Here's how White Sox envision Taylor's evolving relief role

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin's White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- One hundred innings represents a targeted total discussed by Grant Taylor for his 2026 season, when asked this past weekend during SoxFest Live at the Ramova Theatre.

But there is certainly no certainty to that amount, considering the White Sox right-hander’s evolving relief role for his first full season in the Majors. The club has made bullpen moves to free up Taylor for multiple innings of work -- for a 23-year-old who could be starting in 2027.

“Because he is so special of an arm, you are always going to consider what’s next for him and what everything means for him and his development,” White Sox manager Will Venable said to MLB.com of Taylor. “Having got through last year, adding [Seranthony] Domínguez, being able to slot guys in different areas, we are going to have more freedom to use Grant to win games, as opposed to fulfill some innings limit.

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“At the same time, with starting being a possibility in his future, we want to build more innings than he had last year knowing that might look a little different out of the bullpen role. I don’t think there’s a direct plan and hard guidelines on how we are going to use him. We feel really good about where our bullpen is, and the ability to add Domínguez to free up Grant to help us get some more wins.”

Taylor’s plan as a 2025 rookie seemed a bit more linear.

With 19 1/3 innings on his career résumé, Taylor started six games for Double-A Birmingham before moving to the bullpen for his final nine appearances with the Barons. He was promoted to the Majors, as White Sox director of pitching Brian Bannister had talked about at the end of Spring Training, with his first outing on June 10 in Houston.

His electric stuff produced 37 pitches checking in at 100 mph or faster and topping out at 102.2 mph against Toronto on June 22, per Statcast, while recording 54 strikeouts over 36 2/3 innings. Taylor had the expected first-season ups and downs, leading to a 4.91 ERA over 36 games, but after giving up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings from Aug. 17-29, he finished with 10 straight scoreless appearances.

Those dominant outings featured 16 strikeouts, three walks and five hits in nine innings, with two wins, two saves and two holds.

“You are only one pitch away. I think that’s been a thing for me from high school on. One pitch at a time,” Taylor said of what he learned from 2025. “The difference between success and failure is just intent, and it could mean being bought in on the next pitch. There’s not really a big difference between when I was going good and going bad, stuff-wise.

“There was some stuff where we had talked about different pitch mixes and how I was using different pitches, some stuff mechanically. At the end of the day, I think it was intent. Understanding why I’m successful and kind of leaning into that. … It's just a little bit of belief and a little bit of intent behind some of those pitches.”

When asked about the brief foray into closing, Taylor said, “Yeah, it’s fun,” and being a Major Leaguer is more fun than anything else. But the option of starting in 2027 truly interests Taylor.

“Yeah, I mean, I love innings. I love to throw a lot of innings. So, I love any way that they come, but obviously you throw more as a starter,” Taylor said. “It will be a little bit different than last year but mostly the same.

“Trying to get more two-inning outings, multi-innings … I’m excited to do it. The goal is to build my innings as much as possible this year. Ultimately, it comes down to performance and health and put my best foot forward and see what happens.”

Mike Vasil reached 101 innings for the White Sox in 2025 with 11 of those accrued over just three starts out of his 47 predominantly successful appearances. Taylor’s role in ’26 could look similar on the path to 100.

“In the back end of the bullpen, it’s hard to get over 100 innings. The goal would be to get as close to that as possible,” Taylor said. “Shoot for that and come up short, still have a lot of innings. … It will be a little bit of bob and weave on what my role exactly looks like.”

“We are going to figure out how to keep pushing him,” Venable said. “But at the same time be mindful of his overall volume and the fact that we really need him to help us win games.”