Naylor delivers grand night for Captains

Bo Naylor thought he was on the money during his first at-bat Monday, but he only had a flyout to center field to show for it.
Cleveland's fifth-ranked prospect wanted to "do damage" the next chance he had at the plate. He did ... and then some.
Naylor launched a grand slam, added a triple and drove in a career-best six runs to lead Class A Lake County to a 13-2 win over Dayton at Classic Park.

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"I did everything right but didn't get the result I wanted," he said. "And then I got up there again, stuck with my approach and it just all clicked."
The 29th overall selection in the 2018 Draft stepped in against Reds left-hander Connor Curlis with the bases juiced and one out in the second inning. After taking a ball in the dirt and looking at a called strike, Naylor unleashed on a fastball on the outside part of the plate and crushed it to the deepest part of the park in left-center field. It was the first grand slam of his career.
"I knew with the bases loaded that the pitcher was gonna have to come at me with something in the zone," Naylor said. "So I was just waiting for a pitch I can drive, and that pitch came and it all worked out. ... There was actually a little confusion on the play, so I was running as fast as I could to get the bases I needed to, but when the ump made the signal for home run, I couldn't have been happier.
"Being in this league for a little bit, I've kind of grown to understand how pitchers try to pitch to me personally. So I had that outside part of the zone in mind when I was up there, and it definitely helped with my success in that at-bat."
The 6-foot, 195-pound catcher faced another southpaw in the eighth -- Jerry D'Andrea -- with runners on the corners. Naylor turned on the first pitch and smoked the ball to straight-away center, where it skipped off the wall. The 50-grade-speed prospect found another gear as he motored into third for a clean triple. Clark Scolamiero and Jose Fermin scored on the play.
"I knew with a runner in scoring position, he was going to try to pitch me low in the zone to try to get me to ground out or roll over something, so I just sat off-speed there," Naylor said. "I drove the ball into center, and I just went for it. I was behind Fermin, and I saw he was being waved home, so I just figured I'd go for it all and I slid in without a play at third."
Cleveland's No. 28 prospect Raynel Delgado capped Lake County's scoring by plating Naylor with a ground-ball single into center.

Naylor's effort vaulted him to fifth in the Midwest League with 64 RBIs. He also paces the circuit with 10 triples and ranks sixth with a .430 slugging percentage, while his 38 extra-base hits are tied for sixth. He is sporting a .247/.319/.430 slash line with 17 doubles, 11 homers, 10 triples and 59 runs scored over 102 games. Naylor joins Ka'ai Tom as the only Indians prospects to post double-digit totals in every extra-base hit category in a single Minor League season since Grady Sizemore accomplished the feat in 2003.
"Part of my routine now is just working on staying through the ball, making sure my body is separating well so that I generate the most power I can," the 19-year-old said. "It's all part of tee drills I work on before batting practice, and it's making a difference with my power. Whenever everything works together, the result is what happened today."
The Captains collected 14 hits as Fermin finished 3-for-5 with a dinger, three RBIs and three runs scored. Scolamiero reached base three times and scored three runs.
Juan Martinez went 3-for-4 with a triple and a run scored for the Dragons.