After teasing a potential call up earlier in the week, the Chicago White Sox are officially bringing up another top prospect to the big leagues.
23-year-old right-handed pitcher Grant Taylor is expected to join the team in Houston to make his Major League debut this week.
Taylor was drafted by the White Sox in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of LSU. He has been nothing short of dominant at every level since turning pro.
In five minor league starts in 2024, Taylor had a 2.33 ERA and struck out 32 batters in 19.1 innings.
Taylor's move to the bullpen
Grant Taylor was off to another hot start with Double-A Birmingham to open the 2025 season when the White Sox made a controversial decision to move him to the bullpen.
While the long-term goal is still to develop Taylor to his ceiling as a starting pitcher, the White Sox chose to manage his workload by moving him to a relief role. That also put Taylor on the fast track to the Major Leagues, with the White Sox curious if he could help the big league team in the short-term and get some valuable experience.
Clearly, that plan is working out like the Sox hoped with Taylor now being called up. But I must say, I’d still prefer Taylor to be a starting pitcher long term to maximize his value. Hopefully the relief role is only temporary and he can be stretched out in the future once he gets a feel for attacking Major League hitters.
Because Taylor is not a starting pitcher, his debut won’t generate the same level of buzz that we saw from a prospect like Michael Kopech, for example. However, I think Taylor is certain to be electric coming out of the White Sox bullpen for the rest of 2025.
Grant Taylor is one of the most electric arms in MiLB and the White Sox are giving him the chance to flex his stuff out of the bullpen
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) June 9, 2025
Here is his pitching summary from Spring Training! https://t.co/LC1sol8YZm pic.twitter.com/8Ve5hTYudy
In nine games since moving to the bullpen in Birmingham, Taylor has done 9.1 innings and allowed an opposing batting average of .097. He has not allowed a single run, has struck out 18 while walking only one.
Taylor’s fastball is regularly over 100 mph. He also has a wipeout curveball and sharp cutter that really round out his arsenal.
The White Sox play the Houston Astros at 7:10pm CST on June 10. There is a high likelihood we see Taylor at some point in that game, which makes it must see TV for Sox fans.