Samad Taylor arrived as the Padres hit a rough stretch, and his manager’s simple message—be himself—has turned into a run of big defensive plays and timely hits. With Jake Cronenworth on the IL pushing Fernando Tatis Jr. into the infield, Taylor is quickly bec
SAN DIEGO — Samad Taylor showed up while the Padres were playing some of the worst baseball of the season. It didn’t take long for the message to land.
“The first thing Craig [Stammen] said when I got back up here was: ‘Continue to be yourself,’” Taylor said Wednesday, after his game-tying single set up Fernando Tatis Jr.’s dramatic walk-off home run. “It was like they’re giving me the OK to be that player that plays with my hair on fire.”
Taylor has taken that permission and turned it into something you can feel in a clubhouse. Stammen framed it plainly:
“He’s been exactly what Stammen has wanted him to be. Which is to say: He’s been himself.”
“He’s a player that’s had to work for everything that he’s gotten,” Stammen said. “A small guy with speed. He’s going to play that kind of game. And him in the dugout. it didn’t matter what the score was. what the situation of the game was — he’s up and down the dugout. talking. pumping guys up like he’d been here all year.”.
The story doesn’t start with a highlight reel. It starts with a room that had already started to sag.
The reporter who watched Taylor closest earlier this year first noticed that energy in the clubhouse in Philadelphia. as the Padres were in the process of getting swept. Taylor was upbeat. He was mildly vocal. too—not in a rah-rah way. just in a. “Yeah. it’s tough. but we’ll get through it” kind of way.
What made that stand out is where it came from. Taylor had shared a clubhouse with those teammates during Spring Training. but he’d spent most of the season at Triple-A El Paso and the rest of his career with other organizations—the Guardians. Blue Jays. Royals and Mariners. He didn’t know most of his teammates all that well. Still, he showed up with the same lift.
If the Padres were looking for a spark, his arrival brought it with him.
On the field, Taylor’s impact has followed the attitude.
“Today,” he said afterward, “was a blessing.”
That night, Taylor was the standout in an ugly Padres loss. He made three excellent catches and reached base three times. The performance earned him another start.
On Monday, he made two more brilliant defensive plays, while driving in three runs. Then, on Tuesday, he started and tied the game in the 10th inning with a single. On Wednesday, he did the same in the eighth inning with another game-tying hit. The season has offered a specific pattern for the Padres: all season long. they’ve recorded four game-tying hits in the eighth inning or later—and Taylor has two of them.
Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t try to dress it up.
“He’s been balling, man,” Tatis said. “I’m so happy for him. … He’s been a huge spark. He’s brought a lot of energy, made a lot of really good plays — defensively, offensively.”
Taylor’s energy has also found familiar roots beyond San Diego. Ty France played in the same youth system as Taylor in the San Gabriel Valley. France is four years older than Taylor, so they never played on the same team. They later trained at the same facility and were eventually teammates briefly in Seattle.
“I’ve followed his career since the moment we started working out together,” France said. “That’s kind of been his style his whole life. He’s an explosive player. He moves the ball around the field. He just makes things happen.
“So him doing what he’s doing right now — I’ve seen it before. Obviously, it’s fun to watch. But I’m not surprised.”
The Padres may not be viewing Taylor as the long-term answer in left field. But right now, “A sparkplug,” as he called himself, is exactly what they needed. Half the team has already called him that.
There’s also a practical urgency behind the excitement. Jake Cronenworth is on the IL, forcing Tatis into the infield. Taylor’s arrival gives San Diego a different dimension—something they didn’t really have with Castellanos and Laureano sharing time.
Taylor fits best in an outfield corner. But he can play second base and center as well. Stammen can move him around as needed, deploying him as a runner, a bunter, or a defender. Or, Stammen can simply let him swing away.
The question now isn’t whether Taylor can make an impact. The question is how long it can last.
Is Taylor going to keep reaching base at a .500 clip while making an impact play on the bases or in the field every night? “I’m sorry to say that, no, he is not,” the reporter wrote—because even momentum cools eventually.
But with the Padres teetering, Taylor’s arrival has felt like it landed at exactly the right moment. For now, he’s a short-term solution—maybe a semi-regular starter in left, maybe more value off the bench—built on both hustle and production.
Taylor’s response was simple when asked about riding it.
“I’m just riding the high as long as I can,” Taylor said. “That’s it.”
Samad Taylor Padres Craig Stammen Fernando Tatis Jr. Jake Cronenworth IL Ty France Triple-A El Paso San Diego Padres left field