The White Sox have gotten some very solid contributions from some of their younger players this season, as Chase Meidroth, Miguel Vargas, and Edgar Quero have given fans something to be excited about, as they will all likely be a part of the White Sox future. 

The same can be said about some of the top prospects in the minor leagues, as Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz, and Braden Montgomery have all had great starts to the 2025 MILB season. Grant Taylor is also off to a great start, but the White Sox have made a head scratching move in terms of Taylor’s development. 

After the White Sox picked him in the second round of the 2023 MLB draft, Taylor did not pitch in the minor leagues, as he was recovering from Tommy John Surgery. Taylor then made his debut in 2024, where he would start five games, throwing 16 innings of 1.13 ERA ball for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. He struck out 25 batters in those 16 innings which puts him in elite K/9 ratio.

Unfortunately, Taylor would suffer a season ending injury and would not pitch in the remainder of the 2024 season, but he did come back to pitch in the Arizona Fall League, where he flashed his potential despite not pitching in games for months. 

His 2024 performance, albeit a small sample size, earned him a spot in some national top-100 prospect rankings in the offseason, which lead to hype for Taylor’s 2025 season. So far Taylor has not disappointed, as he started six games, throwing 17 innings. In those innings, Taylor struck out 19 batters, which is a very good ratio, all while pitching to a 1.47 ERA.

Grant Taylor lowers his ERA to 1.08🔥

The @WhiteSox No. 7 prospect spins three hitless frames with 5 K’s for the Double-A @BhamBarons. pic.twitter.com/Z8W5YupiG8

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2025

However, despite already managing his innings in his starts, the White Sox made a very questionable call, as they have moved Taylor to the bullpen for the time being despite pitching very well in 3 inning outings so far this season.

GM Chris Getz made some comments about this transition, as he seems to think that Taylor would be an elite reliever. While that may be the case, the White Sox need to let him fail as a starter first, as starting pitching is significantly more valuable than relief pitching. 

Getz on potential closers from within org.: “Grant is a prime example of a guy that we’ve identified that could potentially be that alpha arm in the bullpen. But that’s yet to be seen. He’s got the stuff to do it. The development of him as a professional pitcher is still ongoing.

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 16, 2025

Taylor has only pitched 3-4 innings in each start, but that has been because he is on a strict pitch/inning limit. He hasn’t shown any reason why he can’t be stretched out longer, so this is a very confusing move. At this point there are no guarantees in the White Sox rotation, so they need to let Taylor continue to start.

Taylor made his first relief appearance the other day and pitched one scoreless inning while striking out two. There is no doubt that Taylor can be an elite relief pitcher, but he needs to be starting as long as possible, as he also has the potential to be an elite starter.

While the White Sox are in desperate need for a closer right now, Taylor should not be that answer. There are plenty of other struggling starting pitching prospects in the system that could make that transition and moving a top prospect to a relief role this early into his career isn’t the smartest move, especially when you have a team desperate for stars.

Hopefully this is just a temporary move, as Taylor doesn’t need to be on the fast track to the big leagues this season. The White Sox need to keep him as starter as long as possible, especially because he has the ability to be a frontline starter and form an outstanding rotation with Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz, and Shane Smith.