Mike Tauchman

Michael Robert Tauchman

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
• School Bradley University
• High School William Fremd High School
• Debut June 27, 2017

• Born December 3, 1990 in Palatine, IL USA

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Biographical Information

Mike Tauchman was one of the players who got to see a lot more action than expected at the major league level at the start of the 2019 season because of a rash of injuries affecting the New York Yankees. The outfielder was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Rockies for minor leaguer Phillip Diehl on March 23rd in order to provide some depth at the AAA level, but injuries to three of New York's four main outfielders - Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge - meant that not only did he make the opening day roster, but he was starting regularly as well, making starts at all three outfield positions during the first six weeks. In 32 games, he hit .213 with 4 homers and 12 RBIs, seemingly modest numbers, but enough to enable the Yanks to weather the storm. When Hicks was ready to come back on May 13th, he was sent down to the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, but had demonstrated that he could help the team in a pinch. He returned in mid-June, and this time really got his bat going. On September 8th, he hit his 13th homer of the year and drove in his 47th run in a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, but then pulled off lame as he tried to chase down a flare off the bat of Brock Holt in the 4th inning. He had to leave the game immediately and was diagnosed with a grade 2 strain, with a recovery time estimated at six to eight weeks. He had played 87 games and was hitting .277, good for an OPS+ of 128.

Tauchman was originally drafted by the Rockies in the 10th round of the 2013 amateur draft. He made his major league debut with the team in June of 2017, hitting .222 in 31 games. In 2018, he played another 21 games in the majors, hitting .094.

He again saw regular action with the Yankees during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, appearing in 43 of the team's 60 games. He hit .242 but did not homer and had 14 RBIs, his OPS+ falling to 84. This time, he was able to take part in the postseason, but appeared in only one game. scoring a run as a pinch runner during the Wild Card Series against the Cleveland Indians. He started 2021 with the Yankees and on opening day against the Toronto Blue Jays, he was used as a pinch-runner for Gary Sanchez with the score tied and none out in the 9th. He promptly stole second and third base against Jordan Romano, but was then gunned down at the plate by 3B Cavan Biggio when he tried to score and the Yankees lost the game in extra innings. He was hitting .214 in 21 games when on April 27th he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for P Wandy Peralta. On June 8th, he played the hero for his new team when he hit his first career grand slam off Josh Sborz with two outs in the 8th inning, leading the Giants to a 9-4 win over the Texas Rangers; the Giants were trailing 4-2 at the time. On June 23rd, he had a rare distinction: wearing the platinum sombrero but also hitting a homer in the same game. It came in a 13-inning, 9-3 Giants win over the Los Angeles Angels, as he struck out 5 times but then hit a three-run homer as part of a seven-run outburst by the Giants in the top of the 13th inning. He was only the fifth player in history with that particular batting line.

Related Sites

• Mike Tauchman on mlb.com