{"id":78835,"date":"2024-07-02T15:40:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T19:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=78835"},"modified":"2024-07-02T15:40:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T19:40:08","slug":"pirates-improvement-michael-a-taylor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/02\/pirates-improvement-michael-a-taylor\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Veteran Needs To Change Offensive Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael A. Taylor<\/a> is one player who can deliver as the Pittsburgh Pirates look to the current roster for improvement. That won\u2019t be a popular opinion among Pirates fans who can\u2019t get Taylor out of town fast enough. However, general manager Ben Cherington said recently<\/a> that the Pirates feel that \u201cinternal improvement\u201d from the current roster will help the team better than a trade would. While it\u2019s easy to punch holes in that argument, it looks like that\u2019s how Cherington will operate. Thus, let\u2019s ponder where that improvement can come from. It\u2019s not so far-fetched that it can come from the veteran center fielder Taylor. All he has to do is change the batting style he\u2019s stubbornly adhered to.<\/p>\n

Pirates Veteran Needs To Change Offensive Approach<\/h2>\n

This is not necessarily an indictment of Taylor. He\u2019s made over $25 million in 11 major league seasons doing things one way. If teams are willing to pay for what he brings to the table, he\u2019ll keep bringing that to the table until told otherwise. Unfortunately, he\u2019s underusing one of his talents, i.e., speed. That\u2019s preventing Taylor from giving the Pirates the \u201cinternal improvement\u201d they need.<\/p>\n

Of the proverbial \u201cfive tools,\u201d speed is the only one used on offense and defense. Taylor has made good use of it on defense. He won a Gold Glove Award<\/a> as a member of the Kansas City Royals in 2021 for his work in center field. He\u2019s been a plus defender over his career. Eliminating a couple of emergency appearances in the infield and on the mound, he\u2019s been worth 61 Fielding Runs Above Average and 83 Defensive Runs Saved as an outfielder.
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