Taylor working to be selective in his swings

When Adam Eaton went down with a season-ending injury, there was some concern that Michael A. Taylor would not be able to hit for average and contribute offensively the way the Nationals needed him to.

No need for that concern now. Taylor is hitting .273 with 11 homers and 30 RBIs in his first 62 games of the season.

On Sunday, he hit his third homer in the past two games, a two-run shot, which accounted for all the offense for the Nats in a 6-2 loss to the Reds.

It marked the third time this season Taylor has hit home runs in back-to-back games. It is also the sixth time in his career he has pulled off the feat.

Recently, Taylor is on a surge. In his last 11 games, Taylor is hitting .381 (16-for-42) with six doubles, five homers, 11 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

"I feel good," Taylor said about the hot streak. "I feel like my direction's been a little better. Sometimes I try to get a little too big, end up chasing pitches. Feel pretty good.

"Just trying to be consistent in my approach day in, day out. Not trying to manufacture results. Just go up there and put together quality at-bats."

Taylor has done a good job of being selective in his swing choices, fighting off more pitches in tough spots than maybe he had in the past.

"I mean, that's the plan, I don't know," Taylor said, smiling. "You guys tell me better with the stats how I've been doing. I'm going up there battling every day."

This season his strikeouts per plate appearance are at .332, while last year's figure was .325. His on-base percentage has improved since 2015, when it was .282. It was .278 last season, but is .305 so far this season.

His defense remains outstanding, case in point being this weekend's jumping catch in center field on a sure extra-base hit for Scooter Gennett, which Taylor turned into a big out. Taylor's consistency is a big factor in the Nats offense's ability to stay atop the National League leaderboard.