The wait is finally over as Grant Taylor has officially started his White Sox career. While he likely finishes the year at a full-season affiliate, the former second rounder has started his season in the desert with the rookie league White Sox’s affiliate in the Arizona Complex League. The 6-3, 230 pounder has been stellar in Arizona according to all indications.
In a recent article for Baseball America, James Fegan cited new Pale Hose farm director Paul Janish sharing that Taylor’s fastball is sitting in the 97-100 mph range out in the desert. Previous reports on velocity noted that the rightly typically sat in the 93-96 mph range before undergoing Tommy John surgery. In his debut against the Complex League Dodgers, Taylor gave up three earned runs in 3.1 innings and struck out seven hitters.
How It Began
Taylor was ranked by Perfect Game as the #155 overall player in the 2021 high school class and he was listed as the 5th best player from the state of Alabama. The righty attended Florence High School in Florence, Alabama, which is located in the northwest corner of the state along the Tennessee River. Due to the presence of the University of North Alabama, Taylor’s hometown is considered a college town and one of the primary economic hubs in the area.
As a 19-year-old high school senior, Taylor definitely had the opportunity to start his professional career out of high school but he chose a different path. “Turning pro out of high school wasn’t really an option for me. I liked academics and enjoyed my time visiting LSU,” Taylor said. The hurler also knew that with two solid seasons in Baton Rouge, he could significantly improve his draft stock and signing bonus expectations. Redshirt Sophomores can often enter the draft and make themselves eligible to sign. The White Sox had been following Taylor dating back to his prep days as well.
With a 7-0 record and while posting a 2.25 ERA in 64.2 innings as a senior, Taylor was pretty successful on the mound in high school. He struck out 127 hitters for Florence High School, but he also hit .330 and clubbed eight homers of his own. Taylor was named the Alabama 7A Player of the Year in 2021 and also earned All State honors. The two-way star also was a member of the National Honors Society, 30+ ACT Club and served as the president of the Spanish Club as well.
Taylor grew up in a house where he was challenged regularly. Grant has a younger sister named Ella but both of his brothers; Collin and Evan pitched at Arkansas in the SEC after starring in high school as well. Evan is a reliever in the Miami Marlins system currently. These bloodlines were brought up by Mike Shirley on draft night. “Think about the competition level being around that many great athletes. You want to win every day. Growing up in stable homes and being able to foster. Parents that hold you accountable, you’re challenged by your brothers. Constant competition. There is something right in those households”, Shirley said.
The area scouts (Warren Hughes) have been tracking him since high school. The responsibility of the area scout is to maintain prospects. He saw him pitch in high school. We saw how this was starting to unfold. You get the cape coverage and then the fall coverage. This is a piece of the puzzle within the scouting process; how it begins and ends and he just didn’t get the spring to justify it.
The issue we had is if he gets to spring, he probably doesn’t get to us, he goes in the first round and we probably don’t get our hands on him. This is a way for us to take a bump in the road, an injury, and be able to select him in the 2nd round and get a first round piece out of it, we feel like.
White Sox Scouting Director Mike Shirley
Taylor pitched one game for Team USA’s 15U team back in 2017 and made his college debut in the SEC in 2022. The right hander posted a 4-1 record with two starts in 17 games for the Tigers. In 31 innings pitched, Taylor posted a 5.81 ERA while accumulating 39 strikeouts and walking 21 while yielding 32 hits. Surrendering three homers as well, freshman year in the SEC wasn’t easy for someone who wasn’t totally used to struggles on the mound. Things started to change in anticipation of the hurler’s sophomore campaign however.
On an annual basis, baseball descends upon the state of Massachusetts for the summer. The Cape Cod Baseball League is one of the nation’s premier collegiate summer leagues. The wooden bat league takes place every year on Cape Cod and over 1,000 players who have participated in the league have gone on to play in the big leagues in some capacity.
