The White Sox have never seemed to be good at drafting and developing talent. For whatever reason, it seems like the White Sox have more draft busts than any other team. There are some recent picks that could potentially change that narrative, but they have yet to make it to the pros.
Sunday night, the White Sox picked another shortstop in the first round, but that was not the puzzling pick. In the second round, they selected LSU right-hander Grant Taylor, who missed the whole year due to Tommy John surgery. That is a high slot for someone who hasn't pitched in a year.
High Risk, High Reward?
Grant Taylor was part of an absolutely stacked LSU roster that included the top 2 picks in this year's draft. Unfortunately, he was unable to play in the 2023 season due to Tommy John Surgery. As a pitcher, those are the words you never want to hear.
Taylor did play in 2021-2022 however, working mainly out of the bullpen, to the tune of a 5.81 ERA in just 31 innings. He did have 39 strikeouts in those innings, showing he does have the stuff to get people out.
What seemed to really hurt him when he pitched was the walks. In those 31 innings, he had 21 walks. That is not good at all.
It seems when he pitched in the Cape Cod league, he was able to reduce those walk numbers down significantly, so that is likely was able to boost his draft stock. It would have been nice to see him pitch on the championship LSU team, but we will get a look at him in the minors.
Perhaps he had turned a corner before going down with an injury, but time will only tell. It is difficult to project a pitcher after Tommy John. Most people are fine after and show no signs of slowing down, but some people are hit hard and never are the same. Let's hope he is back to normal.
Could He Be A Steal?
Despite the risks, it seems many liked the pick. While he was ranked a bit lower, he could sign for less money which would allow for flexibility to sign some higher-profile players later in the draft.
If he can pitch as he did in the Cape Cod League, he could be a great pick for the White Sox and one that people look back on as an all-time steal.
Time will tell on Taylor, but he does look promising, especially after his Cape Cod stint. It is just hard to sell your fans on a player who hasn't played in almost a year because of Tommy John. The Sox did this last year with Peyton Pallette and he has just been okay. It takes time to recover from TJ, so the jury will be out on both of them for a few years.
Regardless, if he can make it to the pros, that will be a good sign. Anything more out of him would be icing on top. Let's hope we are talking about in him the MLB conversation soon.
