Royals think swing and approach changes can unlock Michael A. Taylor’s potential
Michael A. Taylor’s swings have unleashed electric power during the course of the past seven big-league seasons. They’ve also very frequently been an exercise in sound and fury without contact having been made.
Taylor, the Kansas City Royals’ new center fielder, continues to refine that feast-or-famine swing as well as his approach in the batter’s box. His best offensive days may be ahead of him as opposed to behind him, at least that’s the message conveyed by general manager Dayton Moore, manager Mike Matheny and Taylor last week.
“We don’t think he has reached his ceiling by any means,” Moore said.
Matheny, having managed against Taylor in the National League, doubled down on that last week in an interview with The Kansas City Star when he said, “I don’t think we’ve seen the best of what you’re going to see from Michael Taylor. I still think you’re going to see more offense.”
The hope remains that the 6-foot-4 right-handed hitting Taylor will reduce the strikeouts that have characterized his career, and by doing so his production will return to something closer to his multifaceted output of 2017, when he slashed .271/.320/.486 with 19 home runs and 17 stolen bases while batting out of the bottom third of the Washington Nationals’ lineup.
Taylor’s swing adjustments aren’t brand new. In fact, he started retooling his swing under the direction of Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long after the 2018 season.
“It’s been about two years, but this year I felt like I made big strides, just in getting comfortable,” Taylor said. “After going from a leg kick for so long — basically as long as I can remember — to no stride.”
Video of Taylor’s swing in 2017 and 2018 shows a timing mechanism that included his front (left) leg lifting several inches off the ground — roughly between mid-shin high to just below the knee — and a stride forward as his front foot returned to the ground as the ball approached.
Taylor acknowledged the costs and benefits of that when speaking with reporters via a video conference last week. The rhythm and momentum it gave him ultimately didn’t outweigh the “streaky” nature of his timing at the plate.
This summer, Taylor’s swing mechanics consisted of him lifting the heel of his front foot and setting it back down as a means of timing and rhythm as the pitch approached.
He eliminated that leg kick in an attempt to make more consistent contact. Taylor also expressed a change in “mindset” to focus more on contact.
He also felt that with reduced playing time, Victor Robles took on the lion’s share of the center field at-bats for the Nationals, the simplified mechanics were more conducive to success without seeing live pitching on a daily basis.
Of course, the willingness to make changes doesn’t mean they’ve come easily or quickly.
“For a while, honestly in that first year, I felt like I was stuck (and) almost hitting in mud or cement where I didn’t feel like I had any rhythm or any kind of momentum going into my swing,” Taylor said. “It was just at a standstill and launching. That can bring other problems as well. It has been a bit of a long process, but this year I really felt like it was my swing instead of just something I was trying to adopt.”
The pandemic-shortened 2020 season presented a small sample size to judge. He made 99 plate appearances and saw 393 pitches compared to 2018 when he made 385 plate appearances and saw 1,514 pitches.
This summer, Taylor slashed .196/.253/.424 with five home runs, 16 RBIs and 27 strikeouts in 38 games. At face value, it’s hard to fathom how those numbers over a full season would significantly bolster the Royals lineup.
However, Statcast data shows that, in that small sample size, Taylor also posted the best barrel percentage (15.4 percent) and the same average launch angle (12.4 degrees) he had in his 2017 season. His expected slugging percentage (.481) also bested his 2017 mark (.428).
His strikeout percentage of 27.3 percent also marked his lowest rate of his career, the lone time he’s finished with a rate below 30 percent.
Taylor figures to get a much larger sample in 2021.
