Michael Taylor is coming!!!

[Jordanz Meatballz]

Yes, that did happen. Can we not call Taylor, Black Mike Trout, please? Weirdo

[heeman82]

Give Taylor the start, broski.

[skippy1999]

Man now I'm sorry I'm going to miss the Great Michael Taylor's first start

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

 

Doubleheader thursday? 

[sportsfan882]

Looks like rain is clearing

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

There's a tonne of heavy precip headed up from the south. Guess it could possibly push offshore, but I doubt it.  Ah well, strike early & strike often and try to get in five somehow. 

Too bad we don't like to strike early   

[Slateman]

Do not bombard me with hate because I am just asking a question... I do not closely follow the prospects but is Michael Taylor the one who was using his middle initial during spring training because he did not want to be confused with another professional athlete then entered a spring training game and made multiple errors within five minutes?

It's cool. There's also another Michael Taylor in baseball. On the A's I think.

Yes, that did happen. Can we not call Taylor, Black Mike Trout, please? Weirdo

No, we cannot not call Taylor, "Black Mike Trout." Unless you call him BMT.

Give Taylor the start, broski.

Would totally be a bro move. In fact, let him start the series, bro.

Doubleheader thursday? 

Double the BMT!? Sounds awesome

Looks like rain is clearing

You are banished. You do not get to revel in the wonder that is BMT. You will be forever scorned as a doubter and

There's a tonne of heavy precip headed up from the south. Guess it could possibly push offshore, but I doubt it.  Ah well, strike early & strike often and try to get in five somehow. 

Too bad we don't like to strike early   

Do you wish to join SF on the island of NANF banishment?

[heeman82]

Slateman, thank you for addressing everyone's concerns.

[tomterp]

From BP:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=24383

Drafted as a shortstop, Taylor transitioned to the outfield after a year in the GCL. With such pure athleticism, the transition to the outfield made sense and allowed Taylor to focus on the aspect of his game that needs the most refinement—the bat.

The Scouting: Taylor has a tall and lean frame—the type that looks athletic. He might have a tick more growth left into his frame, but more muscle might be a detriment to the plus speed and outfield presence he provides.

The glove has a chance to be plus in the outfield. In my original look at Taylor early in April, I noted that he has pure athleticism but makes poor jumps and reads. He was inconsistent at the beginning of the year. Since then, Taylor has vastly improved in almost every aspect of his defensive game. His athleticism already improvises for some of the mild deficiencies in his reads and routes, but he also displays a plus arm that works very well in center field. Taylor had trouble controlling his ability, and was often becoming overzealous or too aggressive. As with mostly all prospects, the development and progression defensively was a necessary step for Taylor to take—and he's done just that.

At the plate, Taylor is even more interesting. He is going to swing and miss a lot. It's not Mark Reynolds-esque, but he might end up putting together a few 150-plus strikeout seasons. However, with the bad comes the good. Taylor has plus raw power and plus bat speed. His ability to drive the ball when barreled is astounding; and this all comes together from the plus bat speed, plus raw power and a slight lift in his swing. The concern at the plate is the noise. His swing can become elongated and his hips and hands will often move too much for my liking. Taylor has improved in this aspect, but the swing will always be inconsistent and likely hinder him from ever seeing his true raw tools blossom at the plate. He will struggle against anything that changes the eye level, and has struggled in the past against a good, fading change from a right-handed pitcher. The tools are loud, but there is a slight concern about whether they are impact at the highest level on a consistent basis. Regardless, Taylor looks to be a solid second-division player at this stage, with a small chance to be better.

Immediate Impact: Do not expect him to perform at a high level immediately. The tools are loud, but the inconsistencies in his game are also noticeable. He has a ton of talent, but the learning curve for Taylor has always been significant and he has just started to tap into the raw tools. Expect good defense and a ton of strikeouts, with potential to see some of the raw tools play occasionally. With Taylor already on the 40-man, the Nationals needed to bring up someone. Taylor has been tearing the cover off the ball, so it naturally made sense. —Tucker Blair

[whytev]

I don't disagree with you.  But, when it comes to Strasburg, we have only 2 roads to go down.  We either send him to the pen and watch his mental state fall below the point of no return, or we continue to treat him as the Ace and hope that he eventually rewards us by becoming one.  I relucantly have been knocking on door #2 all season.  I just think this message board is full of "what have you done for me lately" types that live or die by how a player performs on any given night.  I'm not ready to give up on Stras and still think he can be just as dominant as everyone thought.  We just need to be more patient and let him work through his issues.

As for Gio, I knew as soon as this Biogensis stuff started floating, that he was done and we would regret signing him to a big extension.  I don't care if we give him the Det treatment and relegate him to the bullpen for the remainder of his contract.  I'm over him...

I'm not guilty of getting sucked into that mentality.  I go medium picture.  I won't shout "RENDON IS SLUMPING!" when he goes 0/6, but I will say something when LaRoche hits like crap for an entire month.

This nonsense with Stras has been all fricking season.

Even Gio has had a couple iffy starts on the way in and out of the DL that I can forgive and which have seriously damaged his numbers more than how it looks.

It's August though.  Stras is far enough in and inconsistent enough that I just don't want to rely on him when I have Fister and Roark right there.

[Slateman]

First at bat, first hit. That's my motherfreaker.

[Terpfan76]

First at bat, first hit. That's my motherfreaker.

Where's the Denzel pic?

[Dave301]

Where's the Denzel pic?

I don't think he should use that pic in this case...

[RobDibblesGhost]

Hell of a debut

[Slateman]

Where's the Denzel pic?

I'm not sure I can do it if it's an actual black guy

[Terpfan76]

I'm not sure I can do it if it's an actual black guy

Oh... dang. I get all those rules confused sometime.

[Optics]

NSFW

[Slateman]

Lulz, start him again. Werth needs lots of rest.

[houston-nat]

Yes, that did happen. Can we not call Taylor, Black Mike Trout, please? Weirdo

Here is my proposal.

BMT = Big Mike Taylor
BMT = Black Mike Trout

We can all call him BMT, and have it stand for different things. After all, Big Mike Taylor's not a bad nickname either. And the weirdos on the board can claim they call him BMT in honor of the best Subway sandwich.

[Wheat]

[sportsfan882]

Matt made it seem like he is going to keep starting for a while this morning on the Junkies. He picked Taylor as his Nationals player to deliver for this week.

[HalfSmokes]

I feel bad for Souza- he got leap frogged because he played  too hard on defense

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I feel bad for Souza- he got leap frogged because he played  too hard on defense

and I feel bad for Peter Best (not really, he wasn't a Starr).

[HalfSmokes]

and I feel bad for Peter Best (not really, he wasn't a Starr).

 

[rbw5t]

I feel bad for Souza- he got leap frogged because he played  too hard on defense

Forget Souza -- the real question is whether Jayson Werth is gonna get Wally Pipp'ed!

But that's not a fair comparison bc the Iron Horse was no BMT!