After adjustment period, Pirates counting on improved outfield with Michael A. Taylor in CF

When the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Michael A. Taylor, it was with the intention of adding a pure center fielder with a Gold Glove on his resume to improve their outfield defense.

What they got for the first eight games of the season was a player whose bat was better than anticipated but whose presence patrolling the middle of the outfield required an adjustment period.

Taylor had a .429/.438/.536 slash line with three doubles and six RBIs through his first eight games, which also included some miscommunication that led to mishaps with corner outfielders on fly balls because of his limited spring training repetitions.

“We didn’t really have that time to build a rapport,” said Taylor, 33, who signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Pirates on March 16. “One of the biggest things in the outfield is getting used to that other person’s range and their routes. After awhile, you kind of know where they’re going to be and which balls they can get to. I felt like we didn’t get a chance to establish that in spring training. There were a few bumps early in the season because of that.”

The opposite has been true since the Pirates gave Taylor a three-day break after his hot start. He’s batting .149 (7 for 47) with no extra-base hits or RBIs but has been everything they expected in center field. Taylor has recorded four defensive runs saved, best among Pirates outfielders and tied with second baseman Jared Triolo for most among the team’s position players.

“He’s a really good defender, a really good guy to have out there with you,” said corner outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who has started nine games in left and 11 in right next to Taylor this season. “It feels good to have him on the side of you.”

MICHAEL A. TAYLOR WITH THE DIVING CATCH!!! pic.twitter.com/oAKzpcpIx1

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) May 1, 2024

As much as Pirates manager Derek Shelton drew criticism for sitting his hottest bat amid a 6-1 start, Taylor believes it was the smart move, given his abbreviated spring training. He played in only four Grapefruit League games, so there was concern his body wasn’t ready for a full workload, and fatigue could lead to an injury.

“I think that was necessary,” Taylor said. “… It wasn’t ideal. I didn’t want to, but the most important thing was staying healthy — and I was at a place where my body was a little compromised and there was a chance things could get really bad.”

Taylor has played in 24 of the first 32 games, including 21 starts in center, and his stellar play has Pirates first base/outfield coach Tarrik Brock convinced his presence gives their outfield the potential to become more dangerous offensively and defensively.

Where Jack Suwinski’s minus-10 DRS was the second-worst of any center fielder last season, Taylor has 68 career DRS and won an AL Gold Glove in 2021 with the Kansas City Royals. All three starters are coming off 20-home run seasons. Suwinski hit 26 and Reynolds 24 for the Pirates last season while Taylor a career-best 21 last year with the Minnesota Twins.

The belief is that having the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Taylor in center should help reduce the wear and tear on Suwinski and Reynolds, as well as Connor Joe and Edward Olivares, by allowing them to focus on covering the corners instead of having to play gap to gap.

“It’s what we’ve been molding, pushing for for so long, to be able to have guys play specific areas,” Brock said. “Reynolds in right field can be our gunslinger because he has a quick release, he gets to the ball. Michael can be our Labrador retriever. He can go left or right. Jack is our do-everything; he can play center, left or right. It just molds us together. Then you throw Connor Joe out there, who can play the corners at a really good clip. Eddie can play left, right and in a pinch he can play center, as well. What I wanted to do as an outfield coach is create options for Shelty in the lineup.”

The first two weeks, however, involved some follies when Taylor had mixups with Reynolds and Olivares in right field. When Taylor and Reynolds had a miscommunication on Ryan O’Hearn’s fly ball to right-center, it resulted in a triple in the fourth inning of a 5-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on April 5. Olivares committed a costly error in the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on a fly ball to right-center by Nick Castellanos when he nearly collided with Taylor, and the ball bounced off his glove. Castellanos was safe at second, and the next batter, Bryson Stott, hit a two-run homer for a five-run lead in the 5-1 loss April 11.

Those plays served as a reminder Taylor has first right on any fly ball and perhaps sent notice he’s capable of getting to them faster than his teammates realized.

“He knows how to play at different speeds and tempos and just covers ground and makes everyone better,” Brock said. “The cool thing about that is when you have a guy as established as Michael come over here and you have go-getters as well, it takes time to get used to that. That’s what you want, is to have as many center fielders on the field as you possibly can have. That’s what we have right now, which is good. … It takes time to defer to someone else and to know where your strengths play within the play, too. We’ve finally got some calm waters out there now.”

Reynolds, who has 309 career starts in center, was complimentary of Taylor’s play there for the Pirates.

“It just takes time to understand who’s out there next to you,” Reynolds said. “Having three guys that played center, we understand the thoughts in his head, understand what balls he’s probably expecting to get as a center fielder and we understand the priority that has. I think the understanding of having done it is probably the biggest thing.”

Now that Taylor is getting a better feel for his teammates, he hopes the results will start to show. The Pirates rank 11th in air ball outs, per SportsInfo Solutions, at a 61.6% rate. The expectation is that with Taylor in center they will go from one of the worst defensive outfields to better than average.

“We have three center fielders out there. Those guys take great routes and play really hard and all throw the ball well — all the things you ask for from the outfield in taking care of the ball and covering ground — so the recipe is there,” Taylor said. “I want to go out there and play my game. It’s really not about proving anything to anyone else. I work really hard to be a complete player. Day in and day out, I want to go out there and do the things that are necessary to do that.”