Brayden Taylor is ready for a new challenge

(Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images After treading water in Double-A Montgomery for parts of the last two seasons, here’s a hot take: Brayden Taylor appears ready for a promotion to Durham. If you look him up, his 99 wRC+ through 14 games doesn’t jump off the page, but the underlying data suggests he’s ready for a new challenge. Taylor was not performing well in his first full season in Montgomery last year.

Through his first 64 games, he produced just a 64 wRC+ driven largely by elevated swing-and-miss, as his contact rate was sitting at just about 70%. He was removed from games for a few weeks in July to reset and adjust his swing. After he returned to action, his production improved to 97 wRC+ across his final 44 games, and his contact rate rebounded into the mid 70s.

One of the key adjustments Taylor made was reducing the hitch in his swing while getting stacked on his back leg. He still has a bit of a bat wrap and average hand speed so some swing-and-miss will likely always be part of his profile, but it’s now seemingly more manageable. Taylor didn’t sacrifice his average power with this change either because he still holds his weight back fairly well and he’s always had a knack for getting the ball in the air pull-side.

There may have also been an adjustment to his bat angle or tilt as it appears slightly flatter than in the past. That would align with the improved contact rates, though it’s difficult to confirm given the limited minor league data and video available. While Taylor may not be filling up the box score just yet this season, his underlying data looks encouraging; his contact rate is up over 76% so far.