Age 26 revisited with Chris Taylor and Ian Kinsler

Phil Gurnee ♦ July 23, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

Before the season started I mentioned how many Dodgers had their break out seasons as a twenty-six-year-old. I was focused on Yasiel Puig but maybe I should have focused on Chris Taylor.

Watching Chris Taylor club another home run and triple last I heard that Ian Kinsler was being made available by the Tigers and the Brewers might be interested in him. It was at that time I thought about the similarities between Taylor and Kinsler.

I opened up Baseball Reference and had to laugh. Age 26 – right on the fucking button.

Taylor is really a second baseman playing left field so as far as I’m concerned in this article he’s a second baseman.

So here we go.

• They are both 2nd baseman
• Both right hand hitters
• Both have above average power and speed for a second baseman
• They both kicked ass at age 26

Age Twenty-Six for Taylor and Kinsler:

The downside is that was the most productive season for Kinsler in his career. The plus side is that he has been an above average second baseman for over a decade.

If the Dodgers have really fallen into an Ian Kinsler type second baseman for the next five years, they have indeed hit gold while mining for copper.