When Do We Buy Into Tyrone Taylor’s Shocking Heater?
Tyrone Taylor has quietly been a major force for months. Here’s what’s powering his surge and why it may be worth buying into.
The Chicago Cubs had a clear plan to add starting pitchers at the trade deadline this year. They made good on this, acquiring both Clay Holmes and Kevin Gausman, as well as Braxton Garrett for some extra depth.
However, a move that flew under the radar was actually a part of the Holmes deal: Tyrone Taylor. The Cubs identified the season he was having — a strong defensive showing while terrorizing left-handed pitching. He was expected to serve as a depth piece, providing the regulars with occasional rest while giving Craig Counsell another weapon to deploy against left-handed pitching.
In his final month or so with the Mets, he was elite and has now gotten off to a scorching start with Chicago. That’s over two months of high-level production for a guy who hadn’t posted a wRC+ over 100 since 2022.
There have been some changes in his game, which begs the question: is there something real here?
All stats updated before play on September 4th.
This Didn’t Start in Chicago
In late May, the New York Mets placed Tyrone Taylor on the injured list with a flexor strain in his right hip. He made his return exactly one month later and has been a different player ever since.
Over his next 24 games with the Mets leading up to the deadline, he slashed .354/.436/.875 with seven home runs and 14 runs batted in.
That production has continued to show up since his arrival in Chicago. In 55 plate appearances with the new club, he is slashing .408/.455/.551 while striking out just 10.9% of the time and swiping three bags.
When you put these two separate stretches together, you have over two full months of top-notch baseball. It’s a .381/.445/.711 slash and 215 wRC+ over a 110-plate appearance sample. Since his return from the IL, among hitters with at least 110 plate appearances, he tops baseball in batting average and slugging percentage while ranking second in on-base percentage.
It has been beyond impressive, and there have been some changes behind it.
What’s Actually Changed?
There will always be some degree of variance behind a stretch this dominant, but Taylor has made several legitimate improvements that help explain the results. He’s never been a big power guy, and his early batted-ball metrics reflected that.
However, Taylor has always shown the ability to pull the ball in the air, and that’s why these improvements have elevated him to a new level. During this hot streak, his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate have increased to just slightly below league average. To go with this, he’s seen a 1.7 mph increase in his bat speed.
Accordingly, his barrel rate has jumped from 6.1% to 12.5%, a mark that ranks in the top 11% of hitters this season. This has allowed him to slug at a rate that he had not seen before in his career.
His plate discipline and contact rates have also shifted in his favor. He has begun swinging the bat less overall, as well as chasing and whiffing less. This has led to a decrease in strikeouts and a significant increase in walks.
The improvement across the board has been incredible, and the process supports an increase in productivity. However, with his still-below-average exit velocities and his track record, it’s probably fair to say he won’t maintain this superstar production. Still, he has given reason to believe that he has evolved into a better offensive force than he has been in the past.
A Legitimate Weapon Against Lefties
Tyrone Taylor has become a serious threat against lefties this season. Over this span of hot hitting, he has been a monster against them. That doesn’t exactly line up with his career numbers, though.
From the beginning of his career up to 2024, he had a solid .249/.301/.438 slash line and 102 wRC+ against southpaws. Nothing flashy, but enough to get the job done.
Then, in 2025, things took a turn. He slashed .211/.297/.256 against left-handed pitching and failed to go deep in 102 plate appearances against them.
That is what makes his breakout against left-handed pitching this season so surprising. Across 95 plate appearances against lefties this season, he’s slashing .326/.354/.600 with six home runs and a 161 wRC+. He’s been even better since his return from the injured list, hitting an insane .420 with a 236 wRC+.
This is one of the main reasons the Cubs acquired him, but that’s not all.
The Value He Brings
Not only is Tyrone Taylor bringing massive offensive value to the Cubs, but his versatility, speed, and defensive ability are also huge factors.
In 2026, he’s logged over 100 innings at each outfield position while posting a positive fielding run value. This has allowed Craig Counsell to give his regular outfielders rest without sacrificing much defensively. Having that could play a huge factor not only in Taylor’s performance, but in his fellow outfielders’ as well down the stretch.
While he hasn’t posted the best baserunning numbers this year, with just three stolen bases and a -1.1 BsR, he has 92nd-percentile sprint speed and, obviously, plenty of experience, meaning he could also work as a late-inning baserunner.
Taylor provides value at all levels of the game. He has been and likely will continue to be a key piece for the Cubs as they head toward the postseason.
So, When Do We Buy In?
At this point, it’s fair to buy into Tyrone Taylor being a better hitter than he has shown throughout most of his career. That doesn’t mean expecting anything close to a 215 wRC+ moving forward, but there are enough tangible changes underneath the surface to believe this run is more than pure luck.
The increase in bat speed, improved quality of contact, better plate discipline, and continued success against left-handed pitching give Taylor a legitimate offensive floor. Even with inevitable regression, those improvements could make him a threat when deployed in the right matchups.
That is all the Cubs really need him to be. Taylor doesn’t have to continue being an elite bat for the trade to look even better. If he can keep providing quality at-bats against lefties with strong defense, speed, and the ability to cover each outfield position, Chicago may have quietly landed one of the more useful role players at the deadline.
You don’t have to buy the heater in its entirety. But you can still buy into Tyrone Taylor.
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Written by
Carson Wolf is a writer at Just Baseball covering the Chicago Cubs and MLB, he is the creator of The Wrigley Wire on X. He is…