LeCroy had waited to do this. He spent the early days of Taylor’s tenure with Harrisburg gauging how the former everyday major leaguer was handling the demotion. After four or five games, he recognized the 28-year-old’s confidence was shaken.

“You could sense it,” LeCroy said. “He didn’t have a bad attitude, but he didn’t believe it.”

AD

LeCroy called Jonathan Tosches, the Nationals’ manager of advance scouting, and asked him to put together a highlight video. He wanted to pump Taylor up, show him the player he could be. Maybe this would lead him to return to the hitter he had been at times throughout his career. LeCroy pressed play.

AD

Taylor transformed on the video. He smacked doubles down the lines and in the gaps. He blasted home runs everywhere. He swiped bases with abandon. There he was, in Game 4 of the 2017 National League Division Series, belting a grand slam. The screen went dark. LeCroy handed Taylor a thumb drive.

“I really appreciate them doing that,” Taylor said. “They were great at helping me remember [the player I’ve been] and also move forward.”

Three months later, what Taylor puzzled out in Harrisburg proved pivotal. His contributions when called upon, as a surprise pinch hitter and as the center fielder after a right hamstring strain sidelined starter Victor Robles, have played a sizable role in the Nationals’ postseason run. He has still struggled at times with the bat, and his defensive miscue in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series could have ended up being costlier than it was, but he has given the Nationals what they needed. He have the team space to not rush Robles back.

AD

AD

There’s a good chance the 22-year-old Robles is back this week, maybe as soon as Monday. Taylor will then return to his usual roles of pinch runner and defensive replacement. It would fit in a season of ups and downs, and it would give the Nationals a seasoned bench option to use against the St. Louis Cardinals in a series they lead 2-0.

“He’s been unbelievable since he’s come back up,” Manager Dave Martinez said of Taylor. “He understands his role. He’s been really good at it.”

Everything changed in Harrisburg. Taylor worked with Rupp to shorten his swing again and keep the barrel of his bat in the strike zone longer. He continued analyzing pitchers’ pickoff moves to hone the base-stealing approach he might need later. He shagged flyballs and threw to the bases from center and right field before games because General Manager Mike Rizzo wanted him ready if they needed him to replace an injured outfielder or serve as a defensive replacement for the playoffs. (Or, as it turns out, both.)

The hitting still came slowly. His batting average hovered between .220 and .240, and he still didn’t feel comfortable at the plate. LeCroy remembered a late July game in Portland, Maine, when he thought things might change. Taylor drove a 3-0, “really good fastball” over the fence in center, his third home run in a week. But then he struck out at least once in 15 of the next 16 games, and his batting average sank again.

AD

AD

The advantage of major league players playing in the minors is that they don’t worry about stats. Taylor disregarded his numbers, something he looked at in the majors, and searched instead for the rhythm every hitter craves. But by late August, Taylor felt no better. Then, for reasons he still can’t explain, he felt good again two weeks before the Senators’ season ended. He went 3 for 5 one night, collected six more hits in the next three games and polished off the week by going 4 for 4 with four doubles.

“I was finally able to get that feeling,” Taylor said. “I just tried to repeat over and over.”

He executed toward the end of the regular season, when the Nationals sewed up a postseason berth and he played consistently. He sprayed three extra-base hits in his last six at-bats of the regular season. The performance emboldened Martinez to use Taylor — off the team because of his bat three months earlier — as a pinch hitter in the biggest moment of the season. Milwaukee Brewers super-reliever Josh Hader plunked Taylor in the eighth inning of the NL wild-card game, a hit by pitch that ultimately sparked the game-winning rally.

AD

AD

The Nationals needed him later when, in Game 2 of the NLDS, Robles departed in the eighth inning with a mild right hamstring strain. Taylor stepped forward again to replace an injured outfielder and become the Nationals’ starting center fielder.

He has contributed in myriad ways since, small things such as singling to flip the lineup over the pitcher’s spot in Game 4 of the NLDS. The next inning, Ryan Zimmerman drilled a home run to break the game open. He has done big things, too, such as his difficult, diving catch in center to secure the last out of Game 5 in the NLDS to beat the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers. His home run in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Cardinals gave starter Max Scherzer a small early lead on a day when that was all he needed.

That night, a reporter asked Taylor about his homer. The outfielder misunderstood and thought he meant the line drive that flew by him in the eighth inning. He laughed and explained he couldn’t hear the ball make contact, which made it more difficult to judge. The homer, he added, surprised him. Flyballs hadn’t carried in Busch Stadium until his, when what once looked lost seemed important again.

AD

AD

“I wasn’t sure quite how high it was going to go,” Taylor said.