Taylor Widener #57

Married to Paige...Went 8-7 with a 3.59 ERA and 9 saves in 3 years at the University of South Carolina…averaged 10.5 strikeouts per 9.0 innings...His favorite player growing up was Chipper Jones…he says "I always liked the way he played the game. He played hard."...Has spent the last 2 off seasons (2019/20 and '20/21) working a manual labor job at The Westin Kierland Golf Club...As a kid, he would go around his neighborhood cutting lawns, trimming hedges, and spreading mulch for gardens to earn money.

2020

Appeared in 12 games in his first season with Arizona, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA (10 ER in 20.0 IP), .192 opponent average and 22 strikeouts...Opponents hit .191 (9-for-47) off his 4-seam fastball and .167 (2-for-12) on his slider...Made his Major League debut on July 25 @ Padres with 1.2 scoreless innings…recorded his first strikeout (Trent Grisham)...On 10-day injured list from Aug. 31-Sept. 20 with a strained right rib cage.

2019

Went 6-7 with an 8.10 ERA (90 in 100.0 IP) and 109 strikeouts in 23 starts for Triple-A Reno...Ranked seventh in the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts per 9.0 IP (9.81) [min. 75.0 IP] and 10th in strikeouts...Named PCL Pitcher of the Week for June 24-30, going 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA (2 ER in 11.0 IP) and 14 strikeouts.

2018

Named organizational Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Southern League Pitcher of the Year and Baseball America's Double-A Pitcher of the Year after leading the SL with 176 strikeouts (second in MiLB), a .197 opponent average and a 1.03 WHIP and ranked second with a 2.75 ERA (42 ER in 137.1 IP)...Won the SL championship with Double-A Jackson...Earned SL midseason All-Star honors and named SL Pitcher of the Week for May 14-20...Was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training…traded to the D-backs in a 3-team trade (also: Rays and Yankees) on Feb. 20...Entered the season ranked as the D-backs' No. 4 prospect by MLB.com.

2017

Made 27 starts with Single-A Tampa, going 7-8 with a 3.39 ERA and a .206 opponent average...Ranked among Florida State League leaders in starts (1st), opponent average (1st), WHIP (1st, 1.15) and strikeouts-per-9.0 innings (1st, 9.73), strikeouts (3rd, 129) and ERA (4th)...Promoted to Double-A Trenton for the Eastern League playoffs and went 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA over 2 relief appearances (6.0 IP).