Graduated from El Segundo (Calif.) High School where he was a two-time league MVP in football and baseball...Led the football team to a 10-0 regular season record and the CIF semi-finals in 2013 as a dual-threat quarterback...Sported a 4.7-40 yard time while passing for 3,000 yards his junior season, and 2,002 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior...Played college baseball at the University of Southern California where he combined to bat .272 with 14 HR and 74 RBI over 141 collegiate games for the Trojans (2016-18)...Twice knocked in the game-winning run while playing against UCLA in a crosstown rivalry game at the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic...First time came on March 5, 2017 where he recorded three RBI, two on a triple, and a third RBI for the 10th inning game-winner in a 4-3 victory...The second came on an eighth-inning solo home run on March 11, 2018, to break a 2-2 tie...Played for Orleans in the Cape Cod League in 2017, batting .252 with a .457 on-base percentage in 35 games...Played for La Crosse in the Northwoods League as a freshman...Spent the 2020 season limited by the COVID-19 outbreak, working manual labor at an aerospace engineering company, lifting and drilling holes as well as moving heavy equipment for the maintenance of fighter jets...He worked 10-hour shifts beginning at 4:45 a.m....His brother, Nigel, was the tight end in high school football and also pitched for the USC Trojans (2012-14)...Nigel was a 12th-round selection of the Baltimore Orioles in 2014, playing two professional seasons in the Minors with Aberdeen and Delmarva before finishing his career in Independent Ball with Normal and Lincoln...His first name comes from his great-great grandfather on the Dutch side of his family...His mother, Kumi, is full-blooded Japanese, in reference to his double middle name Taylor-Tatsuji...Was drafted in 2018 by Scouting Director, Randy Flores, who also played collegiately at USC...Signed by Mike Garciaparra...Resides in El Segundo, Calif.
2024
NL Ranks: Hard Hit % (49.5, 12th), % Swings resulting in Hard Hit Balls (21.9%, first), Multi-Walk Games (13, T-5th)...Missed 48 games on two separate stints on the injured list due to left rib (March 27-April 10) and oblique (May 31-July 7) injuries...Among Major Leaguers with 400+ plate appearances, ranked among MLB leaders in percentage of pitches taken (62.8, T-1st), walk percentage (12.8, 5th), plate appearances/walk (7.79, fifth), walks/per strikeout (0.66, T-13th) and chase rate (16.9, 1st*)...Was one of five qualified Major Leaguers to rank in the 90th percentile or higher in both hard-hit percentage and Chase Rate, with Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto and Seiya Suzuki...Led St. Louis in walks (52) despite playing in only 109 games...Paced St. Louis in average exit velocity (91.8) and ranked second in hard-hit percentage (49.5) according to Statcast...Reached double-digit homers for the third consecutive season (2022-24), joining Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman and Paul Goldschmidt as lone Cardinals to do so...Averaged the third-fastest home run trot (20.3 second) among Major Leaguers with double-digit home runs...Reached base safely in 82 of 109 games, including three-plus times in a game on 10 occasions...Worked at least one walk in 37 games, while compiling multiple walks in 13 games and three walks twice...Was 5-for-10 (.500/.538/.700) with a 1.238 OPS and team-leading 14 RBI in bases loaded situations...Batted .364/.417/.576 (12-33) over season-high nine-game hit streak from Aug. 27-Sept. 4...Missed the first 13 games of the season with left rib contusion from colliding with the outfield wall during Spring Training on March 2...Was activated on April 11...Activated from 10-day injured list on July 8 after missing 35 games with an oblique strain...Paced the Cardinals in OBP (.363) and OPS (.801) in 63 games after the All-Star Break...Ended season slashing .290/.420/.565 (20-88) with four homers, 16 RBI, 16 walks and a .986 OPS in 25 September games to end the season...Ranked among MLB leaders in September in OBP (10th), walks (T-6th) and OPS (13th)...Went 2-for-4 with an RBI double on his bobblehead giveaway on Sept. 20 vs. Cleveland...Appeared in 128 games defensively, playing in right field (74 G), left field (30 G) and center field (24 G).
