Tyrone Taylor

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The shine has worn off of McKinney a bit.

Let Taylor take it from here in McKinney's role.

Good to see folks here starting to tune into how good Taylor has been, and possibly, how good he can be.

I think we will be needing a 4th and 5th outfielder all season long due to the fragility of Yelich and Cain.

Those two will start when available, and of course have scheduled days off.

With Yelich, Cain, Taylor, JBJ and Garcia, there will probably be enough at bats to go around.

All I ask is that the best 3 are played on a regular basis, and at this time, Taylor is one of them.

He shouldn't be on the bench another game that Yelich and Cain are out.

That should be a given.

See what he can do with extended playing time and go from there.

 

You are correct. McKinney has cooled off a bit since his scorching series against the Padres. That is likely to happen with Taylor as well. The two are not too dissimilar, other than hitting from opposite sides of the plate. The league is going to quickly catch up to how to attack Taylor, and it will be up to him to adjust.

[MrTPlush]

Hiura looked invincible after 70 at bats too.

 

Which means nothing as far as Tyrone Taylor is concerned.

Taylor needs to play.

It's obvious to me, it's obvious to most.

Hopefully it is becoming obvious to Counsell.

If he cools off, sure, sit him down, but all he has done so far is hit!

Play him!

 

Yah, maybe the league figures him out and he turns into a fringe MLB bat...but might as well ride it as far as you can. I say the same with pitchers, sometimes those nothing special pitchers make their debut and put up video game numbers even though they aren't that good. I remember Mike Fiers being ridiculous when he first came up. People always think the Brewers have some curse where pitchers make their debut and dominate the Brewers, that isn't unique to us...happens a lot.

 

Tyrone Taylor has been smacking every ball with authority so it isn't just some bloop hit luck. He has honestly played really well.

[igor67]

Given his OPS is over 1.000 I'm also pretty confident he will cool off, some and certainly the fact that it is just 70ABs total is relevant. I'm more struck by the fact that he has been able to repeat the feat of getting his chance and just hitting 3 times. I can't really think of anyone else who has fit that pattern. Also worth pointing out that most of those chances were not in typical September call-up times.

[JohnBriggs12]

McKinney is a real nice back up. For a week or 10 days, he can provide quality production but that's probably his ceiling. On the other hand, from what we've seen Taylor's ceiling might be a lot higher. They certainly can't justify sending him down now regardless of the fact he's the only one with options. Is eating the rest of Garcia's contract and replacing him with a minimum salary the bold move they need to take? It's pretty obvious they won't be picking up Garcia's option anyway. They let Smoak go without hesitation last year. The other thing they could try to do is to deal Vogelbach, and let McKinney be the guy who fills in for Hiura at first base.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

McKinney is a real nice back up. For a week or 10 days, he can provide quality production but that's probably his ceiling. On the other hand, from what we've seen Taylor's ceiling might be a lot higher. They certainly can't justify sending him down now regardless of the fact he's the only one with options. Is eating the rest of Garcia's contract and replacing him with a minimum salary the bold move they need to take? It's pretty obvious they won't be picking up Garcia's option anyway. They let Smoak go without hesitation last year. The other thing they could try to do is to deal Vogelbach, and let McKinney be the guy who fills in for Hiura at first base.

 

This very well may eventually happen, but I don't see them making a move like this a month into the season. Unless it truly comes down to a roster crunch. Sucks for a guy like Taylor, who may very well go down even though it's completely undeserved, just because he has that option.

[Hopper]

McKinney is a real nice back up. For a week or 10 days, he can provide quality production but that's probably his ceiling. On the other hand, from what we've seen Taylor's ceiling might be a lot higher. They certainly can't justify sending him down now regardless of the fact he's the only one with options. Is eating the rest of Garcia's contract and replacing him with a minimum salary the bold move they need to take? It's pretty obvious they won't be picking up Garcia's option anyway. They let Smoak go without hesitation last year. The other thing they could try to do is to deal Vogelbach, and let McKinney be the guy who fills in for Hiura at first base.

 

This very well may eventually happen, but I don't see them making a move like this a month into the season. Unless it truly comes down to a roster crunch. Sucks for a guy like Taylor, who may very well go down even though it's completely undeserved, just because he has that option.

 

How sad would that be?

Take a guy who is producing on a high level, drop him down to AAA strictly because of $ or some other BS.

Brewers job is to win.

If Taylor makes that job easier, you keep him up, regardless.

If we have to watch Garcia and JBJ struggle for the next month just because Taylor has options, I will have lost all confidence in the Brewers as an organization.

Unrelated, has Taylor ever played 1B, on any level?

[pacopete4]

Oh, the drama! Lol, I mean, come on folks. The Brewers, just like ALL teams make decisions based on money, service time, and options. They didn't sign JBJ or Garcia to lose faith in them this quickly. The Brewers don't just hand out bigger contracts. If Cain and Yelich come back, quickly, McKinney or Taylor will be back to AAA. It is just how it works. Unless they can figure out a trade, I suppose...

[Greenleaf1]

I doubt they drop Taylor while he's this hot. Stearns/Counsell have been pretty good about creative roster management for keeping hot bats on the roster (Choi, Vogelbach come to mind).

 

As of now, it's not going to be hard to get Taylor some starts this week, as you can pretty easily just bench McKinney (maybe they even give him a start at 1B this week). Garcia/JBJ could each have a day off in the next week too.

 

Taylor's real barrier to playing time is once Yelich/Cain come back, and there may be a tough decision to make there, but given the injury bug going around, who knows what happens between then and now.

