Twins center fielder Michael A. Taylor impresses teammates, but not himself

HOUSTON — When Michael A. Taylor dashed 50 feet into left-center field during the second inning, then made a spectacular diving catch of Alejandro Kirk's sinking line drive in Game 1 of a wild-card series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, the sellout crowd at Target Field exploded.

Taylor got up, tossed the ball toward the infield and jogged back to center, his face betraying no delight in the feat.

Four innings later, with a pair of Toronto runners racing around the bases, Taylor hustled to the wall in right-center, jumped at the last second, and gloved Matt Chapman's blast to end the inning. The crowd stood and roared in its euphoria. Taylor held the ball up for umpires to see, put his head down, and headed to the dugout.

It seems safe to say that nobody is less impressed with Michael A. Taylor's Gold Glove defense than Michael A. Taylor.

"I'm just looking to make the play, and I want to catch everything. So I get more upset when I don't [make a big play] than get excited when I do," Taylor said with a shrug. "It's always been like that for me. Just never been a big fist-pump, pound-my-chest kind of guy."

His teammates are. Or at least, they are when describing their vacuum-cleaner teammate.

"When the ball flies in his direction, you don't watch to see if he's going to catch it. Of course he's going to catch it," infielder Kyle Farmer said. "You watch to see what sort of magic trick he pulls out to do it."

The Twins wouldn't have won Game 1 — and, consequently, been able to sweep the Blue Jays in that series — without that "magic," Taylor's manager said.

"Michael Taylor took over the game in center field. He's been doing that all year for us," Rocco Baldelli said. "When you make an out that is not routine, you go above and beyond to do that, it just stops the inning. You're taking away baserunners and creating an out on the same play. Those things flip the game completely on its head. Michael Taylor did that for us and flipped the game in our favor, because of the way he patrolled center field."

Taylor — who went 1-for-4 in Sunday night's 6-2 victory over Houston — accepts praise like that in much the same way he revels in his unthinkable defensive plays. He barely seems to notice.

"I mean, I appreciate it, but I'm just doing my job. That's how I've always approached it," Taylor said. "I expect it from myself."

The mind-set doesn't crack, the philosophy doesn't bend. Has he always been so nonchalant about his own ability?

Taylor's answer is almost as astonishing as his catches.

"I was more of a hothead when I was younger," said the 32-year-old 10-year veteran. "And I kind of just grew up and learned that things are going to happen, you can't control everything. That's helped me to be a little bit more even-keeled."

That demeanor has also helped him develop at the plate this season. Taylor finished the season with a career-high 21 home runs, second most on the Twins, and said the newfound power can be traced back to the Twins' coaching staff.

"I got rid of my toe-tap, and brought back the leg kick, and then just focused on using my lower body and trunk a little better," Taylor said. Batting coach David Popkins "suggested the leg kick in spring training, but that's something I pushed back on. But I started to see results, and by addressing things that popped up, I ended up with the swing that I have now. I feel like I have a swing that's probably the best swing I've had in my career, and I really think I can only get better from here."