NEW YORK -- It’s 9 p.m. on Wednesday at Citi Field. The champagne is flowing in the locker room of the home team after the Mets defeated the Phillies, 4-1, to advance to the National League Championship Series.

As the bubbly is poured all over him, center fielder Tyrone Taylor couldn't help but think about Mets general manager David Stearns. One of the first moves Stearns made as the head of the team’s baseball operations was to acquire Taylor as part of a three-player trade that sent right-hander Colman Crow to the Brewers this past December.

“I was looking for David. I want to throw some beer on him,” Taylor said. “I’m so thankful for him. I’m thankful for every opportunity that I get. I’m glad to be here.”

The deal Stearns made to acquire Taylor didn’t come as a surprise to those who know the history of the two men. Stearns was the GM of the Brewers when Taylor made his Major League debut in 2019. During his five years in Milwaukee, Taylor was known as a great defender with occasional pop in the batter’s box.

“Tyrone does so much on the field,” Stearns said. “He does all the little things to help you win baseball games. He is a true team player, a good person and has fit in really well. There is no part of his game that is a weakness. He is a very well-rounded player, a good baserunner, very good defender and he has some pop in his bat.”

Taylor started the 2024 season as New York’s fourth outfielder. By the second half, however, he became a regular in the outfield and had a slash line of .277/.338/.415 after the All-Star break. Manager Carlos Mendoza started him at every outfield position, but Taylor took over the center-field job from Harrison Bader by the end of the season.

“He earned it and, so he is getting to enjoy it now and he is coming through for us big all the time. I couldn’t be prouder of him,” teammate Brandon Nimmo said about Taylor.

Taylor was able to show off his defensive skills in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the NLDS. With one out and the Mets leading, 1-0, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm hit the ball in the right-centerfield gap between Taylor and Starling Marte. It looked like a sure double for Bohm. But Taylor grabbed the ball one-handed off the wall and threw a strike to shortstop Francisco Lindor, who tagged out Bohm for the second out of the inning. The Mets ended up winning the game, 7-2.

“[Taylor is] the type of player that makes winning plays and helps you win a baseball game. We saw it [the other day], that ball off the wall and threw a strike to second base,” Mendoza said. “Yeah, I think he's a professional. He's always ready. He knows his role.”

Taylor is more than just a good fit for the Mets on the baseball field: it’s hard to miss that smile on his face in New York’s clubhouse.

“He is funny, light-hearted and positive,” Nimmo said. “He is always trying to get people to be the best version of themselves. He is just an amazing person to be around, especially in a game of failure. He is always so positive and he always says, ‘Let’s do some cool stuff tomorrow.’ And he does, and he is so important to this organization.”

Born to play baseball
Taylor’s love for baseball came from his mother, Marisa Thompson, who gave birth to him when she was 14. Taylor grew up in Torrance, Calif., and attended his mom’s high school softball games starting at the age of 3.

Thompson is known as the best athlete in the family. She was a catcher and third baseman. In fact, Taylor wears uniform number 15 in honor of his mother, who wore the jersey number in high school.

While raising Taylor, Thompson never gave her son any indication that they were living in tough circumstances. She always made him feel that he had it all and was the best thing ever. He acknowledges he gets emotional when he thinks of his mother. Thompson never went to college. Instead, she was working raising Tyrone while they were living with his grandmother, Margarita Herrera, great grandmother, Anne Luna, and a slew of cousins whom he calls his brothers.

“I love her so much. For her to have me at such a young age and do such a good job of raising me is pretty wild,” Taylor said. “My mother is just as proud. That’s the feeling that I get. As a kid and as a parent now, it makes me teary eyed just seeing how proud she is of me. It means a lot.”

After high school, Taylor was drafted by the Brewers in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He languished in the Minor Leagues, especially while playing for Double A Biloxi. Taylor had a tough time making adjustments in the batter’s box. Then, in 2017, he went to Los Angeles and saw Craig Wallenbrock, a Major League Baseball hitting consultant, who taught him the adjustments to make with a bat in his hands.

By 2019, Taylor was in the big leagues and is now one step closer to the World Series, thanks to the trade that sent him from the Brewers to the Mets.

“I feel elated. This is unreal,” Taylor said. “This is why we play. I want to keep winning and get after who we play next. "If we keep playing the way we are, we can do it all. We believe in ourselves and that’s all that matters at the end of the day. We are going to keep on fighting.”