Taylor Turning Heads as Marauders’ Masher

Will Taylor has a bright future in baseball.

Right now, in my humble opinion, Konnor Griffin is the best-known Marauder this season, and for very good reasons. Forty-six games into his initial Florida State League season, the Pirates’ top draft pick last year is dominating at a level not seen in Southwest Florida baseball in a long time.

Griffin’s offense is on fire; an inferno of the highest degree. 60 hits, 10 doubles, eight home runs, 29 RBIs, 25 stolen bases, and hitting .317. Yep, the kid from Mississippi is that good.

But, there’s another rising star in the Pirates’ system at the Class-A level that you need to familiarize yourself with. Taylor is having a productive second season in Bradenton. Let's look at his numbers – 28 hits, two homers, 11 RBIs, seven stolen bags, and hitting .333, in 25 games.

Put Taylor’s numbers aside, as a person, he is polite and respectful as an organization like the Pirates could hope for. A product of good parenting, for sure. Recently, hours before the Marauders were still at LECOM Park before bussing to Fort Myers for a mid-week game with the Twins’ FSL Mighty Mussels affiliate, Taylor joined me to talk about how he arrived in Bradenton.

Sitting comfortably inside the lobby of the Bill McKechnie clubhouse, Marauders’ play-by-play voice Max Tanzer also sat in on Taylor going down memory lane. The more Taylor, 21, spoke, the more I find myself thinking what a gem the Pirates have.

Careful in his responses, I sense Taylor just wants to get his true feelings out, down to the smallest detail, I should add. This 2024 fifth-round draft selection is confident but not cocky. Confidence and success are rapidly leading a charge to a baseball promotion. Just as Griffin has outgrown his time in the FSL, Taylor equally could share a cab ride to the next level of competition in the Pirates’ minor league system.

Physically, Taylor is listed in the Marauders Magazine at 5 feet 10 inches, 180 pounds. I’m a terrible judge of the accuracy with measurements, but whatever the numbers could be off, I quickly learn there is no proper number to attribute to the heart Taylor brings to his game.

Getting hit by a pitch is no different for Taylor than us mere mortals getting a mosquito bite. At Clemson University, when not playing baseball, Taylor was a punt returner, quarterback, and wide receiver.

What most impresses me with Taylor during our conversation is his manners, his deep thought in getting details just right in his answers, and how well he speaks. Taylor is an owner’s dream come true (see Griffin on this list as well). Coming from a small town in South Carolina is obvious in Taylor not being in a rush to answer a question.

Chances are, you’ve never heard of Irmo, South Carolina. The last official population is around 12,000.

“(Irmo) is a very good sports town,” Taylor explains of Irmo High School, that has won 66 team state championships.”

Irmo is located less than a dozen miles from Columbia, where the South Carolina Gamecocks play SEC (Southeastern Conference) college football, in Taylor’s backyard. Both the Gamecocks and a two-hour dive northwest to Clemson hold special memories for the Marauders’ center fielder.

“I was recruited by both schools to play football, but Clemson also wanted me for their baseball program. I had a full scholarship for football,” Taylor tells.

The talk around the baseball world was that the Texas Rangers were interested in signing Taylor out of high school, and that he could go in a high round. However, once committing to Clemson, to play baseball AND football, Texas tempered down on their interest in signing Taylor. In 2021, the Rangers drafted Taylor in the 19th round, but he declined to sign.

Taylor shows little emotion when discussing his life. He is laid-back. I can only imagine how opposing pitchers must be frustrated in attempting to figure him out and goad him. But when hearing him speak of playing high school quarterback and getting opportunities at Clemson during wildcat formations, Taylor speeds up his responses.

The challenge was there for Taylor at Clemson, when to be ready for football season and when to be in full baseball mode.

“Baseball was more challenging. It takes more time to be ready,” said Taylor. “July 1, I was preparing for football. The first week of January, that was baseball time. It was a quick turnaround for me, but I enjoyed it.”

Memories of playing summer baseball in the Cape Cod League (2023 Hyannis Harbor Hawks), being a roommate of Bubba Chandler’s for two weeks, amazingly, Taylor offers a steady stream of details.

If pressed to compare him to another in the Pirates’ organization, he’s closest to being Bryan Reynolds. A steady hand at the plate and in the field, Taylor is all business without all the ‘look at me’ syndrome so many big leaguers are infected with.

There’s no doubt, Will Taylor is a winner, this season in Bradenton, and coming soon to Alleghany country.