Plus: Data says this is the nastiest pitch in baseball
Thursday, June 11
SAN DIEGO -- Samad Taylor arrived just as the Padres were playing some of their worst baseball of the season. When he did, his manager had a request.
“The first thing Craig [Stammen] said when I got back up here was: ‘Continue to be yourself,’” Taylor said Wednesday, after his game-tying single set up Fernando Tatis Jr.'s dramatic walk-off home run. “It was like they’re giving me the OK to be that player that plays with my hair on fire.”
Taylor was walking into a clubhouse that was going through it. Entering this week’s series against the Reds, the Padres had dropped four consecutive series. During that time, their backup left fielder, Nick Castellanos, was designated for assignment, and their starting left fielder, Ramón Laureano, underwent surgery that will likely end his season.
Enter Taylor, who has been exactly what Stammen has wanted him to be. Which is to say: He’s been himself.
“He’s a player that’s had to work for everything that he’s gotten,” Stammen said. “A small guy with speed. He’s going to play that kind of game. And him in the dugout, it didn’t matter what the score was, what the situation of the game was -- he’s up and down the dugout, talking, pumping guys up like he’d been here all year.”
I first noticed that in the clubhouse in Philadelphia, as the Padres were in the process of getting swept. Taylor was upbeat. He was mildly vocal, too -- not in a rah-rah way, just in a, “Yeah, it’s tough, but we’ll get through it” kind of way.
I was honestly taken aback. Taylor shared a clubhouse with these guys during Spring Training. But he’d spent most of the season at Triple-A El Paso and the rest of his career with other organizations -- the Guardians, Blue Jays, Royals and Mariners. He didn’t know most of his teammates all that well. But here he was -- upbeat in a clubhouse that had grown somewhat downtrodden. If I had to guess, that energy was a breath of fresh air.
Of course, it helps that Taylor has backed it up with his play on the field.
It’s been a whirlwind four days for Taylor, a 27-year-old journeyman, who got cups of coffee in the big leagues in each of the last three seasons, but not really enough time to settle. He earned his first Padres start on Sunday -- a highly emotional one, because his grandmother had the chance to see him play professional baseball for the first time.
"Today," he said afterward, "was a blessing."
Taylor was the standout in an ugly Padres loss that day. He made three excellent catches and reached base three times. That earned him another start. On Monday, he made two more brilliant defensive plays, while driving in three runs.
Then, he started on Tuesday and tied the game in the 10th inning with a single. He did the same in the eighth inning on Wednesday. All season long, the Padres have recorded four game-tying hits in the eighth inning or later. Taylor has two of them.
“He’s been balling, man,” said Tatis. “I’m so happy for him. … He’s been a huge spark. He’s brought a lot of energy, made a lot of really good plays -- defensively, offensively.”
Ty France played in the same youth system as Taylor in the San Gabriel Valley. France is 4 years older than Taylor, so they never played on the same team. But they trained at the same facility, then were eventually teammates briefly in Seattle.
“I’ve followed his career since the moment we started working out together,” France said. “That’s kind of been his style his whole life. He’s an explosive player. He moves the ball around the field. He just makes things happen.
“So him doing what he’s doing right now -- I’ve seen it before. Obviously, it’s fun to watch. But I’m not surprised.”
And while the Padres almost certainly aren't viewing Taylor as the long-term solution in left field, he looks like a perfectly viable bench piece -- speedy, versatile, energetic. “A sparkplug,” as he called himself, and half the team has already called him.
In the meantime, there’s no reason he can’t be the short-term solution in left. Or at least a semi-regular starter who can make an impact off the bench. The Padres need that right now, particularly with Jake Cronenworth on the IL, forcing Tatis into the infield.
Taylor's arrival also gives the Padres’ roster a different dimension, one they didn’t really have with Castellanos and Laureano sharing time. Taylor is best suited for an outfield corner. But he can play second base and center as well. Stammen can move him around as needed. He can be deployed as a runner or a bunter or a defender. Or, Stammen can just let him swing away.
Is Taylor going to continue reaching base at a .500 clip, while making an impact play on the bases or in the field every night? I'm sorry to say that, no, he is not. But with the Padres teetering, Taylor's arrival seemed to come at just the right moment. No matter what kind of impact he makes the rest of the way.
In the meantime …
“I’m just riding the high as long as I can,” Taylor said. "That's it."
Who holds the Padres record for consecutive games with a home run?
A. Adrián González
B. Graig Nettles
C. Hunter Renfroe
D. Fernando Tatis Jr.
- Some takeaways from a wild series finale on Wednesday, including what it might mean if a couple of the Padres' stars finally get going.
B. Graig Nettles
Nettles homered in six straight games for the Padres in August of 1984. González is in second with five in May 2009.
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