One of the biggest lightning rods in baseball rods in baseball is the topic of the bat flip. Some old-school fans lose their minds in disgust when they see a player celebrate a home run by throwing their piece of lumber into the air in celebration while others shout out in glee when they see it happen.
Seattle’s Josh Naylor might have had the best bat flip of the season on Tuesday night and it was definitely one that will have parties from both sides of the bat flip aisle reacting in predictable ways.
With two runners on in the bottom of the eighth and the Mariners clinging to a 2-1 lead over the Twins, Naylor crushed a 1-0 pitch from Minnesota’s Cole Sands that left Target Field in a hurry. It was such a no-doubter that Naylor immediately walked a few steps back to admire it before launching his bat high into the air.
Here’s a look at that moment:
Ms broadcast missed it so here’s the Naylor bat flip pic.twitter.com/FFe2w6bHiv
— Camden (@Camd3n_77) April 29, 2026
And here’s an even better angle of his little strut and bat flip:
Josh Naylor FLIPPED that bat. 😮💨
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 29, 2026
(Via: @Mariners) pic.twitter.com/Fth5ostWJ2
That’s just one of the coolest moments of the MLB season right there. Naylor knew it was gone the moment it left his bat and deserved to watch it sail into the night before eventually starting his home run trot.
When you take a closer look at his celebration, it gets even better. Here’s proof of that:
If someone told you this screenshot came from a left-handed hitter's at-bat, would you believe them? https://t.co/JNhM7bKJ9y pic.twitter.com/HOWsaMLxgO
— Erik Halterman (@erik_halterman) April 29, 2026
Hitting a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher has to be one of the hardest things to do in all of sports. When you do get a great piece of one and hit it to the moon, like Naylor did, you should be allowed, heck, even encouraged, to have a little fun and admire what you were just able to accomplish.
Lots of fans loved seeing that from Naylor.
Gotta be brutal as a pitcher when a guy hits a fadeaway jumper on you https://t.co/jsHhGESSXZ
— Mariner Muse (@MarinerMuse) April 29, 2026
Josh Naylor is an icon. Almost went around the bases backwards https://t.co/DruRKWZjA5 pic.twitter.com/EvUB1WcsEe
— Ryan Stryker (@Ryan__Stryker) April 29, 2026
one of the coldest bat flips i've seen https://t.co/nstMsLqZrL
— M (@mikeKS) April 29, 2026
Naylor’s home run, his fourth of the season, gave the Mariners a 5-1 lead. They would go on to win, 7-1, to improve 15-16 on the season. Seattle is now just one game back of the Athletics in the AL West, which hasn’t been the best division in MLB thus far into the season.
Naylor should be applauded for having a little fun after smashing that home run. Some might find it a little too much, but life is too short to just quickly make your way around the bases after doing something most people in this world couldn’t even think of accomplishing.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Seattle’s Josh Naylor Brought the Bat Flip to a Whole New Level After Crushing a Homer.