2023
NL Ranks: OBP (.367, 11th), Walks (72, T-17th), Walk Pct. (14.3, T-7th), PA/BB (6.99, 8th), BB/K (0.73, 6th), Groundball/ Flyball ratio (1.82, 9th), Groundball pct. (50.0, 8th), Pct. of pitches taken (64.4, 1st*), Pct. swings put in play (44.9, 7th), Pct. swings on first pitch (14.3, 2nd)...Established single-season highs in games (117), hits (111), extra-base hits (38), walks (72), doubles (23), RBI (46), runs scored (74), stolen bases (11) and total bases (178), and matched his home run total (14) from 2022...Led MLB in highest percentage of pitches taken (64.4%) and ranked third in lowest Chase Rate (17.1%), his percentage of pitches swung at outside of the strike zone...Missed a total of 42 games on three separate stints on the Injured List due to left thumb (April 3-14), lower back (May 30-June 18), and lower abdomen (Aug. 18-31) injuries...Worked at least one walk in 51 games, compiled multiple walks in 15 games (T-10th in NL), and 3+ walks in six games (T-2nd in NL)...Walked three times in consecutive games (April 15-16), tying the franchise record (19th time)...Hit .357 (75-210) off fastballs, 2nd-best in MLB to Shohei Ohtani (.374, 82-219) - minimum 200 plate appearances...Averaged 410 feet on his 14 home runs, 2nd-longest on the Cardinals to Nolan Gorman (411)...Reached base safely in 93 of 117 games, including 4+ times in a game on 10 occasions (T-6th in NL)...Hit 40.8% of balls in play to center field, third-highest in MLB to Brent Rooker (41.0%) and Yandy Diaz (41.1%)...Batted .277/.362/.454 (75-271) with an .816 OPS in 68 games from the leadoff spot. Led the Cardinals with 17 leadoff hits in the first inning...Appeared in 114 games defensively, playing in center field (73 g) right field (34 g), and left field (24 g)...Smacked four leadoff home runs (T-12th in MLB)...Tied an MLB record with eight walks in his first three games of the season (Detroit's Robbie Grossman, 2021) while surpassing the Cardinals record of Wally Moon (7 in 1958) & Miller Huggins (1913)...Compiled multiple hits in three consecutive games twice: May 4-6 and Aug. 9-11...Ranked among MLB leaders in July in runs (24, T-1st), games, (26, T-2nd) and walks (18, T-5th). His 24 runs scored were most by a Cardinal since Jim Edmonds (27 in 2004)...Recorded a .980 OPS in July, reaching base safely in 24-of-26 games, including a career-best 17 in a row from July 1-20 (.269/.364/.418)...Missed the cycle by a triple on July 22 at the Chicago Cubs. Hit the 10th leadoff HR by a Cardinal at Wrigley Field on the first pitch of the game...Went yard twice in a 3-2 loss to the Cubs on July 28 at Busch Stadium. Became the first Cardinal to record a multi-homer effort that included a leadoff blast since Matt Carpenter (3 HR) on July 20, 2018 at Chicago Cubs...Became the second Cardinals leadoff hitter in team history to hit 2 HR and drive in all of the team’s runs, joining Dexter Fowler on April 19, 2017 vs. Pittsburgh in a 2-1 win.
