There are many young emerging stars on the Chicago White Sox roster, and all have the potential to be stars or serviceable big league players for a long time.
Colson Montgomery has one of the more obvious ceiling with how well he has hit since start of the second half.
One player flying a bit under the radar and quietly making the White Sox bullpen somewhat bearable to watch is Grant Taylor. Taylor is one of the budding young stars emerging alongside Montgomery and he has the potential be one of the better closers in the game if he stays in the bullpen longterm.
While starting might be in his future, Taylor is a bullpen piece at the moment, and he has been one of the better late-inning arms since getting called up. He was recently ranked as a Top 25 “closer” in the game.
Chicago White Sox rookie Grant Taylor already ranked as one of the best closers in baseball
Taylor, 23, was one of the White Sox's top prospects until he graduated from that list upon getting promoted to the big leagues.
A former second-round pick of the White Sox in 2023 out of Louisiana State University, and a former teammate of Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes, Taylor has been one of the better pitchers in the organization, dominating at Double-A and occasionally repeating that dominance in MLB.
Taylor has been used as a reliever this season, but has made eight starts between the White Sox and the Birmingham Barons. In his first 21games after joining the White Sox bullpen, Taylor had a 3.75 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 24 innings.
After surrendering three runs to the Royals on Sunday, Taylor's ERA jumped to 4.68 on the season, but the metrics still love how much he overwhelms hitters. Batted ball luck has killed Taylor this year. His expected ERA is 2.58 and the expected batting average against him is .199. He's one of the unluckiest pitchers in baseball.
Taylor’s stuff and occasional dominance as Chicago's de facto closer landed him in the top-25 best closers in baseball, taking the 23rd spot in Joel Reuter’s Bleacher Report rankings.
“Taylor spent his draft season watching LSU win a national championship while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he showed enough potential pre-injury to still be a second-round pick in 2023. After dominating Double-A hitters early in the year, he has pitched his way into the closer's role, though his future might still be in the White Sox rotation," wrote Reuter.
Taylor has the future of being an elite closer in the game
Taylor has an arsenal that works in the bullpen, with his best weapon being his four-seam fastball. Touching triple digits, Taylor works a cutter, a curveball, and a slider off his fastball to fool and set hitters up.
The White Sox still foresee Taylor becoming a starter, which could work out. Former White Sox pitchers Garrett Crochet and Chris Sale began their careers as late-inning arms for the White Sox, and then became dominant, Cy Young-caliber starting pitchers. Sale won the award last season and finished in the top ten for the White Sox for five straight seasons.
The White Sox could and should have an abundance of starting pitching for next season, with a few options for the starting rotation, like Drew Thorpe, returning from injury. The White Sox could also end up re-signing someone like Martín Pérez, who showed a lot of promise before missing the bulk of the season due to elbow inflammation, and has returned and pitched well.
Having so many options, the White Sox could afford to let Taylor stay in the bullpen and hone his craft on becoming one of the game's best closers. If he's allowed to, and with how well his stuff plays up in the bullpen, by next year, Taylor could be one of the premium young closers in the game.