Mariners' bullpen has gotten big lift from unheralded rookie Taylor

This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- Justin Toole was asked last October who might be the most under-the-radar prospect in the Mariners’ farm system worth keeping tabs on entering 2024.

“I feel like Troy Taylor could be a guy,” the Mariners’ director of player development responded in a text message.

Unranked on Seattle’s Top 30 Prospects list from MLB Pipeline at the time, Taylor might’ve taken the biggest step forward over the past 12 months of any Mariners Minor Leaguer. That’s because he no longer fits that designation, now that he’s in The Show -- and above all, proving that he belongs.

“I'm just trying to make the most of my opportunities right now,” Taylor said. “Whenever they put me in there, I'm just trying to try to make the best of it.”

This week, MLB Pipeline asked each MLB.com beat reporter to identify one player who helped his stock the most this season as part of a newsletter series. Taylor, who’s since ascended to No. 17 in the Mariners’ rankings, fits that billing as much as any player in Seattle’s system.

Drafted twice by the Mariners -- in the 20th round in 2021 and in the 12th round in 2022, after he opted to play a season at UC Irvine -- Taylor began 2024 as the closer at High-A Everett, was promoted to Double-A Arkansas nearly six weeks later and then was called up to the Majors three months after that, on Aug. 10. And over nearly one month at the highest level, Taylor has earned more and more trust from Mariners manager Dan Wilson, to the point where the rookie was regularly injected in leverage spots on Seattle’s most recent road trip.

Taylor's lone blemish on the trip, during which he pitched in five games, was a solo homer in Friday’s win, via a middle-middle fastball that Jordan Walker ambushed in a 1-0 count. That mistake was one he could live with, though, given that it was a solo shot and that it tied back to his overall approach of having what he calls a “middle-middle mentality.”

“I always tend to pitch with pretty high adrenaline,” Taylor said. “But yeah, being up here the last few weeks, that's something that's definitely been easy to get to. Sometimes in the Minor Leagues, you kind of had to create it on your own. But here, it happens naturally.”

The homer was one of just two runs that he’s surrendered in 12 outings since the callup, the other also being a homer in a runaway loss in Detroit on Aug. 13. The limited damage against Taylor has led to an impressive stat line, albeit in just a one-month sample.

He has a 1.59 ERA (241 ERA+, where league average is 100), with 12 strikeouts, three walks and just five hits surrendered to 43 batters faced, good for an opposing slash line of .125/.186/.300 (.486 OPS). He attacks hitters with a four-seamer that has sinker characteristics and averages 96.8 mph and a sweeper that’s generated a 38.5% whiff rate.

“It’s a little more hitter to hitter,” Taylor said of the preparation at this level. “We get more in-depth scouting reports than we do in the Minor Leagues, so that’s helpful to know [like], ‘If I get into a certain count, this is the pitch I want to throw,’ and stuff like that. The [coaching staff] has been supportive and letting me know that my stuff plays in the zone.”

The Mariners have only twice used Taylor on back-to-back days, from Aug. 17-18 and Sept. 5-6, a workload that is obviously vital at the MLB level. It's also one that both the pitcher and team can’t decipher until he actually does it, because arms are rarely exposed to those challenges in the Minors, where the environment is far more controlled.

How Seattle controls his usage moving forward will be of intrigue, as will how he generally finishes the season, given that he’s clearly earned a strong look for 2025.