Even with banged-up eye, Taylor makes one of top catches of season

Michael A. Taylor got hit in face on a foul tip and then made one of the more amazing diving catches in the Nationals' 3-2 setback Wednesday to the Angels.

All in a day's work for the center fielder, who is just returning from an oblique injury.

In the sixth, Taylor got hit with a foul tip that bounced close to home plate and then back up near his right eye. After being dazed for a moment, he returned to the batter's box and completed the at-bat.

"I really didn't see it coming," Taylor said. "Kind of sucker punched me. So it wasn't too scary, but it didn't feel great."

He was wearing protective sunglasses that did their job and was thankful to not be seriously injured. His eye socket was noticeably swollen as he spoke to reporters after the game.

"I'm not even sure honestly or what it hit first," Taylor said. "I think it did because my eyeball itself is good, just everything around there. So maybe it just kind of pushed my glasses back into my face.

"I was just worried that I possibly like cut myself. Glasses maybe caught the corner of my eye or something. Once I saw I wasn't bleeding, things were good."

Then in the top of the seventh with two outs, and with his eye still a bit swollen from his last at-bat, Taylor went after a long drive that sliced away from him towards left-center field off the bat of the Angels catcher Juan Graterol. He caught up with the ball and made a diving catch in left field to end the frame.

"I felt like I got a pretty good jump," Taylor described. "I started (opposite field) -- just a fastball out over, try to lean in that direction and get a good jump. Balls been flying so I took a little bit deeper rout and it ended up working out."

A lot of times on long passes, a wide receiver in football will look up to a particular quadrant in the sky of where they assume the football will be and then when the football gets in that space they follow it into their hands. They do this because if they watch the ball leave the quarterback's hand, they will have little chance of catching the ball when it's thrown 40 yards in the air because their leg speed can't catch up with the football thrown so hard.

Taylor described his strategy for catching the well-hit fly ball deep to the outfield in a similar vein.

"Watching it off the bat, depending on how far away it is from me, I might look it off and try to run to a spot and then pick it back up," Taylor explained. "In that case, I think I had enough time to look it off, try to gain some ground and find the ball again."

Manager Dusty Baker said he was shocked at how much ground Taylor covered to get to the ball and make the diving play.

"Oh, that was awesome," Baker said. "(First base coach) Davey Lopes looked at me, and I looked at him. You hear about a guy outrun the ball, which is very tough to do, and Michael has done that twice this week. It just shows you what kind of outfielder he is, what kind of jumps he gets, what kind of closing speed that he has in center field. Michael, he's playing great."

Starter Tanner Roark turned around and watched in amazement as Taylor tracked down and dove for the ball for the out.

"It was awesome. You saw my reaction," Roark said. "It was a hell of a catch. Same with (Daniel Murphy's) play in the first. It was a really good play. Good defense. Good ballgame. We just couldn't come out on top."

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who provided the two-run shot and the only offense for the Nats in the loss, appreciates what Taylor is capable of defensively in center field.

"Mike is great. He is great out there," Zimmerman said. "I think before he got hurt he was really starting to show his talents at the plate as well and starting to learn to swing a little bit, but that is one thing you never had to worry about with him. Whether he is 4-for-4 or 0-for-4, he goes out there and plays hard."

Now as Baker talked about this week, if Taylor can get his timing back at the plate, he will be a complete addition to the Nats lineup.