TORONTO – Samad Taylor divided his time during the lost summer of 2020 between his home in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he largely worked out on his own, and in Corona, Calif., with his parents, where he occasionally hit with his pro-ball playing cousins Elijah (Angels) and Isaiah Greene (acquired by Cleveland in the Francisco Lindor deal).
A test of his progress came when the Toronto Blue Jays invited him to be part of their fall instructional league, and while he was there Charlie Wilson, the club’s director of minor-league operations, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“I was asked if I wanted to play winter ball,” the 22-year-old infielder said. “I told them, ‘Hey, if you guys want me to play, then I’ll play.’ And he asked if I wanted to go to Australia and I was all in on it.”
Before long Taylor began a 25-game stint with the Canberra Cavalry, using that as a springboard into a breakout season at double-A New Hampshire. Through 48 games, he’s batting .303/.393/.567 with 12 homers (already a career best) and 31 RBIs while playing second base — his primary position — third base, left field and centre field.
His .244/.333/.367 slash line in Australia may not have been head-turning, but the underlying process set him up for success. A gifted athlete acquired from Cleveland as part of the return for Joe Smith in 2017, he’d been seeking to be more consistent with his swing and took steps toward that with Canberra, where he made gains both on the field and in his perspective, too.
“Probably one of the best experiences I’ve had in life,” Taylor said. “Just seeing a whole different country during the pandemic was obviously pretty eye-opening, how they controlled everything. We were here in quarantine, being locked down and once I got out to Australia, everything was open. They handled it the right way. When a case broke out, they locked everything down and took care of that case. It was pretty normal for the most part.”
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Once back home, Taylor carried his adjustments through to spring training and he has since narrowed his stance at the plate and started using a stride he had previously abandoned.
The combination of adjustments have allowed him “to keep everything in the box as calm as I can,” and in his ongoing work with hitting coach Matt Hague, it is helping to eliminate the “lack of control” that prevented him from fully tapping into his power.
“The outcome of the consistent swings have been the power numbers,” Taylor explained. “Staying more stacked on my backside to drive the ball and (it is leading to) more consistent results, in a way. So I feel like I’ve been in a pretty good position.”
His performance so far has opened eyes throughout the organization at a pivotal time, as Taylor will be eligible for selection in the Rule 5 draft this fall if he isn’t added to the 40-man roster. Having already survived the initial organizational crunch created by the reduction of minor-league teams this past winter, he’s now pushing toward placement on a big-league track.
Taylor insists the bigger picture stuff is in the background for him now, a sensible approach given all that’s been put on him. The outfield reps are new for him, something that began in instructs and continued in Australia, helping him progress into the type of Swiss-Army-Knife player the Blue Jays so covet.
“I love it. Anything I can do to help my team win and keep myself in the lineup, I’ll do it. It’s been quite a ride playing second, third, centre, left,” Taylor said of moving around the diamond, adding that his goal is to “just keep rocking. There’s a lot of season left, as quickly as you can go up in baseball is as quick as you can go down, so I’m just keeping positive and doing the stuff I’m doing.”
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Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Canadian John Axford, recently signed to a minor-league deal, is through two outings with the Bisons, recording a save in each. Catcher Danny Jansen, who caught the righty’s first outing, said the 38-year-old was “just throwing bowling balls” and didn’t recall “a pitch under 97. He’s throwing a two-seam, a curveball and his cutter,” Jansen added, “but it was a heavy mix of the fastball, moving it around both sides. He’s throwing hard.” … The trade of Joe Panik thinned out the Blue Jays’ options at third base in the event Cavan Biggio suffers another injury. When asked how the team might cover for him under such a circumstance, GM Ross Atkins pointed to Kevin Smith, who has a .957 OPS and team-high 12 homers, and Breyvic Valera, the utilityman with a .778 OPS. Smith is enjoying a strong rebound after grinding through a difficult .666 OPS season at double-A in 2019. … Quietly vying for an opportunity is righty swingman Connor Overton, who’s allowed only seven earned runs on 35 hits and eight walks with 34 strikeouts in 39.2 innings.
