Sometimes an unfortunate circumstance for someone else can open the door for an opportunity at redemption. Those words were never more true than with the Seattle Mariners’ infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor. With the unfortunate injury to super-utility player Dylan Moore, the Mariners opted to call up Taylor from Triple-A Tacoma.
Samad Taylor Is Vital Addition
Taylor isn’t new to the Mariners organization, having been with the club since early 2024, when the Mariners acquired him in a minor trade with the Kansa City Royals.
With 99 plate appearances so far his ability to get on base by working the count and drawing walks has always been his strength. The impressive growth in his game has been at the plate, he’s shaved ten points off his strikeout rate from last season with Tacoma.
He’s hitting for average (.321) while also hitting the ball harder than he ever has. The five home runs he’s hit in 24 games with Tacoma are almost half the total he recorded all of last season.
Over his last nine games with Tacoma he had 15 hits, 3 home runs, 10 runs batted in, 5 stolen bases with a .429 batting average.
Defensively, Samad Taylor can slot anywhere on the field except catcher. He’s played all over the world.
This is extremely important and makes him extra valuable to a Mariners club that’s becoming decimated by early injuries. On the running side and on the base paths, he can help replace the loss of Victor Robles. Taylor as part of the Tacoma team, set a modern-era record for stolen bases last season.
Utility Wizard
Offensively, he has hit just .215/.288/.277 in his 74 big league plate appearances, but with much better numbers on the farm. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has stepped to the plate 1,392 times at the Triple-A level with a .277/.371/.427 line and 108 wRC+.
Seattle is leading the competitive American League West division and Samad Taylor can bring a versatile set of skills to improve their ability to score and remain in first place.
