The Cincinnati Reds have signed right handed pitcher Taylor Grover to a minor league contract. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic was the first to report the move. If you haven’t heard of Taylor Grover, you may not be alone. He spent the 2018 season playing in two different independent leagues. The 27-year-old pitched for Chicago in the American Association and in Long Island in the Atlantic League.
Generally speaking, the signing of a going to be 28-year-old minor league reliever wouldn’t warrant an article on it’s own. But Taylor Grover is very intriguing. While he’s definitely older than your typical guy to get excited for, it’s not the age that we are focusing on here. It’s the triple-digit fastball that he’s got.
Taylor Grover has topped out at 102 MPH. That’s where things get real interesting. In his minor league career he’s missed bats at just about every level. The former 10th round pick struck out 296 batters with 117 walks in 307.0 innings in his career.
In the lower minor leagues he performed well. In rookie and A-ball he posted a 3.47 ERA in 187.0 innings with 68 walks and 172 strikeouts. Double-A, however was more of a struggle. Between 2016 and 2017 he threw 120.0 innings for Portland while in the Red Sox system. That came with a combined 5.10 ERA with 120 hits allowed, 49 walks, and 124 strikeouts.
The ERA and hits allowed in Double-A wasn’t good. But his walk rate and strikeout rates both were. He walks 9.1% of the opposing hitters he faced. That came with a 23% strikeout rate, too. He did give up 16 home runs in his 120.0 innings at the level, though.
While independent league baseball isn’t at the same level as Double-A, he was pretty dominant at his two stops in 2018. Between the two teams he posted a 2.55 ERA in 53.0 innings, allowed 39 hits, walked 22 and he struck out 70 batters.
With signings like this out of independent league baseball you usually aren’t going to get much in terms of future big league help. But when the signing comes with a triple-digit fastball, there’s reason to believe that you could be getting someone to really keep an eye on.