Nathan Taylor

Taylor has been a starter for the bearcats dating back to his freshman year. He has a solid track record of performance, with stuff that backs it up well.

Taylor is up to 96 mph with a fastball that will rest in the low-90s with solid carry. He can at times struggle to garner whiffs on the pitch just due to it being relatively generic from a shape standpoint, that said he does get plus extension down the mound. Taylor's slider is by far his best offering, a pitch that can at times have hitters swinging at it like it's invisible. It sits in the mid-80s with sharp bite, extremely effective off the fastball tunnel. It's a potential plus breaking ball. Taylor will flash an upper-80s changeup at times, though it's the clear third offering at this stage. A better secondary to attack lefties with will be a focus moving forward, as they've historically had much more success then right-handed hitters.

Taylor has the look of a back of the rotation starter at the next level, but he has the chance to take multiple strides forward once in a pro development system. Getting more value out of the fastball and establishing a weapon against lefties will be key.