T-Rat Talk: Taylor Floyd

When the 2021 Timber Rattlers find themselves in a tough spot late in the game, one reliever is almost always waiting for the call. He’s been training for this role for much of his baseball life.

Most professional pitchers start their careers as starters, with some eventually moving into the bullpen and adjusting to the challenges of a new role. Timber Rattlers pitcher and 2019 tenth round pick Taylor Floyd is the exception to that trend: He’s been a late inning specialist since his 2017 junior college debut with Grayson County College in Denison, Texas.

“I always go back to this one series in junior college when it all started for me. I came out of the bullpen in a game in a ninth inning, bases loaded situation and got out of it,” Floyd said. “My junior college coach, Dusty Hart, pretty much just put me in a closing role from then on. From there on I was a two-pitch pitcher, mainly, so I was just good in those tight moments in junior college, and that’s what Texas Tech wanted me to be and I think that’s what the Brewers want me to be.”

During his two years at Grayson Floyd’s teams went 76-31 under Hart and featured three pitchers who would go on to play professional baseball: In addition to Floyd, Zack Phillips has played in the High-A Central League in 2021 for Quad Cities and Tyler Ivey, who went on to be a third round pick in the 2017 draft, made his MLB debut this season with the Astros.

Meanwhile, Floyd went on to spend his junior season pitching out of the bullpen for Texas Tech, where he played in the 2019 College World Series, before joining the Brewers organization. With the Timber Rattlers Floyd has been able to put his volumes of late inning experience to good use.

“That has helped him a lot, building that reliever mindset a long time ago. It’s one thing that he has set right now,” Timber Rattlers pitching coach Hiram Burgos said.

Through 25 relief appearances with Wisconsin Floyd has a 2.35 ERA in 38 1/3 innings, racking up 57 strikeouts while allowing just 16 walks. He’s recorded seven saves, tied for the High-A Central League lead, but has been called upon many more times to help his team out of challenging spots.

“Every time we have a leverage situation and he’s available he’s getting the ball, and he’s been able to execute most times,” Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson told the Rattler Radio podcast on Sunday after Floyd notched his seventh save in a 3-0 win over South Bend.

Across his last three outings Floyd has recorded 13 of his 15 outs by strikeout. In two of those three contests he entered the game mid-inning with runners on and prevented them from scoring. All told, Floyd has inherited 24 baserunners when entering games this season and allowed just three to score.

“We prepare so much, we do so much off the field that it gives you the confidence to take on a situation like that. Texas Tech put me in a lot of those situations, junior college put me in a lot of those situations, I think by now it’s almost normal to be in those situations. It’s helped a lot this year,” Floyd said.

#NewProfilePic 🤷🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/oNs7MzCwgR

— Taylor Floyd (@t_floyd6) September 26, 2020

Whether they’re his own runners or runners belonging to somebody else, Floyd has been at his best with runners on base this season. Opposing batters are hitting just .203 with a .280 on-base percentage and .230 slugging when they face Floyd with runners on for a .510 OPS. Among eleven Rattlers pitchers who have logged at least 30 innings this season, Floyd is one of just four whose OPS against is better with runners on base. He said the key to success in those situations is focusing on the batter, but also noted that the skills he uses to hold runners on can also give him an advantage against hitters.

“Obviously, the runners, you’re thinking about a couple of other things when they’re involved. But I almost try to use runners as an advantage for me, to change the tempo at the plate, picking off and holding the ball when I’m coming set. It really gives you a lot of different looks. When you’re in the windup with nobody on, you’re only doing the one windup, it’s just the same tempo and everything. When you’re out of the stretch, the ability to change tempo, we’ve done a good job of that this year,” Floyd said.

Whether the bases are loaded or empty, however, hitters have been having a tough time with Floyd’s slider. Erickson noted that his ability to throw the pitch to both sides of the plate to both right and left-handed batters has been a key to his success.

“He’s very comfortable with that pitch and it’s unique to have a young A-ball pitcher with that command on both sides of the plate,” Erickson said. “He can sweep it sometimes, can throw it a little sharper, can try to back-foot lefties with it or try to back-door lefties with it. He’s just got a ton of confidence in that pitch and can throw it in any count. So any time you have that kind of ability, you’re usually going to give hitters fits, especially right handers.”

When the game is on the line Taylor Floyd is the man you want on the mound!... 🔥🐍 #save #tratnation

Timber Ratteres 'Saves' are presented by East Wisconsin Savings Bank “Teaching Kids to save is such a game-changer!” https://t.co/591Dd2RErn pic.twitter.com/ZqgTBmnATt

— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) July 11, 2021

After Sunday’s contest Floyd had faced 81 right-handed batters this season and they combined to bat just .156 with a .198 on-base and .195 slugging against him. His slider has been a big part of that, but since transitioning to the professional ranks in 2019 Floyd said the biggest change in his game has been improving his fastball command to have a second plus pitch to play off of it.

“Once I got here I realized that guys can sit on a pitch, and they can learn a pitch and they can try to attack just that pitch,” Floyd said. “So developing my fastball has been huge. I wasn’t a big fastball pitcher, and now I almost want to throw my fastball more than my slider. So really, just being able to develop a different look for the hitter and tunneling those pitches together has been really effective. We’ve done a lot of Trackman work with Michael O’Neal and (Hiram) Burgos, our pitching coach. They’re really good at what they do and they really showed me the specifics of where I need to be at for those pitches to really tunnel each other.”

Another challenge for high-leverage relievers can often be workload: Their teams may go several days between late inning opportunities, then need them on consecutive days. It’s rare for pitchers at the A-ball level to pitch in back-to-back games, but Floyd has already been called upon to do it twice this season.

“We always wait until half of the season to do that. Me being with them every single day, I know how they feel after their outings and all of that,” Burgos said. “I get a good amount of feedback from them to see how their arm is responding, how they feel after each outing. So then that’s when we start making decisions which guys are able to go back-to-back days.”

Floyd also credited Timber Rattlers Athletic Trainer Andrew Staehling with helping him develop a routine that prepared him for that workload.

“We have a pretty serious routine based on whether I’m going to be active that day, and just really being consistent in the training room,” Floyd said. “As long as you stay on top of your stuff, we’ve done this long enough and we keep our arms healthy enough to be able to do back-to-back days. Really, Andrew has helped me out a lot staying ready for those situations.”

Having a pitcher like Floyd available on back-to-back days also gives the Rattlers coaching staff additional flexibility as they plan for games.

“Of course you always want a guy who when he throws 25 pitches or less, he’s allowed to go back-to-back days. We haven’t done it that much, but I know Floyd has done those and he’s responded well,” Burgos said.

Looking forward, Floyd said his biggest goal is consistency.

“It’s baseball, bad outings are bound to come, so if they do or when they do you just stay ahead of them and try to stay consistent and be somebody my coaches can count on for the rest of the year,” Floyd said.