2022
Played in 108 games starting 66 in RF, 11 in CF and two in LF. ..Began the season on the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career and was recalled three times during the season...Finished the season hitting safely in his last nine starts (11- 36, .306) with eight XBH (six-2B, two-HR)...His 14 home runs T-4th on the Cardinals (Gorman), also ranked 4th with 51 walks on only 347 plate appearances...Posted a .345 on-base pct. In the lead-off spot, his only batting position with more walks than strikeouts (14:13), and tallied his most runs (15) and hits (15) from the No. 1 spot...Hammered a 452-foot HR (#12) vs. MIL (9/14), longest by a Cardinals player and the longest at Busch Stadium in 2022. ..Hit the first of 14 home runs at CHI (6/3) coming off Cubs infielder Frank Schwindel in the top of the ninth inning of a 14-5 Cardinals rout...Led the Cardinals in average exit velocity among batted balls at 91.7 MPH and 25th among MLB players (min. 200 batted ball events); eighth among National League players...Of his 14 home runs, two ranked in the Top 5 distance and three in the Top 10 exit velocity among Cardinals players...Recorded an assist and putout in a 9-2-5-2-9 DP on 9/9 at PIT (first in STL history). The last MLB OF to start a double play with an assist & end it with a putout was Colorado’s Preston Wilson, who started an 8-4-2-5-2-8 DP that originated with a double by Cincinnati’s Russell Branyan on July 31, 2003...Started 34 consecutive games (7/24-8/30) with the Cardinals posting a 24-10 record while batting .279 (31- 111, 16 RBI)...Hit first lead-off home run at ARI (8/21) off Merrill Kelly. ..Tied for ML lead with 3 triples in August (Ohtani & Realmuto); Lankford five in 1991...California native hammered N.L. West pitching at a .380 (19-50) clip with 12 of his 19 hits for extra bases (five doubles, three triples, four home runs) totaling a 1.376 OPS, the highest mark of any player in MLB (min. 50 PA)...Started and batted lead-off in both Wild Card Series games, hitting safely in each, including a double to lead-off Game Two. Also walked in each game and played all three outfield positions during the two-game series. Recorded an outfield assist in Game Two as his throw to third base was cut-off by Nolan Arenado and fired to Brendan Donovan at second base to nail an advancing Bryce Harper.
2021
Made his Major League debut at Comerica Park on June 22 vs. Detroit. Collected his first hit the following afternoon (6/23) in his first start, a triple at Comerica Park becoming the first Cardinal to triple for his first MLB hit since pitcher Daniel Ponce de Leon...Was invited to Major League Spring Training and spent the first month of the season at the Alternate Training Site before reporting to Memphis (AAA)...His first career home run was a pinch-hit shot at PNC Park (8/12). Would hit his second pinch-hit homer the next day at Kansas City (8/13), becoming the 69th player in MLB history to hit a home run in exactly one plate appearance in consecutive games...Was part of three Cardinals back-to-back home runs, including twice in the second game of a doubleheader on 9/24 at Chicago Cubs, his first career multi-home run game...Snapped an 0-for-23 slide with a multi-homer game at Wrigley Field (9/24) in Game 2 of the doubleheader. Finished the season batting .444 (8-18) in his final seven games...Batted .346 (9-26) with RISP and .385 (5-13) w/ 2 outs...Recorded three outfield assists with two in his first four games...Suffered a right hand injury (5/28-6/13) after fouling a pitch off at Memphis (AAA)...Played for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League and was named a Rising Star. Hit a lead-off home run in his second game on the first pitch, part of a multi-home run effort at Peoria. ..Hit for the cycle at Scottsdale (10/29) with a double, triple, game-tying home run in the 9th inning and an infield single in the 11th inning, following a four-pitch walk to lead-off the game.
2020
Did not play due to the COVID-19 canceling the minor league season.
2019
Advanced three levels during the 2019 season, starting in Peoria (A) playing in 29 games, then advanced to Palm Beach (A) where he played in 39 games and finished the season in Springfield (AA) playing in 33 games, where he posted his highest on-base percentage at .373...Led all Palm Beach outfielders with 10 outfield assists in 2019, while playing in only 39 games. Had a career-best 16 outfield assists on the season...Drew a career-high four walks vs. Quad Cities (4/22/19).
