 of those 9, which lines up with his career tendencies, but feels extreme right now. Compared to his career numbers, Naylor usually hits ground balls about 47% of the time and pulls around 42%. His average launch angle sits at 10.3 degrees, but this early is dipped to negative 14.7. Fans and analysts see this as a tiny sample size issue, mostly bad timing on his swings rather than a big problem. No one's panicking yet over his slow launch. Expect Naylor to heat up soon and get that 0 off the board, as these early slumps often flip quick and baseball. That's your update from Seattle Mariners News Today, powered by AI.