Rating: 2.402025 stats: 6 G, 9.0 IP, 9.00 ERA, 7.25 FIP, 1.89 WHIP, 1.75 SO/BB, 50 ERA+Date of birth: June 1, 1992 (33)2025 earnings: $89,194 ($760,000 prorated)2026 status: Free agent

Hey…coincidence is my middle name.

These end-of-season-player-reviews are normally my kind of articles. I sign myself up for a bunch load of players we hardly knew and who, normally, are not given much love by most of us. Except for me.

I love writing about the nobodies, and try to tell their story in the big leagues, giving them the love and respect they deserve, but work has prevented me these days from loading up on these articles. Sorry, Jim. Sorry, AZSnakePit. Sorry, players.

As such, this year I have chosen to write the reviews on players I did in previous years as well, except for this one. I had no idea who Tayler Scott is. It sounded like a familiar name, so I thought, I’ll pick this dude as well. Happens to be a player born in Johannesburg, South Africa.

It is pretty impressive that Scott has made the big leagues. That goes for every baseball player, of course, but Tayler Scott grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, where hardly anyone plays baseball, or as the player himself described once: “It’s probably in the lowest end of popularity in South Africa”

Tayler Scott played about any sport that is popular over there: soccer, rugby, cricket, but kinda loved baseball the most, starting to play it around 10 years of age. The kid seems talented, and his parents make the remarkable move of moving with him to Scottsdale, Arizona, where Scott gets a student visa. With his parents owning a business in South Africa, they decide to take turns, each one spending 6 months in the USA on a tourist visa, with two older daughters in their home country as well. Talking about a sacrifice.

He plays just one year at the Notre Dame Preparatory High School before he is drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 5th round of the 2011 MLB amateur draft and signs for a reported $279,950 bonus.

Between 2011 and 2015 Scott pitches in the Cubs’ minor league system, but does not impress. After an unimpressive debut in AA in 2015 he is cut by Chicago and from then on has stints in the minors of Milwaukee, Baltimore, Texas and Seattle, making his major league debut with the Mariners in 2019, on June 8, a week after his 27th birthday, pitching 2.2 innings against the Angels, giving up 3 runs. His 9.39 ERA in 7.2 innings for Seattle in 2019 is far from impressive, his 18.69 ERA for Baltimore, after being waived, in 8.2 innings even less. Still, he is the first South-African born pitcher to play in the major leagues.

For the 2020 and 2021 season, Scott moves overseas to Japan, but spends most time in the minor league of the Hiroshima Carp. In 2022 he returns to the United States to seek employment. San Diego, Boston, Oakland, Dodgers and Houston all deploy him in various stints, with his biggest success for the Astros in 2024, when he pitches to a 2.23 ERA in 68.2 innings.

His 2025 season starts great, obtaining US citizenship, ending his endless slur of renewing his visa: “My whole career, I’ve had to deal with work visas, before I got my green card and it’s just a long, difficult, drawn-out process, so it’s nice just being able to be done with it now for good,” Scott said. “I would have to go back to South Africa, wait for my new visa to come in through the U.S. Embassy. Sometimes I would get stuck longer than I wanted to early in my career.”

However, he is not able to continue the joy in his 2025 performance for the Astros. He is part of the opening day roster, but designated for assignment in mid May when his ERA has climbed to 5.40. Scott decides to become a free agent and latches on with the Reno Aces on May 31.

Scott has 3 scoreless appearances for Reno in the PCL, picking up a save and a win, before he is called up to the big league roster. It is June 10, Montes de Oca and Martinez are moved to the IL, Brigham is optioned to Reno and Mena is moved to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Scott, who comes up with Kevin Ginkel and Bryce Jarvis.

Tayler picks op a hold in his first appearance against the Padres, but is mostly deployed in mop-up situations, in games where the Diamondbacks are pretty much fighting an uphill battle against their opponent. In 6 games he gives up 9 runs. The Diamondbacks have seen enough after yet another fruitless appearance on June 27, against the Marlins, and designate him for assignment the following day.

After going unclaimed, he elects free agency once again and returns to Houston, where he makes one appearance in August, giving up 5 runs in 1.2 innings before being designated for assignment again.

After the season ends, Tayler Scott chooses free agency.

Scott is probably one of those one-in-a-dozen pitchers that will be looking for a minor league deal somewhere. His fine 2024 season might be not much more than a fluke, but even if not, Scott is probably not much more than depth for low-leverage situations.