Chicago White Sox Prospect Excelling In Bullpen, Door Not Closed On Starting Role

Grant Taylor's role has changed for the Double-A Birmingham Barons this season, but that hasn't kept him from putting up eye-popping numbers.

A second-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox out of LSU, the 6-foot-3 right-hander began the season in the starting rotation. In six starts, he allowed just three earned runs across 17.1 innings while striking out 19 batters and walking 10.

Somehow, he's been even more dominant since moving to the bullpen, where he hasn't allowed a run in 8.2 innings while striking out 16 and walking one.

"Every time he pitches, I'm pretty excited to read the reports or look at video from the night prior," White Sox general manager Chris Getz said Friday in Chicago. "He's above 100 mph, he's commanding the zone, the off-speed stuff is really strong. It's very clear that hitters are uncomfortable in the box. They try to get him early. So it's either weak contact or perhaps they'll get him on a hit once in a while. But once they get to two strikes it gets over fairly quickly."

"He's still adjusting to the shorter stints. Obviously his stuff has risen from when he was starting. It's been nothing short of explosive. The rhythm of being in the bullpen is obviously different than being a starter with how often you're being used. You've got one up and you've got two ups, getting multiple outs. So we want to check those boxes, make sure that he's in a good position and we'll move forward with it."

Taylor's evolving role is a product of a few factors. Getz said they had to manage Taylor's innings regardless of role this season due to his injury history.

Shortly before the 2023 season, he suffered an elbow injury that required him to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season. He was limited to 16 innings with Single-A Kannapolis last season due to a lat injury. Since 2022, he hasn't pitched more than 31 innings in any season.

Using Taylor as a reliever is a way to limit his innings while still maintaining a daily routine and ideally lasting the whole season without sustaining an injury. At the same time, Getz is open to the idea of Taylor returning to the starting rotation. He compared the approach to a recent White Sox pitcher who's now one of MLB's best starters.

"Obviously it's a very talented arm and there's different ways to develop players," Getz said. "We know that although we've got him in shorter stints right now, we're certainly not closing the door on him being a starter in the future. You look at as close of an example as Garrett Crochet and his bullpen days and then transitioning to be a starter and what that has done for Garrett's career and has done for the White Sox. As for right now we've got him in these shorter stints and I think the most important thing is he's healthy and he's performing very well."

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