Samad Taylor hopes adjustments pay off in next chance at big-league dream

Taylor has been on a tear in Tacoma and hopes that will continue over into the bigs

With the injury to super-utility player Dylan Moore, the Mariners opted to call up Samad Taylor from Triple-A Tacoma. Taylor isn’t new to the Mariners organization, having been with the club since early 2024, when the Mariners acquired him in a minor trade with the Royals. What is new: a mindset that’s helped him unlock more damage at the plate, thanks to being grounded in his approach both physically and mentally.

One shy of 100 plate appearances, Taylor’s line in Tacoma looks very different from last season. He’s always been able to take his walks, running a double-digit walk rate in virtually every stop in his big-league career, but he’s shaved ten points off his strikeout rate from last season with Tacoma. He’s hitting for average (.321) while also hitting the ball harder than he ever has: the five homers he’s hit in 24 games with Tacoma are almost half the total he recorded all of last season.

But what pleases Taylor the most isn’t the number of big hits he’s had; it’s the consistency he’s had at the dish. Aside from a mini-slump against the Rivercats where he went hitless in three straight games in the series (and he’s not alone: that team is kryptonite for the Tacoma Rainiers for some reason), Taylor hasn’t had a back-to-back hitless game this season.

“Consistency in the box,” he said when asked what he feels has gone especially well this season. “You look at the numbers last year, I was riding the roller coaster a lot. I made a couple adjustments in the off-season and it’s panned out, so I’m sticking with it.”

Those adjustments included staying more on his back side, minimizing his tendency as a quick-twitch muscle player to get “jumpy” in the box. But the bigger adjustment was a series of mental shifts.

“I just picked [Edgar Martínez and Kevin Seitzer’s] brains on the mental side. It wasn’t a crazy mechanical adjustment. I was a big thinker, I’ve kind of flushed that now.”

“Previously I was a pretty passive hitter. I would get to a lot of two-strike counts, I would let a lot of pitches that I knew I could do damage with go by. In the off-season I focused on attacking what I know I can hit, and I’ve been doing it from spring training until now and it’s worked. It’s been a big difference.”

Manager Dan Wilson agrees. “Samad has been swinging the bat well, he’s really taken to the middle of the field idea, which really fits the identity he has a player. What he can do on the bases, what he can do in the field, it provides so much versatility and puts pressure on the defense.”

Defensively, Taylor can slot anywhere on the field except catcher, making him extra valuable to a Mariners club that’s becoming decimated by early injuries. On the running side, he helps replace the loss of Victor Robles, as part of a Tacoma team that set a modern-era record for stolen bases last season.

But maybe the biggest adjustment has come from embracing the Mariners’ philosophy of “be where your feet are,” focused on staying in the moment.

“It’s human nature…it’s hard to be present in the minor leagues when your ultimate goal is to be in the big leagues. I feel like it was the biggest adjustment that I made, besides mechanical and the other stuff, just being present where you’re at. It’s way easier to say than do, but I felt like I was pretty good at being present in Triple-A. I was happy there, I’d go out every day and give it my all, and we’re here now. I’m blessed.”