Tyrone Taylor has posted some of the best defensive metrics among all center fielders this season, but defense isn’t the first love for the glove-first outfielder. Hitting is Taylor’s favorite thing to do in baseball, and after a late-night hitting lesson in Francisco Lindor‘s hotel room a month ago, he’s been hitting the ball just about everywhere on the field.
Taylor is hitting .296 this month with four doubles, a triple, two RBI and two stolen bases. This comes after his average dropped as low as .169 in late April, which is when he sought help from Lindor in Washington.
“Recently, what’s worked for me is fixing my gather,” Taylor told the Daily News on Sunday at Citi Field. “And actually, it was a night with Lindor in his hotel room that helped me out a lot.”
The “gather” is when the hitter essentially “gathers” his weight on his back foot. It’s a crucial part of hitting mechanics that allows hitters to come set with their weight back, their head in the right place and the bat in position to begin the swing path. It’s where balance comes from, and it helps with timing as well.
While at Nationals Park before a game, Taylor asked Lindor to take a look at his gather. However, Lindor didn’t want him to be thinking too much about swing mechanics before a game, so he suggested Taylor come to his hotel room that night. Lindor keeps bats, gloves and other baseball equipment in his room, so the two were able to work on his gather and take some dry swings.
“I just gave him a few things that worked for me, and I feel like it worked for him and he can run with it,” Lindor said. “But it’s him. He’s the one putting in the work.”
Getting Taylor’s mind off of his mechanics before a game was exactly the right move.
“I think earlier [this season], I was up there trying to be free, not thinking about mechanics at the time or anything, but I think it was sneaking in my mind subconsciously,” Taylor said. “And right now, I feel pretty solid.”
Lindor, a team leader who always avails himself to his teammates who work on specific aspects of their game with him, likes to meet people where they are comfortable. He recognizes that some guys don’t want to think about baseball when they leave the field, while others will go home and watch film, look at the numbers or watch the West Coast games.
For Lindor, it’s the latter. He watches the late games at night when he’s on the East Coast, or the highlights when he’s out west. His love of the game doesn’t end when he leaves the field.
It’s why he works on his swing “every night.”
“You’ve to be careful how you maneuver your way though. People come with game plans, and you don’t want to deviate them from their game plan, so it’s better to talk at night,” Lindor said. “You can think overnight, and then you go to bed, wake up and you feel like it, you go do it.”
Taylor took off after returning from Washington, going 5-for-8 with a double and a home run in the first two games of a homestand. The adjustment on his gather was key, but so is sticking to his routine and pregame process. This helps his mental approach at the plate, allowing him to be free, focused and solid in his approach.
The approach is simple: Swing when the ball is up in the zone.
“I’m trying to expect nothing, and be free,” Taylor said. “Just have rhythm and timing with the heater only, and then see it and hit it. so I’m trying to see it as well as I can.”
Taylor is hitting .315 on fastballs, and capitalizing on breaking pitches left up in the zone. His expected average on breaking balls is .283. In his career, he’s never hit more than .241 on breaking pitches.
“He’s been aggressive, not missing pitches short to the ball, using the whole field ready for fastball and not chasing as much,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “I just feel like he’s athletic on the ball, in the box, and he’s having good at-bats and getting results.”
With the Mets’ top hitters struggling in recent weeks, especially with runners in scoring position, the bottom of the lineup has become more important. Between Taylor, Brett Baty, Jeff McNeil and backup catcher Luis Torrens, they’ve been delivering, forcing opposing pitchers to throw more pitchers in high-leverage situations, and forcing opposing managers to go to their bullpens more often.
And don’t worry, no hotel rooms were damaged with Taylor and Lindor taking swings. Lindor’s room is typically big enough to accommodate hitting lessons.
“Nothing was destroyed,” Taylor said. “But if we were in my room, it would have been a different story.”
