Michael Taylor

by phatj on Jun 10, 2008 12:09 AM EDT Comment 7 comments

Phillies prospect Michael Taylor is making SAL pitching look silly, to the tune of .363/.438/.571/1.009 with 10 homers in 60 games at age 22. Oh, and he's 9 for 11 in steals. OK, so he's a little old for the league, but I present for comparison the following line:

.280/.367/.469/.836 with 19 homers over 135 games. This was Ryan Howard's line, also in Lakewood, also at age 22. He turned out OK.

Anyone care to speculate about why Taylor's not in Clearwater yet? Lakewood is one of the few teams in the Phillies system that doesn't blow, and perhaps the Phillies want him to get a taste of winning. So, do they promote him after the ASB? This article seems to suggest he's going nowhere in the immediate future, but there's nothing concrete indicating why. Other than that, I've got nothing. Would there be any good reason to keep him down in Low-A for a whole season and then double-jump him to Reading next year, rather than promote him to Clearwater mid-season and then let him tackle Double-A with some high-A experience?

Talk to me about this guy. I know he's 6'6", 250 lbs, and presently plays left field. Does he have a future in the OF? The steals indicate he has some speed, but him size suggests he won't keep it forever. The only other obvious place for him to play would be first base... could he supplant Howard there in a couple of years, assuming Howard prices himself out of town or falls apart or something?

Speaking of the Howard comparison, as Ryan is showing some signs that he may not be able to regain his MVP form, would it perhaps behoove the Phils to try to fasttrack Taylor so that he's not hitting MLB just as he reaches his prime?

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Comments

I find the title of this post somewhat lacking

It should definitely be “Michael Taylor: The Next Ryan Howard.” The period makes it that much more believable.

by mrkupe on Jun 10, 2008 12:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I didn't intend to suggest that Taylor is going to turn into Howard

But the fact that Taylor is far outperforming Howard at the same level and age is certainly promising, no?

by phatj on Jun 10, 2008 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Response

It’s obviously not a bad thing . . .but then again, I’m sure you’d find lots of guys who significantly out-performed Howard at the same age/level and then didn’t amount to much of anything.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s very intriguing. It’s just that other than the two guys being pretty big, they don’t look like very similar players developmentally.

by mrkupe on Jun 10, 2008 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs