A career year has landed Josh Naylor some national recognition.

The Seattle Mariners slugger captured the Tip O’Neill Award as Canada’s top baseball player in 2025, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame announced on Thursday.

“To be honoured with this award is extremely humbling. I am very thankful and honoured. I will continue to work and play hard to be a great example for the younger generations,” Naylor said in a release.

Naylor, of Mississauga, Ont., starred for Seattle after a mid-season trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He crushed nine home runs and stole 19 bases in just 54 regular-season games with the club before leading it to the ALCS, where it fell to the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games.

But Naylor shone in the playoffs too, where he became the first Canadian to blast a home run against the Blue Jays in the post-season. The first baseman hit .417 in the ALCS with three dingers and five RBIs.

Scott Crawford, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame director of operations, said Naylor’s year-long performance was “outstanding.”

“His combination of power and base-stealing ability made him one of the biggest offensive threats in the majors, and his energy and passion for the game of baseball is contagious,” Crawford wrote in a statement. “He also continues to be a wonderful role model through the many charities he supports.”

For the regular season, Naylor led all Canadian major leaguers in batting average (.295), RBIs (92) and stolen bases (30). He finished second in hits (160), runs (81), home runs (20), doubles (29) and walks (48).  

He joined Baseball Hall of Famer Larry Walker as the only Canadians ever to hit 20 homers and steal 30 bases in a single season.

Naylor also won the Tip O’Neill Award in 2023 while with the Cleveland Guardians.

This year, he beat out Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal), San Diego Padres starter Nick Pivetta (Victoria) and Guardians reliever Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) for the award.

Naylor re-signed with Seattle on a $92.5 million, five-year contract after the season.

Selected 12th overall by the Miami Marlins in the 2015 MLB draft, Naylor is entering his eighth season in the majors.

–with files from The Canadian Press