Michael A. Taylor is off to the best start of his career in his first season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 2021 Gold Glove Award winner is top three in the league with a .429 batting average through eight games with six RBI.
Throughout his career, Taylor has been known as a defensive specialist and one of the top defenders in the league.
The 33-year-old is showing everyone that there’s more to his game than his defensive skill set.
Last season, he set a career-high in home runs with 21, as a member of the Minnesota Twins.
Fans in Pittsburgh are loving what they are seeing from Taylor and he’s been fitting into the lineup quite well.
The Pirates have also started the season off strong and have one of the best records in all of baseball (8-2). The latest win came in dramatic fashion (3-2) on Sunday against the surging Orioles.
And Taylor has been a huge contributor and will look to contribute throughout the remainder of the season.
Taylor’s hot bat is a plus for Pittsburgh
Taylor started the season on a seven-game hit streak and had a superb series against his former team, the Washington Nationals.
During the three-game series, he went 7-for-12 with three RBI and scored three runs. When he returned to the nation’s capital, he enjoyed the reaction he received from National fans.
“That was awesome. That was really awesome,” Taylor said in an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Probably one of the better moments I’ve had on a baseball field. To be able to come back here and get that kind of welcome was special. I really appreciated it.”
“I know what this place meant to me,” he said. “I had a lot of good times, and whether I got an ovation or anything like that, my time here was still very good.”
Taylor has wasted no time establishing himself at the plate this season. For his career, he’s currently hitting .240 and has only had two seasons where he hit over .250, which came in 2017 (.271) and 2022 (.254).
This could be Taylor’s first season where he hits .300 or better if he continues to have the success he’s had at the plate.
Playing a key role for the Pirates
Pittsburgh has been one of the hottest teams in the league so far and have been fun to watch. This could be the year where they make a potential playoff appearance since their last in 2015.
And Taylor, who has postseason experience, can certainly make a significant impact on this team, whether it’s in the field or at the plate.
The 2019 World Series champion talked about the makeup of this Pirates team and how it’s been playing with them.
“We have a very dynamic team,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of ways we can score runs, and that’s keeping us in a lot of ball games. We’re just able to take what they give us.”
“I feel like we’re doing a great job with coming in with a game plan, and everyone’s committed to it and sticking to it,” he said. “That’s contagious. We’ve got a good thing going right now, and we’re looking forward to keeping it going.”
The Pirates will be a team to watch throughout the season and we will get to see if Taylor can continue his success at the plate.
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