‘He showed everything’: Michael A. Taylor uses all his skills in dazzling Royals debut
In his first game with the Kansas City Royals, center fielder Michael A. Taylor accounted for a four-run swing by himself in a contest won by four runs.
Perhaps the least flashy of the Royals’ offseason acquisitions, Taylor turned in one of the most dynamic introductions by a free agent in recent memory as part of a 14-10 Opening Day win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium.
Touted as an elite outfield defender, he cut down a pair of runners at the plate with high-powered throws. He also showed he can swing the lumber by driving in a pair of runs, including a solo home run he blasted an estimated 402 feet to right-center field.
Taylor finished the day 3 for 5 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored. He joined Alex Ríos (2015), Mark Grudzielanek (2007) and Amos Otis (1977) as the only four Royals with three hits and three RBIs on Opening Day.
“I don’t know if you could have a better intro to Kansas City and to Kauffman Stadium than what Michael Taylor (had),” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He showed everything today.”
A 30-year-old Florida native who spent the first 11 years of his professional career in the Washington Nationals organization, Taylor posted a heartfelt thank you/goodbye message to the Nationals and their fans earlier this week as he got set to “gear up for the next chapter” of his life.
On Thursday, Taylor wasted little time making his presence felt in front of the home crowd that hadn’t been allowed to watch the Royals in person since the end of the 2019 season.
“This Opening Day was pretty special,” Taylor said. “Starting with the stealth bomber flying over, that was awesome. Then just having fans back in the stands made it a lot better, having the energy from all the fans that showed up today.”
In the game’s first three innings, Taylor smacked two hits, launched his first home run, collected two RBIs and threw out two runners at the plate.
With one out in the first inning and Royals starter Brad Keller having allowed the first seven batters to reach base, Taylor kept a run off the board when he charged in on a single by Jose Trevino, gathered the ball and quickly uncorked a throw to catcher Salvador Perez in time to get Brock Holt attempting to score from second base.
“Any time you get a run cut down at the plate from an unreal play out there, it’s always encouraging,” Keller said. “Obviously, it keeps a run off the board. It gets you to reset a little bit, be like, ‘All right the defense is behind me. They’re here. We can let them work.’”
In the bottom half of the first inning, Taylor lined an RBI single into center field with the bases loaded. The Royals bounced back to tie the score 5-5.
In the top of the third with one out, the bases loaded and the Royals trailing 8-5, Taylor provided an inning-ending double play that stopped the Rangers in their tracks.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound wiry athlete ranged to his right, lined up his body with home plate, snagged a fly ball by Nate Lowe in left-center field and rifled to the plate to cut down David Dahl, who attempted to tag up and score. Taylor’s throw got there in enough time that Dahl didn’t even attempt a slide.
“I was just trying to be aggressive, close ground, charge the ball as hard as I can,” Taylor said. “Then on the throw, just trying to keep it low. The first one, I was able to throw a pretty good long hop. The second one kind of sailed on me a little and I short-hopped Salvy. But being the Gold Glover that he is, he picked it and picked me up right there.”
Taylor is the first Royal with two outfield assists in a game since Whit Merrifield did it on May 27, 2019.
The two outfield assists marked the third time in Taylor’s career he recorded two in a game. The most recent prior to Thursday was June 19, 2017, in Miami.
Taylor’s home run came in the bottom of the third when he pounced on a 95-mph fastball from Rangers left-hander Taylor Hearn and turned it around for a homer to right-center field.
Taylor said he was running hard out of the batter’s box and aiming for a triple when he hit it. After he realized it went over the wall, he “blacked out.”
The Royals fan base got a long look at Taylor in his first game with the club thanks to the longest nine-inning game in franchise history.
The game lasted four hours, 26 minutes and surpassed the previous record of four hours, 16 minutes set on Sept. 16, 2014 against the Chicago White Sox.
“It felt great just to go out and win the ballgame,” Taylor said. “It’s a good feeling to be able to celebrate that first one. It was definitely a grind. That’s probably one of the longest games I’ve ever been a part of, but we were able to pull it out in the end so happy night.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 12:57 PM with the headline "‘He showed everything’: Michael A. Taylor uses all his skills in dazzling Royals debut."
