White Sox's Grant Taylor: Will make some relief appearances
Rotowire
Taylor will make some appearances out of the bullpen for Double-A Birmingham as means to manage his workload, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.
The White Sox still plan to develop Taylor as a starting pitcher, but they will be careful with his workload after he missed all of 2023 following Tommy John surgery and most of 2024 with a lat injury. Taylor has made six starts with Birmingham this season, posting a 1.56 ERA and 19:10 K:BB over 17.1 frames.
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White Sox's Grant Taylor: Assigned to Double-A
Rotowire
Taylor will begin the season with Double-A Birmingham, Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline reports.
Taylor will join Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith in one of the most loaded rotations in the minors after impressing this spring. Taylor has a chance for three plus pitches and plus command, so if he stays healthy, he could be one of the year's top breakout pitching prospects. He had Tommy John surgery at LSU and had a 2.33 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 32 strikeouts in 19.1 innings last season, although he missed more time with a lat injury.
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White Sox's Grant Taylor: Cleared for AFL
Rotowire
Taylor (lat) is slated to pitch in the Arizona Fall League for the Glendale Desert Dogs.
Taylor missed LSU's 2023 national championship season following Tommy John surgery and missed most of this season with a lat strain, so this is a chance for him to make up for lost time. It's a weak crop of pitching prospects in the AFL, and Taylor has the stuff to stand out, headlined by a mid-90s fastball, low-90s cutter and a pair of breaking balls. He posted a 1.13 ERA, 0.63 WHIP and 25:1 K:BB in 16 innings over four starts for Single-A Kannapolis earlier this year.
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White Sox's Grant Taylor: Makes pro debut
Rotowire
Taylor (elbow) struck out seven and allowed three earned runs on three hits and one walk over 3.1 innings in his season debut Friday for the White Sox's rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate.
A 2023 second-round draft pick out of LSU, Taylor didn't make his professional debut last summer while he completed his recovery from Tommy John surgery, which cost him his entire final season of college. Set to turn 22 years old later this month, Taylor likely won't stick around in rookie ball for long and will likely report to Single-A Kannapolis or High-A Winston-Salem once he gets stretched out a bit more.
