Photo via mlb.com/brewers
Tyrone Taylor
As they seemingly have every season during David Stearns’ tenure with the team, the 2021 Milwaukee Brewers entered spring training and Opening Day with a familiar question: How could they possibly find playing time for all of their depth? In 2021, as it often has, the question was rapidly rendered moot.
This spring the Brewers created their latest roster crunch in March when they added Jackie Bradley Jr. to a lineup that already included three established outfielders in Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain and Avisail Garcia. While it seemed like Craig Counsell would face a significant challenge finding opportunities for four established everyday outfielders, this fall the Brewers have had the opposite problem: Between performance and health questions, the four of them have left the Brewers still needing to fill holes in their lineup.
Despite seemingly not having enough playing time to go around this spring, this season the Brewers have still needed players beyond that group of four veterans to make 92 starts in the outfield. The lion’s share of that playing time has gone to Tyrone Taylor, a player who seemed likely to be the odd man out this spring but who has become a key part of the Brewers’ plans for October.
Tyrone Taylor is 27 years old and was the Brewers’ second round pick in the 2012 draft. He was a one-time top prospect in the organization and in 2015 Baseball America ranked him as the #93 prospect in all of baseball. Despite all of those accolades, however, Taylor didn’t see the majors for the first time until 2019 and had appeared in just 37 games at the big league level when he reported to spring training in 2021.
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Crowded Field?
Despite Taylor’s solid performances, he always seemed to be behind several more established players on the depth chart. This spring it seemed like there was a chance he’d have to find an opportunity elsewhere, as the Brewers didn’t have much room for him on a crowded roster. Beyond Yelich, Cain, Garcia and Bradley, the Brewers also invited Derek Fisher, Billy McKinney and former first round pick Corey Ray to American Family Fields of Phoenix to compete for playing time.
By April 14, however, Taylor was back in Milwaukee and he's been there most of the five months since, excelling in part time duty and having some memorable clutch performances. On May 9 he provided a go-ahead single in the tenth inning of an eventual win in Miami, and on July 10 he hit a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning of a game against the Reds.
After starting the season as something of an afterthought, Taylor had fans practically counting the minutes until he was able to come off the injured list last week and add a spark to a dormant Brewers offense. On Thursday afternoon he did just that, hitting a grand slam in the first plate appearance of his career against Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, then homering again in his second at bat.
All told, across 86 games with the Brewers this season Taylor has batted .243 with a .319 on-base percentage and .468 slugging. He’s hit 12 home runs in 248 plate appearances and FanGraphs estimates he's saved 3.2 runs defensively, a number that could increase rapidly if he continues to accumulate playing time in center field. Despite playing just slightly more than half a season, FanGraphs valued Taylor’s contributions to the Brewers at about a win and a half above replacement this year.
After waiting a long time for his opportunity to do so, Taylor has proven to be a valuable contributor to a contending club and someone that likely needs to be a part of the organization's plans going forward.
