Minor League Baseball

Seattle Mariners Select Samad Taylor From Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers

Taylor will get his first look in the majors this season after the Mariners placed Gold Glove winner Dylan Moore on the 10-day injured list.
Teren Kowatsch|
Seattle Mariners second baseman Samad Taylor hits a home run during a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals on March 6, 2024, at Surprise Stadium in Arizona.
Seattle Mariners second baseman Samad Taylor hits a home run during a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals on March 6, 2024, at Surprise Stadium in Arizona. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

In this story:

Seattle Mariners

Samad Taylor has been one of the most impressive hitters in the Seattle Mariners minor league system this season. And he's earned his first 2025 crack at the big leagues.

Taylor's contract was selected by the Mariners on Tuesday after utility player Dylan Moore was placed on the 10-day injured list with right hip inflammation.

"(It's) a little bit of everything," Taylor said in a pregame interview Tuesday. "It's a dream come true to get back up top. And I'm just here to do what I need to do to stay. That's it."

Taylor is hitting .321 (27-for-84) with 12 runs, five doubles, five home runs, six steals and 14 RBIs in 23 games this season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.

"You look at (my) numbers last year, I was riding a roller-coaster a lot," Taylor, 26, said. "I made a couple adjustments in the offseason that panned out to work and I'm sticking with it. It's just the consistency in the box is the biggest thing. ... I was a pretty jumpy hitter. I'm a quick-twitch muscle guy. So (I've been) staying on my back side and let things work."

Seattle acquired Taylor in a trade with the Kansas City Royals on Jan. 30, 2024.

Taylor played three games for the Mariners in 2024. He hit .400 (2-for-5) with two runs. He hit .333 (8-for-24) with five runs, two doubles, a home run and seven RBIs in 12 Cactus League games this spring.

On top of the mechanical improvements Taylor has made, he's also going into this latest promotion with a refined mental approach. Senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez and hitting coach Kevin Seitzer helped give pointers on that aspect of Taylor's game during the spring.

"I just picked their brain on the mental side," Taylor said. "It really wasn't a crazy mechanical adjustment. I'm a big thinker, or I was a big thinker. I've kind of flushed it now. It was just taking the things that they said on the mental side and changing those, and it's worked."

Taylor said manager Dan Wilson told him to "cause havoc and stay ready." And based on his work this season in Tacoma, and the Mariners' aggressive habits on the bases, that's exactly what he'll do.

Related Minor League Baseball stories

MARINERS CATCHING PROSPECT HARRY FORD ACCOMPLISHES MAJOR CAREER MILESTONE: The Mariners' Top 100 catcher hit his first Triple-A long ball with the Tacoma Rainiers. CLICK HERE

MARINERS PROSPECT TYLER LOCKLEAR HAS FOUR-HIT GAME FOR TACOMA RAINIERS: The first baseman continued his dominant year in Triple-A with against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. CLICK HERE

MARINERS PITCHING PROSPECT TEDDY MCGRAW CLEARED TO RESUME THROWING PROGRAM: One of the Mariners' most talented but injury-prone minor leaguers is set to restart his route to return. CLICK HERE

Follow Minor League Baseball On SI on social media

You can also follow Teren Kowatsch on social media on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.

Published | Modified
Teren Kowatsch
TEREN KOWATSCH

Teren Kowatsch is a staff writer for ''Minor League Baseball on SI'' and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He has been a writer for “On SI’’ for two years and is a graduate of the University of Idaho. You can follow him on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch

Home/NEWS