A Bold Plan or a Big Blunder? White Sox Face Backlash Over Their Vision for Grant Taylor. DD
Chris Getz indicated this week that the plan is for Grant Taylor to be in a multi-inning relief role in 2026, which could be a mistake.
Major League Baseball’s GM meetings are taking place this week in Las Vegas, Nevada, marking one of the rare occasions that all 30 MLB general managers are in one place. While these meetings aren’t known for a flurry of activity, they often lay the groundwork for future moves, and general managers have a chance to address the media about the upcoming offseason. White Sox GM Chris Getz spoke to reporters on Wednesday evening, and among the topics of conversation was an update on the plan for right-handed pitcher Grant Taylor.
Those who were hoping to see the White Sox give Grant Taylor a shot at starting in 2026 will be disappointed.
Taylor emerged as a dominant arm in 2025
Taylor, 23, jumped straight from Double-A Birmingham to reach the big leagues just two years after the White Sox drafted him in the second round in 2023. Taylor was overshadowed a bit coming out of college because of an elbow injury. He was also a college teammate of top overall pick Paul Skenes at LSU, so he wasn’t in the spotlight as much as he could’ve been. Taylor made his White Sox organization debut in 2024, but made just five starts before a shoulder injury ended his season after 19.1 innings. Taylor impressed in his brief showcase, however, with 32 strikeouts and just two walks in those games. Taylor’s triple-digit fastball and nasty breaking stuff opened eyes across the league in Spring Training, and the White Sox aggressively assigned Taylor to Double-A to begin the 2025 season. He began the season in the starting rotation, but the team elected to move him to the bullpen, where he dominated. Taylor’s miniscule 1.01 ERA in 26.2 Birmingham innings was enough for the White Sox to bring him straight to the Major Leagues on June 10th.
Taylor’s first taste of big league action had some ups and downs, but he showed flashes of dominance at the big league level. Overall, Taylor finished with a 4.91 ERA in 36.2 major league innings, however, his xERA of 2.96 indicates quite a bit of bad luck. Taylor’s 34.4% strikeout rate and 30.7% whiff rate were among the best in baseball, and his 51.1% ground ball rate wasn’t too shabby either. While the stuff may be slightly elevated in a short relief role, Taylor has the stuff to be elite as a starting pitcher too. As far as I’m concerned, starting pitchers are significantly more valuable than relievers, so the White Sox should explore that avenue until they can’t anymore.
Grant Taylor staying in the bullpen could be a huge mistake
The main concern for Taylor is his health. 2025 was always going to require an innings limit, but the White Sox could’ve monitored his innings from the rotation. The White Sox haven’t ruled out the possibility of Taylor starting in the future, but it sounds like it’ll be a slower development than originally planned. Even as a multi-inning reliever, Taylor likely won’t throw enough innings to position himself to be a full-time starter in 2027. Mike Vasil was primarily the multi-inning guy for the White Sox in 2025, and he just barely hit 100 innings pitched. Let’s say Taylor reaches a similar mark in 2026, he still won’t be in position to throw much more than 125-130 innings in 2027, so his workload will likely need to be limited again. At that rate, it’s 2028 before he’s fully unleashed as a starting pitcher, and the White Sox will have already lost three years of control. And that’s assuming he’s fully healthy each year, which is far from a guarantee. I think getting Taylor as many innings as possible in 2026 should be the priority, and the best way to do that is in the rotation.
White Sox fans have first-hand experience with similar situations. Chris Sale began as a reliever before making a transition to the rotation. Garrett Crochet was thrown into the fire as a starting pitcher amid concerns about his health and innings and he excelled, making the All-Star game in 2024 and nearly winning the Cy Young award for Boston in 2025. Crochet, Sale, and Taylor are all very different pitchers, but Taylor has the stuff to be every bit as good as Crochet and Sale, and the White Sox need to find a way to get as much value from him as they can. There’s nothing wrong with a dominant closer, which Taylor can be, but that’s much easier to find than an elite starting pitcher.
In Taylor, Noah Schultz, Shane Smith, and Hagen Smith, the White Sox have the opportunity to have one of the most dominant young rotations in baseball, and they need to put themselves in the best position to make that happen. If Taylor’s innings aren’t a priority for the White Sox in 2026, Chris Getz is making a crucial mistake.
