Grant Taylor Could Be the Breakout Pitching Prospect of 2025

There is a pitching factory on the south side of Chicago that has begun to emerge over the past couple of seasons. That may seem like a stretch, given how bad of a position the White Sox organization is in right now from the perspective of most.

But the pitching depth within the farm system, led by Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith, is up there with just about any team in baseball right now.

Grant Taylor, the 2023 second-round pick of the team, could take this pitching core to the next level if the stuff he has shown early in his career translates over the course of a full season.

It already appeared so in his four starts in Single-A last season prior to an injury, but it has become abundantly clear that he has the makings of a superstar pitching prospect.

He has a lot more to continue to prove than someone like Schultz, but is ready for a full professional season of growth this year. He’s in big league camp with the team right now, despite a total of 16 innings pitched in the minors. He’s not going to make the roster, but experience is valuable.

Speaking with him at spring training, it’s clear he’s ready to develop this year.

“This is where you want to be. It’s fun to be able to go out to the stadium and see guys that I’ve watched in the league before and get to learn from them,” said Taylor.

Health is the first priority for him as he aims to pitch much more this season after Tommy John surgery prior to being drafted delayed his professional debut and then a lat injury shut him down last season.

Taylor discussed feeling great health-wise as he’s stuck to the plan in place this offseason to maintain his health. He has already gotten into a pair of spring training games with two clean innings under his belt and eye-popping metrics already on display.

The right-hander has allowed just one hit while striking out three in those two innings, with his pitch data being even more impressive. He hit 101.2 mph in his spring debut, which is impressive at any point, especially in February.

“I assumed I would hit it at some point. I knew once I got into a game setting, something like that would happen, but it kind of just felt like a normal day,” said Taylor.

Now that he was able to have a full, healthy offseason, Taylor is tweaking his arsenal and sequencing to further challenge hitters as he rises through the minor leagues.

Taylor’s fastball velocity is a great starting point for any pitch mix, but his slider and cutter are both plus pitches in their own right. The cutter, which sits in the mid-90s, is sharp with less induced vertical break than his fastball but still much above the slider. He uses it more often than the movement-heavy slider that sits around 90 mph.

He added a changeup this offseason to show a different look from his cutter and slider, which both move away from his glove side. He’s working on mixing it in during games, with one thrown in each of his two spring appearances.

The biggest difference Taylor is experiencing early is the huge jump in approach from hitters he’s facing this spring compared to in college and Single-A.

“How true the hitters’ zones are to the actual strike zone, especially inside-outside. Hitters typically chase more north-south instead of east-west,” said Taylor. “It’s been cool to watch hitters lay off pitches that are so close. When I was in Low-A last year, that’s a swing every day.”

As he learns to compete with some clear early success at this level, Taylor is enjoying being able to learn from and with other top pitching prospects. Asked about Schultz and Smith, he explained the value of being in camp with them.

“It’s really fun to pick their brains. We have a lot in common, same goals,” said Taylor.

While none have even been playing at the same level together yet, there is a chance we could see all three of them in Double-A Birmingham this season if Taylor progresses well and Schultz doesn’t force his way to Chicago sooner than expected.

The stuff is exceptional, and Taylor is in a position to emerge this summer within not only the White Sox system but the entire baseball prospect realm.

Likely to start in High-A Winston-Salem in April, Taylor will undoubtedly be on an innings restriction this season. But if he’s able to stay healthy and make starts throughout the season, it’s easy to see him becoming a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball.