The Cleveland Indians’ organization added a couple Canadians to their big league roster today in acquiring former Junior National Team stars Josh Naylor (Mississauga, ON) and Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, ON) from the San Diego Padres.
The Canadian duo were part of a six-player haul that Cleveland received with starting pitcher Mike Clevinger, the centrepiece of the deal, heading to the Padres ahead of the 4PM ET trade deadline on Monday, August 31st.
The move also unites Josh Naylor with his brother Bo who is currently training at Cleveland’s alternate site in Eastlake, Ohio. Bo, a former Junior National Team star himself, was a first round pick of the club in 2018 and is seen among Cleveland’s top prospects.
Naylor and Quantrill join a Cleveland side that is currently tied for first place in the American League Central division with the Chicago White Sox with 26 games remaining in the regular season.
Naylor belted his first home run of the season on Sunday in San Diego’s 13-2 win over Colorado and is hitting .278 (10-for-36) with four RBI in 18 games.
Quantrill has appeared in 10 games so far including one start and has two wins, one save and a 2.60 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 17.1 innings pitched.
Both players were teammates on the 2012 and 2013 editions of the Junior National Team that included a silver medal win at the 2012 IBAF U-18 Baseball World Cup in Seoul, South Korea.
