FINAL GRADES: Troy Taylor's Rookie Year Gives Seattle Mariners Security in Bullpen
The Seattle Mariners bullpen will be rejuvenated and healthy by June or July of 2025.
Matt Brash will be back by that point from Tommy John surgery and Gregory Santos will be back after suffering several injuries during the season.
They will rejoin high-leverage relievers Collin Snider and Andres Munoz, who are both coming off career-best seasons.
In addition to Snider and Munoz, they'll also have Troy Taylor after a solid rookie season.
Troy Taylor by the numbers
Pitching stats: 3.72 ERA, 21 appearances, 0-0 Record, 19.1 innings pitched, 25 strikeouts, 1.14 WHIP, 1 save, .203 opp. BA, 0.1 WAR
Advanced pitching stats: 3.29 xERA, .211 xBA, 25.6% Chase, 29.6% Whiff, 4.36 FIP, 11.64 K/9, 85.4% LOB
What I liked
Taylor received the first major league call-up of his career on Aug. 10 straight from the organization's Double-A affiliate Arkansas Travelers.
Taylor made his major league debut on the national stage on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball against the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 11. And instantly, Taylor proved himself ready for the big lights.
It was a low-leverage debut for Taylor. He pitched the final inning when Seattle was was already up by the eventual final of 12-1.
Troy Taylor closes out #SundayNightBaseball with his first two career strikeouts as his family cheers him onđź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/z120F5sHcK
— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2024
Taylor had a three-pitch arsenal of a four-seamer, sweeper and changeup. He threw the changeup just five times according to Baseball Savant, so he really had just two throws that he worked with.
And he was effective with them.
Hitters averaged just .220 against Taylor's upper-90 MPH fastball and .188 against his sweeper.
Pretty soon, Taylor played himself into being one of the Mariners' three high-leverage arms with Snider and Munoz. He was often the first reliever to enter the game in the seventh inning when the team had a narrow lead.
Taylor's velocity on his heater and sweeper made him nearly untouchable to hit in his first month in the big leagues. He blew by hitters with his speed and drew a 44.6% whiff rate with his sweeper.
Best game
Taylor didn't pitch longer than an inning all season. But those one-inning outings he had were important, especially during Seattle's playoff push.
Taylor's first save of his career came in the second-to-last appearance of the season.
On Sept. 27 against the Oakland Athletics, Taylor pitched the ninth inning in a 2-0 win.
He faced four batters and struck out two batters while allowing just one hit. Of Taylor's 20 pitches thrown, 12 were strikes.
Future prospects
Taylor won't be up for pre-arbitration until 2026 and will likely be under team control through at least 2029.
The Mariners have several other relievers up for arbitration that could be non-tendered.
Even if there wasn't the possibility for several spots being available in the bullpen for 2025, Taylor's rookie season high-enough quality to guarantee him a spot in the roster.
Even with Santos and Brash back in the fold, Taylor will be among Seattle's go-to arms in a pinch. Barring a sophomore slump, the UC Irvine product will continue to be heavily featured.
Final grade: B
B: Taylor's 21 games of work guarantees Seattle's hurlers maintain their streak of at earning at least a "B" in our final grades series.
Taylor narrowly avoids earning a "B-plus" or "A-minus" for two reasons: the first being Taylor simply didn't play enough games.
The Mariners were in need of relievers after Santos and 2024 trade acquisition Yimi Garcia both went on the injured list.
If it wasn't for those ailments, there's a good chance Taylor would have remained in Arkansas.
Regardless of "what-ifs," Taylor needs to prove he can maintain his high-leverage role for a whole season.
The offseason could give Taylor an opportunity to add to his arsenal as well, which brings us to the second reason Taylor got dinged.
Hitters started to figure out Taylor's two-pitch approach as the season went on. Through Taylor's first 10 appearances, he allowed just one earned run off four hits including one home run.
In Taylor's last 11 appearances, he let up seven earned runs off 11 hits including three homers.
But it was still a successful rookie year for Taylor. And if he does manage to successfully implement another throw (or two) in his arsenal, his sophomore encore will likely be even better.
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