How Will He Thrive in Twenty-Five?: Tyrone Taylor

[Edgy MD]

The fifth outfielder at the start of the year was pretty much the #1 centerfielder by the end, as well as into the playoffs.

It was a less-than-ideal situation. He will never be mistaken for Carlos Beltran, but if you squint enough, he might make you think of Angel Pagán, and that ain't nothing. After a strong start to the season, he was never really great, but he played hard and was consistently mediocre with a diversified enough skill set that he hung around in the rotation while other guys fell away.

It's a delicate balance, and delicate balances are hard to maintain. With the crowded outfield picture, a bad start could have him DFA'd in May. But José Siri replacing Harrison Bader at the top of the centerfield heap, and Brandon Nimmo still tender in the feets, Tyrone could reclaim the starting job in just as short a time. That is a wide range of outcomes. Only you can pin it down.

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[FIMG=350]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/ar_16:9,g_auto,q_auto:good,w_1536,c_fill,f_jpg/mlb/qy3oa120n1mkz6skvfv3[/FIMG] [FIMG=350]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/ar_16:9,g_auto,q_auto:good,w_1536,c_fill,f_jpg/mlb/xhferqjdajd7fyxfbksu[/FIMG]

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think that, one way or another, he'll get close to 300 plate appearances.

What he'll do with them is anyone's guess.

[MFS62]

In a right handed platoon with Siri, he'll hit for a higher average, but with fewer homers.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Look at the sparse-assed crowd in those first two photos above, which appear to be from his April 4 walkoff hit against the Tigers. Possibly the interview shot as well.

That was the first win of the season after Carlos Mendoza Willie'd himself to an 0-5 start. They went into the ninth down 1–0, with all of one tick in the hit column, before Alonso tied it with a leadoff homer, Baty walked, Marte advanced him with a bunt, and Taylor drove him home.

Officially, there were 15,020 peoples at the game, and the weather was listed as "47° F, Wind 10mph in from Leftfield, Cloudy, No Precipitation."

I'm guessing that, by the ninth, the number of patrons more likely numbered in the hundreds, and the wind chill factor took things down to about 15 degrees.

I guess what I'm saying he kinda saved the season right there and few people knew it, and fewer still were there to see it.

[Cowtipper]

He didn't come out of nowhere a la Mike Baxter, Andrew Brown and Eric Valent, so I'm not expecting a huge regression. I'll say about the same as last year: 10 HR, 35 RBI and he'll get that average to .250.

[metirish]

Probably get more game time due to injury than expected

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

for what he was, a very reliable guy, and you know Stearns liked him like a secret weapon. I'll predict more PT and an uptick

9-44-.255/.310/.425, 12 bags swiped