White Sox Minor Keys: June 7, 2025

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Moving from starting to relieving hasn't changed Grant Taylor's approach to pitching.

"It's the same job," Taylor said. "It's just a different way of going about it. Still just up there trying to throw strikes and get guys out."

Then again, he wasn't all that concerned with conserving energy even when he was scheduled for three-inning starts at the onset of the season.

"I felt like I was airing it out as a starter, still trying to throw 100 as a starter," Taylor said. "In the shorter stints it seems like I've been throwing a little bit harder, but I think it was the same intensity...

"Honestly, I feel like I have better command and better control when I'm trying to throw hard. I think everything just kind of syncs up a little bit better and I get into better positions, and I think over the past couple weeks, I think my mechanics have gotten better from the beginning of the season, and that's why there's been an uptick in velo."

Taylor said he was told during spring training that he'd work out of the bullpen at some point of the season, he just didn't know when. That date turned out to be May 14, when, after six largely successful starts, he came on for the seventh inning against Chattanooga.

Higher concentrations of Taylor's best stuff have proven lethal to Southern League hitters. In nine outings spanning 9⅓ innings, Taylor hasn't allowed a run, and barely one walk. He's limited opponents to three singles while striking out 18 of the 32 batters he's faced, using just 128 total pitches.

Moreover, it's not that he's doing it, but how he's doing it.

Talking to him Wednesday, the day after he retired five of the six Trash Pandas he faced, I asked about his propensity for saving his 100-mph fastball for later in counts. He threw it less than half the time in his spring training appearances, and he pitched backwards for both of his strikeouts on Tuesday.

"The fastball has been really good the past couple of weeks, and I've had a lot of success throwing it top of the zone and getting swing and miss, so it's not something I'll shy away from (with) two strikes," Taylor said. "And I think being able to throw the fastball in leverage counts and get good results and get strikeouts is definitely advantageous."

And sure enough, when he entered Friday night's game with one out in the eighth, he struck out Sam Brown with the kind of varied display I saw days earlier:

1. Curveball, swinging strike
2. Slider, taken outside
3. Cutter, taken high
4. Fastball, strike looking
5. Curveball, swinging strike

But then Denzer Guzman to the plate, and Taylor only brought the heat. He threw three fastballs, all 100 mph, and Guzman swung through the first before taking the next two. Just like that, Taylor struck out both batters he faced, and with a 100 percent called/swinging strike rate.

Chris Getz said on Friday that Taylor needed to experience different situations out of the bullpen, and after six one-inning outings to open the relief portion of Taylor's season, Birmingham manager Guillermo Quiroz has indeed switched it up this week. On Tuesday, Taylor threw a scoreless seventh with enough efficiency to take on two more batters in the eighth. Friday was both Taylor's first time pitching on consecutive days and his first mid-inning appearance, as Quiroz pulled Garrett Schoenle after just 14 pitches.

Unless the White Sox start throwing him three days in a row, it's hard to imagine ways to challenge Taylor in Double-A, which in turn makes it easy to wonder whether the next step is around the corner. Taylor told me that "as of now, the only plan is to be at the back end of the bullpen." Getz said they haven't closed the door on Taylor as a starter, and they were going to have to conserve his innings somehow.

The thing is, while Getz keeps invoking Garrett Crochet as an example of somebody who moved to starting and succeeded immediately, that move was inspired by Crochet looking and feeling pedestrian in relief, leaving fewer worries about any diminished payoff. Conversely, Taylor is thriving, and instead of putting him back in the rotation after a couple of light weeks, they're making his season even more reliever-y. If the White Sox have tabled Taylor's starting future to explore his impact out of the bullpen like most signs suggest, there isn't much of a point in using those bullets to evaporate underqualified hitters.

Charlotte 7, Lehigh Valley 2

• Brooks Baldwin and Bryan Ramos both went 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
• Dru Baker doubled twice and struck out twice.
• Mike Clevinger: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 42 of 61 pitches for strikes.
• Nick Nastrini: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 25 of 50 pitches for strikes.

Rocket City 3, Birmingham 1

• William Bergolla was 0-for-4.
• Ryan Galanie, 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
• Jacob Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a double.
• Wilfred Veras wore the collar and silver sombrero.
• DJ Gladney, 1-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
• Riley Gowens: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 1 HR, 56 of 85 pitches for strikes.
• Grant Taylor struck out both batters he faced on eight total pitches.

Winston-Salem 8, Asheville 3 (6½ innings, rain)

• Sam Antonacci was 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout.
• Jeral Perez, 1-for-4.
• Braden Montgomery doubled, singled, walked and struck out.
• Samuel Zavala was 2-for-3 with a homer.
• Lucas Gordon: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 1 HR, 48 of 83 pitches for strikes.

Kannapolis 4, Myrtle Beach 0

• Javier Mogollón went 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
• Abraham Nuñez was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Caleb Bonemer, 0-for-3 with a walk, strikeout and sac fly.
• Lyle Miller-Green was 2-for-3 with two walks.
• George Wolkow, 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Luis Reyes: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 61 of 84 pitches for strikes.

ACL White Sox 5, ACL Dodgers 1

• Adrian Gíl singled twice, walked, struck out and stole a base.

DSL White Sox 12, DSL Arizona Black 6 (7 innings)

• Christian Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with a double, two walks and a stolen base.
• Orlando Patiño was 1-for-5 with a double.
• Frank Mieses went 2-for-5 with a homer and a strikeout.
• Eduardo Herrera walked thrice, struck out once and stole a base.
• Diego Natera, 1-for-5 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
• Yordani Soto was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases.