Instead, he played the outfield for the Nationals. There, he played 138 games — more than all but three of his teammates — flashing speed, power and the best outfield defense in the organization, his high-strikeout count offset in part by a knack for making contact when it counted most.

Now, as the roster stands a few days in to 2016, Taylor looks like the Nationals opening day center fielder, because Denard Span is testing free agency and efforts to acquire a more proven outfielder have not yet yielded one. But that the Nationals are making those efforts shows they are not content with their trio of Taylor, Bryce Harper, and Jayson Werth.

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Barring injury, Werth and Harper have two of the three outfield spots locked down for the foreseeable future — though if the last couple of years are any indication, the phrase “barring injury” about the Nationals may amount to saying “barring winter” about January in New England. So what of Taylor, and why the seemingly dogged search for another everyday option?

Those strikeouts have always pestered Taylor, though they often pester hitters with prolific power like his: Remember, Taylor hit the fourth longest home run in baseball last season, according to ESPN’s Home Run Tracker. He struck out in 30.9 percent of his at-bats, second highest percentage in baseball to ultra powerful Chris Davis. But Davis is paid to hit homers and little else. Taylor has the tools to contribute more.

His UZR, one of those advance defensive metrics wrestling with the eye test for scouting supremacy, was the ninth-best among major league outfielders, with stars and Gold Glove candidates ahead of him. He has the speed to lead off — he led the team with 16 steals last season — but not the contact rate. He has the power to hit in the middle of the order, but not the honed, patient middle-of-the-order approach like, say, Harper.

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Last year, he and first base coach Tony Tarasco and hitting coach Rick Schu and others honed his approach, with the largest focus on stopping swinging at low breaking balls he was chasing, a rather destructive habit for his batting average. In one of his more locked-in stretches, 26 games in June, Taylor struck out 23 times in 92 at-bats and hit .283 with one homer. When he struck out 33 times in 92 July at-bats, he hit .228 with four homers. High numbers of strikeouts brought high power, and low numbers of strikeouts brought high average.

To find power and average simultaneously, Taylor is focusing this offseason on putting more fastballs in play than he did last season — when he felt he fouled too many off, swinging more often for monstrous contact than solid contact.

“I think that’s just a simple thing that I can do to cut down on strikeouts and put the ball in play more,” Taylor said. “Just trying not to do too much with the baseball, so I think it’s more of a mentality thing than anything else. It’s something I can do in my practice, not trying to hit home runs and knock the cover off the ball, and try to hit the ball on the screws.”

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Though Tarasco and others said they saw vast improvement in Taylor’s ability to lay off those tantalizing breaking balls down in the zone, putting fastballs in play early in the count should help him avoid pitcher’s counts in which pitches like those might come more frequently. Plus, solid contact with fastballs often yields line drives and hard ground balls, contact that can accidentally turn into a hit — or even a home run — if well-directed. Monstrous contact, while impressive, does not come often, and the swings that create it often generate foul balls, swings and misses, or weak ground balls that do little to push rallies forward.

Taylor was still productive, of course. His 14 home runs were ninth-most, those 16 stolen bases fourth, and his 63 RBI sixth-most among big league rookies. In his first big league season, he ranked first in stolen bases, fifth in hits, fifth in homers, and fourth in RBI on his team.

“I have some work to do,” he said. “I feel like at times I was able to be consistent with what I was trying to do at the plate, but I’m still not happy with where I’m at. Hopefully I never will be, and always trying to get better.”

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Taylor will be 25 for most of the 2016 season, and is still a work in progress. He has all-star tools, so with regular playing time and the continued growth, he has the raw skills to be one of the better center fielders in baseball. But General Manager Mike Rizzo’s overtures at stars like Jason Heyward, interest in steady Gerardo Parra, and inquiries about Rockies star Carlos Gonzalez indicate an intention to contend, and an unwillingness to wait.

If the Nationals acquire an everyday outfielder — either a center fielder or a corner outfielder who would then likely push Harper to center — Taylor would likely slide into the role of superutility outfielder, an apt replacement if one of his teammates needs a day off.

Building a steady offensive approach, then building on that to grow as a hitter, is more difficult without regular at bats, though Taylor would probably find plenty. Werth will be 37 in May, and will need spelling even if he avoids injury. Any player acquired could likely benefit from regular rest, too. Harper isn’t going anywhere, but Taylor provides range that takes pressure off him in the outfield, too.