While playing for the Brewster Whitecaps in 2022, Grant Taylor’s fortunes began to change. He threw 21 innings over the course of five games with four starts and he struck out 30 hitters while walking just two. His innings were limited but many scouts and draft analysts referenced his time on the cape as a harbinger of things to come after posting a 2.14 ERA. “I had a lot of fun there [on the cape]. There were opportunities to make mistakes and overcome them. I made four starts. It was a good time and I really enjoyed it”, Grant Taylor said.
The Chicago White Sox have selected RHP Grant Taylor. Missed the entire 2023 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but was the most impressive arm I saw last summer on the Cape. FB sat in the 93-95 mph range and showed a plus CB. Starter’s pitch mix. pic.twitter.com/4GbBMpcM44
— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) July 10, 2023
Taylor ultimately succumbed to injury and underwent Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in February of 2023. It was seen as a big blow for an LSU program with massive expectations. After his time on the cape, the big righty performed like a future top 25 overall pick in the fall. Taylor didn’t know it but the White Sox were tracking him during the fall sessions and it helped to inform their thoughts on his overall potential.
Lets be frank, there was a night in the fall where he and Paul Skenes were going toe to toe in an intra squad and it was quite impressive. He’s the type of talent regardless of how they present themselves to the scouting community, it was impressive. He was a guy that we felt like we had to target.
White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley
The 21-year-old was expected to occupy a spot in the Tigers’ rotation behind eventual #1 overall pick Paul Skenes and while his unfortunate injury derailed those plans, Taylor made the most of his time on campus. Having Skenes around was definitely making Taylor better and the White Sox’s prospect noticed immediately that the Air Force transfer was different than most others. “He had really loud stuff in the fall and you could really tell why he was on the USA Team. He’s a pretty special talent,” said Taylor.
The LSU club that won the College World Series in 2023 was loaded with talent and Taylor was happy that he got to experience it despite being on the shelf temporarily. “It was very beneficial to have that many talented arms around each other. We were really good about sharing information with each other and competing with each other to get better. We were very team oriented. It was a lot of fun to work with Skenes, Thatcher [Hurd] and Ty [Floyd] and bounce stuff off of each other,” Taylor said.
Draft Day Experience & White Sox interest
Everyone has a price and while it remains undisclosed, Taylor and his advisor had a target number as the second round of the Major League Baseball Draft began. With the ability to return to school as a realistic option, the 6-3, 230 pounder wasn’t agonizing over being selected and it seemed like a pretty ordinary experience. “Draft day was kind of laid back. I didn’t have a party or anything. I was with my family and a few buddies. I was hearing different information on where I might get taken. I didn’t really have any expectations. It just all comes down to what my advisors were hearing from clubs”, said the former Tiger.
In 2022, the White Sox selected injured Arkansas right hander Peyton Pallette and paid him $1.5 million under the stewardship of scouting director Mike Shirley. The prominence of arm injuries across the sport is understood by Shirley and the organization hasn’t been afraid to gamble on pitchers who have already undergone elbow procedures. Taylor noted that he was familiar with Pallette’s path as well. “My brother played at Arkansas with him and we’ve shared experiences for sure,” said the second rounder.
The injuries are coming on the pitching front. If you throw hard, there’s a thought process in this game that Tommy John may be coming, and these guys arms are just moving ridiculously fast these days. It’s why you try to build in breaks with these guys’ structural management and every day maintenance. The acceleration of these arms is dangerous and we’re so much more adept and more prepared to handle the rehab system. We felt comfortable with the process at this point.
Mike Shirley
Most media outlets who cover the draft weren’t expecting Grant Taylor to start his professional career and many ranked him in the 80-100 range overall compared to other prospects in the draft class. The White Sox selected the righty from LSU with the 51st overall pick in the second round and signed him for slot which was valued at $1,659,800. Taylor clearly wanted to start his professional career as long as his preferred number was met during the process. He didn’t know for sure who would take him but Warren Hughes of the White Sox tracked him throughout.
