“Engine doesn’t run without spark plugs.”
How long The Samad Taylor Show continues is irrelevant for now. What matters is that the longtime minor leaguer has perked up the games he has started since joining a high-payroll Padres team that had been losing in repetitive, numbing fashion.
Manager Craig Stammen gave the 27-year-old left fielder and small-ball catalyst his first start Sunday, four days after the Corona native was called up as a bench player and one of the replacements to injured veteran Ramon Laureano. Reaching base with a single and two walks while batting eighth, he did what he could for baseball’s most disappointing lineup. Afield, he ran down three testy flyballs.
It wasn’t enough to prevent another Padres defeat, but it earned Taylor another start Monday as the Padres sought their third win in 14 games. This time, the Padres got a much-needed victory in the East Village, where they’d lost six of the previous seven games. In left field, Taylor kept the Reds from going ahead by running down a fly ball near the line and throwing out a baserunner at home plate.
As the No. 8 hitter, he fed into a timely small-ball attack — three straight bunts, all of them successful — that pantsed the Reds late in the game. With the Padres down 2-1 and none out in the seventh inning after doubles by Xander Bogaerts and Gavin Sheets chased the starting pitcher, manager Craig Stammen asked his two recent Pacific Coast League call-ups to play to their strengths.
Rookie Jase Bowen pulled a perfect bunt single toward third base, causing a pair of Reds fielders to cross paths and leaving Padres runners on the corners.
“I’m bunting,” Taylor told Stammen, en route to home plate. The 5-foot-8 right-hander’s push bunt forced Reds first baseman Sal Stewart into a difficult play at home plate that he didn’t pull off, breaking the 2-2 tie. Freddy Fermin, the No. 9 hitter who’d homered in his third straight game, followed with a third bunt. Further annoying the Reds an inning later, Taylor blooped a two-run single as the Padres pulled away for the 6-2 win.
Tuesday, Stammen returned Taylor to the starting lineup, batting sixth. Check out the low-salaried Padres quintet that filled out the lineup’s bottom half-plus on a night when Bogaerts was on paternity leave: Will Wagner, Taylor, Bryce Johnson, Fermin and Sung-Mun Song. The idea is that Taylor and friends can help the Padres steal a few wins, regardless of what the stars do.
Samad Taylor #0 of the San Diego Padres hits a single against the Cincinnati Reds during the eighth inning at Petco Park on Monday, June 8, 2026 in San Diego, California. Taylor said soccer was his first love as a multi-sport athlete growing up in the Inland Empire. He’s still a fan of the world’s game, forecasting Argentina as the World Cup champion while also praising his favorite player, Portugal’s Ronaldo.
But as his baseball game evolved past his middle-school days, Taylor gave up the other sports in anticipation of earning a living as a versatile big leaguer. Drafted by Cleveland a decade ago, the Corona High School alum has played in the big leagues each of the past four seasons — 31 games with the ‘23 Royals, a handful with two Mariners teams and now several with the Padres, dating to his debut off the bench last Wednesday.
Taylor has brought to mind Eric Owens, who added zip to the 1999 Padres as a left fielder and small-ball catalyst who famously stole home plate, burning another surprised Reds team. A veteran of almost 900 minor league games, Taylor’s an adept bunter who would love to approach his .272 batting average and .429 slug rate accrued below the big leagues.
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