Tyrone Taylor staying present with Mets as power surge continues and trade deadline approaches
· Yahoo Sports
Tyrone Taylor is one of many names rumored to be on the block as the Mets get closer to the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
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And as the Mets continue to start Taylor to showcase the veteran outfielder to potential trade partners, he's been making the most of the opportunity, including in Saturday's 6-2 loss to the Marlins. Taylor's two-run blast accounted for the only offense by the Mets, another blast in what's become a string of them for Taylor.
The second-inning blast was Taylor's 10th of the season, with seven of them coming in his last 19 games dating back to July 4. It's the most he's hit in that span in his career and the fourth-most in the National League during that period. He's also leading the majors in slugging (.951) and OPS (1.389) in that span.
"He’s been phenomenal," interim manager Andy Green said after the game. "Swung the bat as well as anybody in the league. Feels like he’s homering every time we put him in the lineup. Absolutely crushed that ball today. Defends the field, plays with energy, runs the bases well; he’s been great."
Green was asked what's changed for Taylor to give him these types of power numbers and the skipper said it comes down to belief.
"He’s got a lot of confidence right now. He’s turning himself loose," Green explained. "If he misses a pitch, he doesn’t worry about it, he takes a hack at the next one and trusts himself. Hitting is built on trust and he’s doing a really nice job of trusting himself and he has a lot of evidence to trust himself right now."
"Just hard work paying off," Taylor said. "The work I’ve been putting in has been really good lately. And been getting good results. I’ve just been swinging at good pitches."
Taylor is a free agent at the end of the season, perhaps the biggest reason the Mets are likely to move the 32-year-old by Monday's deadline.
But despite the rumors, Taylor is only thinking about the team he's currently with.
"I just started to think about it the past couple of days," Taylor said of the rumors. "I’ve been doing a pretty good job of staying present and just trying to be my best self daily and do what I can to help the team win."
Ironically, his recent success has only made it more likely that Taylor will be traded. And if he is, Taylor will think fondly of his three seasons with the Mets.
"I love it here, man. I got my family out there. We’ve been out here for three years," Taylor said. "I love this team, I love this staff. There’s a lot of resources here that I know other teams probably don’t have. Love my teammates. I love it here."