HOUSTON — Grant Taylor had a feeling something was up before he made his way to the Birmingham Barons offices on Monday.
“They called me, I was at my apartment, and said, ‘Hey, something came up, we need you to come to the field,’” Taylor said on Tuesday. “I was like, ‘I’m moving somewhere. I don’t know where. I hope it’s (with) Chicago.’ And sure enough, here I am.”
The Chicago White Sox officially promoted the right-handed pitcher from Double A to the majors on Tuesday. Taylor joined the Sox at Daikin Park ahead of the team’s three-game series against the Houston Astros. Reports of the move surfaced Monday.
He said it was “a little bit of shock, a lot of excitement,” when he found out that he would be with the Sox.
“It means the world (to be here),” Taylor said. “Everything I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid, so super excited.”
Taylor, 23, produced eye-popping results at Birmingham, where he had a 1.01 ERA, a .135 opponents average (including zero home runs allowed), 0.86 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 15 games (six starts). He is the No. 6 prospect in the Sox system according to MLB.com.
“Very excited about Grant,” manager Will Venable said. “Saw him in spring training, the stuff is very good. Made the transition to a reliever. Will be using him out of the ’pen here. Find some spots for him here over the next couple of days and see how his role evolves.”
On Friday, general manager Chris Getz said Taylor’s stuff has been “nothing short of explosive.”
Taylor has made nine straight scoreless appearances since moving to the bullpen on May 14, allowing three hits with one walk and 18 strikeouts over 9 1/3 innings.
“A little bit different,” Taylor said of the relief work. “Not as planned out. You don’t have the five-day rest. It’s the same job, just shorter stints.”
The Sox selected the right-hander in the second round of the 2023 draft out of LSU. He missed the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and had a 1.13 ERA last year with Class A Kannapolis, striking out 25 in 16 innings during a season affected by a lat injury.
“The past two years have definitely been a long road,” Taylor said. “A lot of adversity with Tommy John (surgery), a lat injury, a little bit of uncertainty of what’s going to happen, how am I going to feel when I come back. I feel great now, and I feel like it’s made me a better man, a better player, a better teammate.”
Getz said on Friday that he sees Taylor’s role evolving over time.
“We had to manage his innings regardless this year based on his history,” Getz said. “Obviously it’s a very talented arm and there’s different ways to develop players. We know that although we’ve got him in shorter stints right now, we’re certainly not closing the door on him being a starter in the future.
“You look at as close of an example as (former Sox pitcher) Garrett Crochet and his bullpen days and then transitioning to be a starter and what that has done for Garrett’s career and has done for the White Sox. As for right now, we’ve got (Taylor) in these shorter stints and I think the most important thing is he’s healthy and he’s performing very well.”
Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star pitcher Paul Skenes, Taylor’s college teammate, was among those to reach out with congratulations on becoming a big leaguer.
“He just said, ‘Hey, heard you got the call up, super happy for you. See you (the first series) after the All-Star break,’” Taylor said.
Taylor becomes the latest in the wave of promotions during the first two-plus months of the season for the Sox. That list also includes infielder Chase Meidroth, first baseman Tim Elko and catchers Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel, who each went from Triple A to the majors.
“We’re happy about the support we have for these guys — our coaching staff obviously, but the veteran players and our guys with experience that we have here have done a tremendous job helping these guys get up to speed with all kinds of stuff they are leaning on these guys for,” Venable said.
In Tuesday’s corresponding move, the Sox designated pitcher Bryse Wilson for assignment.
The right-hander is 0-2 with a 6.95 ERA in 19 games (five starts) after signing a one-year deal with the Sox in the offseason. He began the year in the bullpen, but moved into a starter’s role when Martín Pérez went on the injured list. Wilson went back to the bullpen after the club signed Adrian Houser, but filled in as a starter again when the Sox scratched Jonathan Cannon on May 24 because of lower back tightness.
“It was a really hard one, such a good guy, really sacrificed a lot for us and able to pitch in different roles,” Venable said of Wilson. “We hope that we can retain him at some point during the summer because we think he can continue to help. But for now, was just a move that made sense. But again, just appreciative of his time.”