“I had a meeting in the fall with Warren Hughes, the area scout there and he wanted to get to know me more. I didn’t know that Shirley had come out to watch but after the draft we had talked about it. I had a bit of a relationship with Warren but he likes to stay out of the player’s minds in season”, Taylor said. “There was a financial number that I wanted to go professional. I was really happy and fortunate that the White Sox wanted me at the spot where they did”, said Taylor.
The White Sox selected shortstop Jacob Gonzalez out of Mississippi in the first round on night one of the MLB Draft in 2023. Taylor was the choice later night soon after round two commenced. The organization was really happy with their outcome and Shirley spoke to Taylor’s plan immediately. “The arsenal is really good. Once we get his innings under control and get him back on the mound, sometimes coming back from Tommy John is a slower process. We’ll get the mechanics right before the accelerator. We know the stuff is there and this is just a little bit of a delayed time frame because of the TJ and recovery time”, said the director of amateur scouting last July.
We feel like we landed two first rounders tonight. Unfortunately, Grant had surgery this February, there were times at LSU this fall where Grant was showing us first round ability. His skillset the last time we saw him pitch live in a game, it was a fastball 94-98, two breaking balls, it’s a power curveball, slider and a cutter. Ability to manipulate breaking balls give him the capacity to be a front line guy.
He’s been a target of ours. We feel ecstatic to land him in the second round and we love the person, the makeup, his comprehension of how he uses his stuff. His rehab is going tremendously well. We had a medical staff dive into that and we understand the rehab process.
White Sox Director of Amateur Scouting; Mike Shirley.
Taylor’s Path to Chicago
Grant Taylor feels like his rehabilitation process went well. He’s almost 15 months post surgery after undergoing the operation in February 2023. Back in March, the right hander said, “I’m pretty pleased with the recovery so far. I feel great.” He started throwing to live hitters on March 15th of this year in anticipation of his professional career starting in earnest when the Arizona Complex League season commenced.
Taylor noted that he hadn’t had much contact with new pitching czar Brian Bannister at the time but a detailed ramp up plan was created with the assistance of minor league pitching coordinator Matt Zaleski. “The White Sox have laid out a plan. I should be in a game fairly close to the start of the season and I’ll be on an innings limit which is pretty standard for Tommy John guys,” the hurler said back in March. The plan was mapped out for weeks at a time. It started with bullpens, followed by live at-bats and Taylor is now pitching in games.
The plan isn’t written in stone just yet but innings are the goal for the 2024 season. Grant Taylor just needs to pitch and pitch consistently. Pallette threw 72 innings in 2023, all of them taking place with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in Low-A. Taylor’s path won’t mirror that directly but he could pitch at a full season affiliate this season.
Prospect analysts and area scouts who have frequented the backfields of The Cactus League are expecting a big jump on prospect lists for the 2023 second rounder. Taylor is very analytical in his approach and he understands the nuances of modern pitching. His peers have compared his presence to having another coach on the field while his coaches have described him as a multiplier. The improved stuff should help as well.
Taylor’s pre-draft scouting report included a 93-96 mph plus fastball with riding life in addition to and upper 70’s curveball that possessed 12-to-6 break and rpm’s in the 2,700-2,800 range. He frequently displayed high spin rates on all of his pitches including a mid 80’s slider and low 90’s cutter. The fastball has improved after surgery as he’s now touching triple digits with the heater in Arizona. Taylor may need to add a changeup to combat lefties at some point but the pitch mix appears to be stellar.
The 6-3, 230 pounder recently made his professional debut in the Arizona Complex League. The 21-year-old surrendered three earned runs on three hits in 3.1 innings but he struck out seven and walked just one while flashing his premium fastball. Despite being one of the worst teams in baseball this year, the White Sox have a much improved farm system overall. Different iterations of the front office have done well in trades recently and the perception of the drafts under Mike Shirley as scouting director have been solid.
Draft picks must start to bear fruit for the organization to get back into contention on the big league level however. Pitchers like Grant Taylor will be needed to contribute toward that eventual success.
Photo Credit: Bill Mitchell/Baseball America
Great, in-depth write-up.