Michael A. Taylor bringing another Gold Glove to Twins outfield

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Initials are important to Michael A. Taylor. Take that middle letter, for instance — it stands for Anthony, his father's first name, and he's asked that it be included as part of his own baseball name since he turned pro 13 years ago.

"It's a tribute to my dad," Taylor said. "He didn't want to name me 'Junior,' because he didn't like his middle name. So he just gave me his name."

That exacting nature about initials extends to his position, too. Don't put a CF next to his name, though that's what it's been in more than 82% of his major league appearances.

On the Twins, he's simply an OF.

"Our outfield alignment is a super-interesting discussion. I bet he plays next to Byron [Buxton] often. I can think of several scenarios" like that, manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He's going to get some work in the corners. ... He's going to play a lot. He's going to get plenty of at-bats. But [we can't yet] say exactly where those at-bats are coming from."

That sounds great to the former Nationals and Royals center fielder, a defensive specialist so adept at tracking down fly balls, he was the AL Gold Glove winner at the position for Kansas City in 2021, four years after Buxton did the same for the Twins.

"I had some time in the minor leagues in the corners, early on in my career. I'll work as much as I can right now to sharpen that, but it's just a different angle," the 31-year-old Taylor said. "Honestly, once you get comfortable, it's not that big of a deal."

It could be a big deal to the Twins' pitching staff. Joey Gallo owns a pair of Gold Gloves, earned in right field in 2020 and 2021, and Max Kepler ranks high among defensive metrics as well.

"It's exciting to know if someone [launches] one, we have the guys to run them down," said righthander Joe Ryan, whose 34.3% fly-ball rate in his first two seasons is well above the MLB average of 23.1. "It lets you relax, knowing those guys are there."

Relaxing is sort of how Taylor, acquired in a trade with the Royals in January, approaches his job when he's in right or left field. Center field requires a quick-twitch reflex that he specializes in, but with less area to cover in the corner, "I focus on taking my time," he said. "You don't have to be as reactive. Getting the right read is better than getting a quick read in the wrong direction."

Now he hopes to get good reads at the plate, too. The Twins' trade for Taylor, like their decision to sign Gallo, was a gamble on defense over offense, a bet that they would transform enough batted balls into outs to make up for their difficulties reaching base.

Taylor, for instance, owns a career .296 on-base percentage, and even his .313 mark last year, second-highest of his career, only matched that of Gilberto Celestino, the rookie whose role he inherits this year.

He's got some power, however, having hit 21 home runs during his two seasons in Kansas City, and a career-high 19 in 2017 while with the Nationals. Taylor also owns four home runs in just 38 postseason at-bats, including a blast off Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in the 2019 NLDS, and another in his lone World Series at-bat later that month.

Along with Carlos Correa and Christian Vazquez, he is one of three current Twins to own a World Series championship ring.

"I'd probably say winning the World Series" is the highlight of his career, "not so much that at-bat," Taylor said. "Just being there with my teammates and being able to take that trophy and ring him, flying back with the World Series trophy, and then the parade and anything."

He'd like to experience that again, and will play anywhere Baldelli wants to make it happen.

"We're going to use his talents in a lot of ways," the manager said. "Bare minimum, I could say Buck plays center field and Michael Taylor plays left. I could see that happening virtually every time we face a left-handed pitcher, and probably a few other scenarios, too."