Why Taylor brings extra dimension to Pirates' outfield

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Michael A. Taylor owes a lot of his success as a ball player to Tony Tarasco.

Taylor was drafted as a shortstop in 2009, but in his first instructional league, Tarasco, who played eight Major League seasons, worked with him to learn the fundamentals of the outfield, believing Taylor’s future was on the outfield grass rather than the infield dirt.

More than a decade later, it's safe to say Tarasco's assessment was correct.

“You would think at that level, a lot of guys don’t wanna have to talk about going back to the elementary things,” Taylor said. “He spent a lot of time doing that and for me, that built a foundation that carried me the rest of my career.”

Taylor has grown into a Gold Glover and one of the best defensive center fielders in the game over his 10-year Major League career. Year No. 11 will be with the Pirates after he signed a one-year, $4 million contract Saturday.

“I got a smile when I saw it,” Mitch Keller said about the news of the signing. “That’s not knocking anyone we got on the team already, but you add a Gold Glove center fielder out there who’s tracking down everything, especially in our park, it’s awesome.”

Taylor was an early target for the Pirates this offseason. Derek Shelton had conversations about Taylor with Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, and Baldelli, a solid defensive center fielder in his day, spoke glowingly about Taylor’s glove work.

“The way he talked about his reads and breaks, that’s why he’s won a Gold Glove,” Shelton said.

If the past is any indicator, Taylor is going to give the Pirates’ rotation plenty of reasons to smile this season. Taylor has 43 defensive runs saved since 2021 (only Ke’Bryan Hayes has more during that stretch with 63 defensive runs saved), and his 9 outs above average last season put him in the 94th percentile. He also has a Gold Glove in the case, which he won with the Royals in 2021.

Jack Suwinski provided the Pirates above-average defense in center field last year and started 112 games at the position, but the team wanted to add another outfielder to the mix while simultaneously shoring up the depth in center.

“If you think about the really good Pirates teams at PNC, I think most of them have had that center field, quality defender, more than one of them to handle center and left,” general manager Ben Cherington said.

Suwinski will move to a corner, and Bryan Reynolds should be on the move too. Reynolds will likely play right field more often in 2024 and allow Suwinski to play left field, which is more ground to cover at PNC Park. Reynolds will still get games in left and Suwinski will still get games in center, but the new outfield alignment will be built around Taylor in center.

“I would assume it would probably be pretty regular with Michael playing center,” Reynolds said before cracking a smile. “I’ll go where I’m told.”

But defense wasn’t the only quality the Pirates wanted in another outfielder. Cherington also expressed interest in a power element from the position. The Pirates have signed some defense-first outfielders the past few years, including Jarrod Dyson and Jake Marisnick, but those types of players didn’t pan out because they couldn’t hit enough.

While Taylor had some blemishes as a hitter last year -- namely a 33.5% strikeout rate that ranked in the 3rd percentile -- his career-high 21 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 2023 upped his production to roughly league average.

He’s shown power in the past, but that career-high in home runs was a product of him being encouraged by the Twins to have a more aggressive mindset at the dish.

“Working with the hitting staff for the Twins, they kinda freed me up to be a little bit more athletic and not worry about the strikeouts as much,” Taylor explained. “Now I’m trying to find a balance of both. Being aggressive has unlocked some things for me, but then finding a two-strike approach that’ll allow me to compete late in at-bats will be a good blend for me.”

That strategy raised his slugging percentage from .357 in 2022 to .442 in '23, but his on-base percentage dropped from .313 in '22 to .278 in '23. He’s made some mechanical tweaks this winter to try to get his bat on the swing plane sooner, but also he’s going to try to find the best of both worlds in his approach.

“The walk has become even more valuable and slugging has always been important,” Taylor said. “Winning those three-ball counts will be big for me, 3-1, 3-2. And like I said, staying aggressive and finding a good two-strike approach.”