As the first week of Cactus League play comes to a close, a few players on the San Diego Padres have begun to show hints of a MLB breakout. One of these is non-roster-invitee, Samad Taylor.
Prior to this year, Taylor had only logged 38 games of big-league experience, posting a .205 batting average in 73 plate appearances, with his longest stint coming with the Kansas City Royals in 2023. Across a nine-year career in the minors, he’s managed a much more respectable .269/.358/.425 slash line.
A red-hot start in Arizona
That’s why this first week in Spring Training has been so surprising. Taylor has hit .556 through four games with the Padres, going 5-for-9 with two doubles and two RBI, and kicking off the spring with a ridiculous 1.278 OPS.
It’s almost certain that this isn’t sustainable production at the major league level. In the past Taylor has raked in the spring only for his bat to go cold once the calendar turns to Opening Day.
Over six Spring Training invites, he has posted a .358/.396/.642 slash line. And while a line like that might make you think of Taylor as an obvious offensive powerhouse, he has yet to put it together in the majors.
The fight for the bench
The problem for Taylor is that the Friars have an abundance of players fighting for bench spots with the big-league club. From the emergence of Jose Miranda to recent mainstays like Bryce Johnson and Mason McCoy, there is no shortage of talent for San Diego to fill out its offensive depth.
But Taylor does have something over the others: speed.
Between the majors and minors, he has stolen 40-plus bases over each of the last three seasons, reaching a career high of 51 in 2023. It’s possible he’s brought up to the big-league level simply to act as a pinch-runner for the Padres in certain situations.
It’s hard to make heads or tails with such a small sample size. But if Taylor can build on his hot start to 2026, it’s easy to see him earning a place in the San Diego dugout come Opening Day.
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