 

If, in the meantime, Taylor cools down, an option makes more sense. If he stays hot, they'll find a way to keep him out there.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Exactly. Situations such as these typically have a way of working themselves out.

[liveforoctober]

McKinney is a real nice back up. For a week or 10 days, he can provide quality production but that's probably his ceiling. On the other hand, from what we've seen Taylor's ceiling might be a lot higher. They certainly can't justify sending him down now regardless of the fact he's the only one with options. Is eating the rest of Garcia's contract and replacing him with a minimum salary the bold move they need to take? It's pretty obvious they won't be picking up Garcia's option anyway. They let Smoak go without hesitation last year. The other thing they could try to do is to deal Vogelbach, and let McKinney be the guy who fills in for Hiura at first base.

 

This very well may eventually happen, but I don't see them making a move like this a month into the season. Unless it truly comes down to a roster crunch. Sucks for a guy like Taylor, who may very well go down even though it's completely undeserved, just because he has that option.

 

How sad would that be?

Take a guy who is producing on a high level, drop him down to AAA strictly because of $ or some other BS.

Brewers job is to win.

If Taylor makes that job easier, you keep him up, regardless.

If we have to watch Garcia and JBJ struggle for the next month just because Taylor has options, I will have lost all confidence in the Brewers as an organization.

Unrelated, has Taylor ever played 1B, on any level?

 

Short term, your points are valid. We need to win as many games as possible and you want your best or hottest players playing. Long term though your thought process might be dangerous.

 

Let's say the Brewers decide to keep Taylor over Garcia moving forward and send Garcia down and he refuses and is released. Then Taylor cools off or gets hurt and Yeli/Cain go the whole year on and off the injured list. We are now getting to crunch time in the season and we have no options.

 

Winning now is important. Winning in September and beyond is more important. It would be tragic if we lost the entirety of our depth of our outfield this early in the season because we wanted to give Taylor 30 more at bats over Garcia in April. Just my opinion.

[djoctagone]

tyrone taylor is so much fun to watch.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

tyrone taylor is so much fun to watch.

Fully agree. A good breakout season at 27. Like to think he’s a fixture as at least the #4 outfielder for the next several seasons.

[Austin Tatious]

tyrone taylor is so much fun to watch.

 

He really is. Great guy to root for. That swing is nasty. Athletic. Glad we stayed the course with him through some rocky minor league seasons where he fell from grace in the rankings.

[rickh150]

Love how he grips the bat… looks like he’s driving a motorcycle revving the engine.

[NYChez]

.838 OPS; plus, versatile defense; plus baserunner; clutch. Can’t take him out of the lineup.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

This is his 10th year with the Brewers. And he is under control through the 2026 season (5 more years). That does not seem right but he had a weird path to the majors. He could very well be a career Brewer and never get to free agency. He was signed as an 18 year old and will hit free agency at 33. I'm not convinced he is a starting corner OF, but he is fine as a 4th OF and occasional spot starter. you never know though. If he continues this pace, he could easily replace Avisail next year.

[rickh150]

This is his 10th year with the Brewers. And he is under control through the 2026 season (5 more years). That does not seem right but he had a weird path to the majors. He could very well be a career Brewer and never get to free agency. He was signed as an 18 year old and will hit free agency at 33. I'm not convinced he is a starting corner OF, but he is fine as a 4th OF and occasional spot starter. you never know though. If he continues this pace, he could easily replace Avisail next year.

 

Pretty sure it would be thru 2027. This year would not be considered a full season of service time.

[Outlander]

He already had 98 days entering the year so will be over a year service time after this season and free agent after 2026 season.

[TURBO]

tyrone taylor is so much fun to watch.

Fully agree. A good breakout season at 27. Like to think he’s a fixture as at least the #4 outfielder for the next several seasons.

 

Why #4?

 

He's currently batter than Yelich, Cain, JBJ and Garcia.

 

Kid has earned a starting spot, plain and simple.

[TURBO]

.838 OPS; plus, versatile defense; plus baserunner; clutch. Can’t take him out of the lineup.

 

 

CC says:

 

"Hold my beer."

[narwhalattack]

We're kinda stuck with Yelich for a while, but at least for this season I wouldn't mind Taylor sharing some time with Cain (or maybe slowly become the starting CF outright) and take over for Yelich when it seems like he needs a break. At the very least, I trust Taylor to hit better than JBJ.

[brewmann04]

Taylor has so proved he deserves full time duty.

[rickh150]

All lefty starters, he bats until the cows come home.

[reillymcshane]

All lefty starters, he bats until the cows come home.

Exactly. He had a rep for punishing lefties - and that has held true.

 

OPS vs Lefties: .928

OPS vs Righties: .752

 

He's not bad against righties - just quite a bit better against southpaws. If that's all he ever is - a right hander in a platoon, pinch hitter - he can be quite valuable since he's a good defender and can play all three OF positions.

[JohnBriggs12]

tyrone taylor is so much fun to watch.

Fully agree. A good breakout season at 27. Like to think he’s a fixture as at least the #4 outfielder for the next several seasons.

 

Why #4?

 

He's currently batter than Yelich, Cain, JBJ and Garcia.

 

Kid has earned a starting spot, plain and simple.

 

Agreed. Counsell was patient with JBJ because they invested a lot to get him, but I suspect from now on, the bat plays and right now that's Taylor. Taylor is still technically a rookie, but he's really entering his prime and he could be a star in the making and one with years of team control. I think one plus from acquiring Escobar is that against RHP, Counsell won't feel he needs two struggling LH hitting outfielders in the lineup, especially with a hot Taylor and Cain back. He still has Tellez, Escobar and Navarez sprinkled in the middle of his lineup even if he goes with an all RH hitting outfield.