Michael Taylor

Taylor finished with a sub .200 batting average in 2020 for the first time in his big-league career. He slashed .196/.253/.424 with five home runs and 16 RBI in 38 games. The speedster swiped 24 bases during the 2018 campaign, a career-best, but he's registered just six total stolen bases since, in large part because he can't find ways to reach first base. The 29-year-old finished with a K% of 27.3, hammering it home to fantasy owners that he's simply a strikeout waiting to happen. Taylor became a free agent at the conclusion of the 2020 season, and it seems unlikely that he'll find a role as anything but a reserve outfielder unless he joins a team in rebuild mode. There's no doubt that his speed can be appealing to some degree, but he's a liability in nearly all other offensive categories.

Taylor's sprint speed is in the 93rd percentile league-wide. The issue is he is not permitted to steal first base by league rules, so he is forced to use his bat to reach base. He does not have a good hit tool, and does not walk enough because he is very prone to strikeouts. He has a .240/.294/.393 career slash line with a 31.6 K%. His role at the big-league level these days is someone who can be a reserve outfielder for a World Series winner, but could only get regular playing time on a team looking to fill a roster spot while waiting for a prospect to be ready. In a single-league format, Taylor could be drafted in the reserves if your regular roster is hurting for speed, but if you have to have him in your lineup, those steals are going to come at the cost of all other categories.

Taylor's 2017 power surge appears to be an outlier as not only did he fall back last season, he bottomed out. The 2017 home-run spike was a combination of a career-best 20% HR/FB mark coupled with a seven percent increase in flyball rate. Both plummeted last year. Taylor's plate skills have been stagnant since his 2015 campaign. While 2018's 30% K% and 7.5% BB% both represented marginal improvements, it was not enough to be deemed a new level. The bottom line is his approach isn't acceptable for a full-time player. Entering his age-28 season, it's unlikely Taylor makes major strides in either department, so he remains a batting-average liability. An area where Taylor did exhibit growth was on the basepaths, as he swiped 24 bags, setting a new personal best. With the return of Adam Eaton and the emergence of Victor Robles, Taylor is earmarked for reserve duty.

For the third straight season, Taylor provided fantasy owners with cheap power and speed, but this time he reached new heights while playing regularly in place of Adam Eaton (knee). Taylor's swing-and-miss ways (31.8 career strikeout percentage) will limit what he can offer in terms of batting average -- he probably will struggle to top his .271 mark from last year, although he makes the most of his limited contact (34 percent hard contact rate, 20.0 percent HR/FB last season). With their optimal Opening Day lineup, the Nationals likely will want Taylor in center field. After all, he ranked sixth in the majors with a 10.1 UZR., but with Eaton returning and top prospect Victor Robles looming, Taylor will have a limited margin for error.

Strikeouts have been the story for Taylor since he broke into the league in 2014. He has struck out over 30 percent of the time in each of the last three seasons, with 32.5 percent of his 237 plate appearances in 2016 ending in a strikeout. The young outfielder also spent time with Triple-A Syracuse in 2016, where he hit just .205 in 130 plate appearances across 31 games. Taylor hit .313 over 98 games and 441 plate appearances with Double-A Harrisburg back in 2014, but he hasn't hit nearly that well since. He's a very strong defensive outfielder, however, which gives him value to the Nats, and that was one reason they kept him on the roster going into the postseason. Taylor should get another shot at a big league spot in 2017. If he can improve his average and contact rate, it would go a long way toward improving his fantasy value.

The potential for a 20/20 season will always be there with Taylor. He has plus speed, going 16-for-19 on stolen base attempts last season, and fringe average raw power, hitting 14 homers in 511 plate appearances. The lanky center fielder hit 22 home runs and stole 34 bases in 441 plate appearances at Double-A back in 2014, so his big league totals in 2015 probably represent more of a floor than a ceiling over a full season. That said, his path was blocked with the acquisition of Ben Revere in January, and he may not stick as an everyday player long-term if he cannot get on base with more consistency. His plus defense in center and toolsy profile should afford him a decent number opportunities even if he does open the year as the team's fourth outfielder, but improvements in his approach and contact skills are probably necessary for him to be seen as the long-term solution up the middle in the nation’s capital.

Just as Brian Goodwin did the year before, Taylor turned in a Double-A performance in 2014 that launched him to the top of the Nationals' position player prospect list. Unlike Goodwin, Taylor put together an actually impressive statistical season rather than one that only looked good in comparison to his previous output, hitting .313/.396/.539 with 22 home runs and 34 steals. His strikeout rate also spiked, though, and that empty air in his swing came back to haunt him in brief stops at Triple-A and the majors. Now established as the Nats' center fielder of the future, the 24-year-old will need to find a way to make more consistent contact if he wants to fully realize his five-tool potential. With Denard Span expected to miss all of April following spring core muscle repair surgery, Taylor has a chance to begin the season in a prominent role for the Nats as the team's primary center fielder, although he could end up back at Triple-A once Span is healthy if the Nats want to continue his development with everyday at-bats.

Taylor's 51 steals in 58 attempts at High-A jump off the page, but he is more than just a one-dimensional speedster. The outfielder is still rough around the edges, so how he responds to the Double-A challenge this season will provide a much better idea of how close to the majors he actually is. If some of the 41 doubles he hit last year become home runs, and some of his strikeouts become walks and singles, Taylor will leap up prospect lists in a hurry.