The Chicago White Sox are far from perfect, and one of the organization's biggest flaws in 2025 has been the Major League bullpen. The Sox have not found guys with the ability to pitch in high-leverage innings and close out ball games. Identifying quality arms has been a struggle for the White Sox and injuries have only made the situation worse.
The White Sox recently placed right-handed reliever Miguel Castro on the 15-day injured list after he tore his patellar tendon when attempting to cover first base. To fill his role, the White Sox have turned to veteran right-hander Dan Altavilla, who has not had any big league success since 2018.
Fraser Ellard, Tyler Gilbert, and Prelander Berroa are also hurt at the moment.
Given Chicago's struggles to identify veteran talent, they will now have to look internally to find solutions to get the players they need to pitch in high-leverage situations. They may even fins their closer of the future.
Grant Taylor to the big leagues?
With a lack of arms available for the White Sox to sign or trade for, the White Sox do have one arm pitching down in the minor leagues that could get called up to help flesh out this struggling bullpen.
The White Sox's No. 7 overall prospect, Grant Taylor, has been pitching for the Double-A affiliate Birmingham Barons, where he has mostly used as a starter before being shifted to the bullpen to limit his innings.
Taylor is two years removed from having Tommy John surgery, which he had in 2023, and he’s one year removed from a lat injury, which ended his 2024 season. There's a good reason for the White Sox to limit his innings, but the team has indicated his move to a relief role could be permanent.
In 12 games (six starts) with the Barons, Taylor been nothing short of impressive, as he is pitching to a 1.16 ERA and has 31 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.
White Sox GM Chris Getz was asked by the Chicago Sun-Times Kade Heather when Taylor would be up with the White Sox, and Getz certainly seemed open to the idea consider how well he’s adapting to life as a reliever.
“It’s a possibility,” Getz said this week of Taylor being promoted to the majors at some point this season. “He’s doing really well and adapting to these shorter stints. He’s been nothing short of electric, quite honestly. We’ll continue to watch what he’s doing and perhaps there’s an opportunity to bring him up and see what he can do in helping us close out games.”
Taylor could get the Garret Crochet/Chris Sale treatment
Since being moved to the bullpen, Taylor has made six relief appearances and done six innings. He has allowed two hits, zero runs, zero walks, and struck out 12. That's nearly perfection.
The White Sox could look to deploy the Garrett Crochet/Chris Sale plan with Taylor, as both Sale and Crochet made their MLB debuts coming out of the bullpen. Deploying this as an option could benefit the White Sox, given Taylor is showing that his stuff is ready to face big-league hitters.
Ultimately, I see Taylor as a piece of Chicago's futures starting rotation, with his upside as being a middle-of-the-rotation arm that could pair great with left-handers Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith.
With the calendar turning to June and Getz hinting that Taylor could be up, White Sox fans could be seeing the young right-hander in a few weeks.