Michael Taylor Named Carolina League Batter of the Week
Potomac CF Michael Taylor has become the fourth P-Nat to win the Carolina League’s weekly honors, named as the Batter of the Week for the period of May 20-26.
Taylor went 10-for-20 with five straight two-hit games, posting a line of .500/.565/.650 with three doubles, three walks, three runs scored and two stolen bases. His 29 RBI is good for fourth-best in the Carolina League while his 14 steals is third-best.
Originally drafted as a shortstop, the Nationals’ 6th round pick in the 2009 Draft converted to the OF in 2011 and has become one of the organization’s best defensive prospects. He was ranked by Baseball America as Washington’s #11 prospect and has been an outfielder on this site’s watchlist for 2013 and 2012.
Taylor’s quietly having a pretty good season. He’s cut down on his strikeouts, and showing good patience. He also seems to be learning the finer aspects of baserunning, as he’s been considerably more successful with SBs than is past years.
All together, if he can sustain this success, he could turn into a very interesting player. Plus CF defense is useful even without a bat (see Eury Perez). But Taylor still seems very raw with the potential to bulk up (after all he’s still only 22).
Luke, have you seen anything from Taylor that would suggest he’s made changes?
He’ll still wave at some outside pitches, but he’s also developed a knack to take those pitches and shoot them through the 3/4 hole — something he almost never did last season. Not sure if he’ll ever break 200 lbs, but he’s wirrrrry like Alfonso Soriano and I think he could “bulk up” from 175 to 190 and have similar power.
Thanks.
Yeah, I laughed when I noticed he was listed at 205 lbs on MiLB, while Keyes is listed as a mere 20 lbs heavier (225).