Nate Pearson, RHP
Acquired: First round, 2017 draft
Season to date: 4.74 ERA | 24.2 IP | 11 BB | 36 K
Riley Adams, C
Acquired: Third round, 2017 draft
Season to date Buffalo: 78 PA | 6 HR | .250/.410/.600 | 11 BB | 23 K
Season to date Toronto: 30 PA | 0 HR | .107/.167/.179 | 2 BB | 12 K
Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Going to the Olympics is something Simeon Woods Richardson “always daydreamed about,” which is why his selection to the United States team for the Tokyo Games was so meaningful for the 20-year-old. While some player development officials debate the merit of interrupting a prospect’s season to participate in the Olympics, the right-hander plans to make the most of his experience. “You get growth at both ends, it’s just how you look at it,” he said. “Being with these older guys (on the American team), guys who’ve thrown no-hitters in their career, with guys who’ve been in this league for 16, 17 years and now they have a firm grip of what they do and what they believe that can go right in this game, soaking up as much knowledge that you can from these guys … it’s just taking bits and pieces, learning, growing, just using your world as your library.” … Injuries have hit the Blue Jays hard throughout the minors, as well, and there was no bigger blow than the fractured thumb that will sideline Gabriel Moreno for at least a month and a half.
Austin Martin, SS/CF
Acquired: First round, 2020 draft
Season to date: 181 PA | 2 HR | .272/.392/.388 | 24 BB | 43 K
Jordan Groshans, SS/3B
Acquired: First round, 2018 draft
Season to date: 156 PA | 5 HR | .255/.327/.418 | 15 BB | 34 K
Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP
Acquired: Trade with Mets in 2019
Season to date: 5.30 ERA | 35.2 IP | 19 BB | 51 K
Gabriel Moreno, C
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2016
Season to date: 145 PA | 8 HR | .373/.441/.651| 14 BB | 22 K
Otto Lopez, INF/OF
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2016
Season to date: 222 PA | 2 HR | .354/.410/.485 | 17 BB | 41 K
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Advanced-A Vancouver Canadians
Converted catcher Hagen Danner continues to impress out of the bullpen, with 17 strikeouts in 14 innings over eight appearances. He’s allowed seven runs, four earned, on eight hits and six walks while hitting three batters. … The Canadians had a miserable time last week in Everett, losing five of six to the AquaSox and falling to .500 for the first time since May 12.
Adam Kloffenstein, RHP
Acquired: Third round, 2018 draft
Season to date: 6.52 ERA | 38.2 IP | 32 BB | 38 K
C.J. Van Eyk, RHP
Acquired: Second round, 2020 draft
Season to date: 6.31 ERA | 41.1 IP | 21 BB | 50 K
Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Dutch teenager Sem Robberse, one of three pitchers the Blue Jays signed in 2019 with the international bonus slot money picked up in the trades of Kendrys Morales and Dwight Smith Jr., is making good progress in his first full season. The right-hander has a 4.54 ERA and 1.099 WHIP with 44 strikeouts in 33.2 innings over nine games, seven starts. … Trent Palmer, the right-hander taken third in the draft last summer, joined Dunedin in June and has made five starts, allowing nine earned runs and 12 walks with 15 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.
Orelvis Martinez, SS/3B
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2018
Season to date: 216 PA | 7 HR | .264/.343/.472 | 20 BB | 56 K
Miguel Hiraldo, 2B/3B
Acquired: Signed as international free agent in 2017
Season to date: 221 PA | 3 HR | .247/.339/.374 | 25 BB | 49 K
Zach Britton, C/OF
Acquired: Fifth round, 2020 draft
Season to date: 170 PA | 3 HR | .222/.412/.357 | 35 BB | 44 K
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