White Sox RHP Grant Taylor Becoming Baseball’s Best Reliever

Of every Chicago White Sox player who has stepped up and contributed to the team's success in the early stages of the postseason, none has been more impressive than right-handed pitcher Grant Taylor.

Taylor has taken the ball in two of the White Sox's three playoff games thus far. And each time, he's accomplished something he'd never done before in his big league career.

In Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Houston Astros, Taylor threw a career-high 54 pitches to cover the final 2.1 innings and secure a White Sox victory.

In Game 1 of the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians, he was even more impressive. Taylor covered a career-high four innings to record a 12-out save, striking out six while needing only 42 pitches.

Pound for pound, he's the best reliever the White Sox have. That was clear during the regular season, but Taylor appears to have taken things to another level during the playoffs.

Armed with a filthy triple-digit fastball and an even better power curve, he's not afraid of the big moment. Taylor's willing to put the team on his back. And like any good pitcher, he always wants the ball.

After throwing a career-high 54 pitches in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, it was assumed Taylor would be unavailable if the White Sox needed his services in Game 2. Thankfully, they didn't. But Taylor reportedly advocated for White Sox manager Will Venable to let him pitch anyway.

When Chicago turned to Taylor in the sixth inning of Game 1 of the ALDS, Venable revealed that the plan wasn't initially for him to finish the game. The White Sox thought they'd get three innings from Taylor at most and simply wanted him involved for what they believed would be the highest-leverage portion of the game to keep the Guardians at bay.

But one efficient inning followed another, and Taylor never gave Venable a reason to take the ball away from him.

“Grant has been our guy the entire year. We were going into that one not expecting four innings from him, but he was just so efficient, kept going and wanted the ball in the ninth there,” Venable said after the Game 1 win.

“We just weren't comfortable with the cushion there to go elsewhere.”

And really, how could Venable go anywhere else? Truthfully, it's hard to give Taylor enough credit for what he's been doing.

A 12-out save in the postseason has only happened six times in MLB history. It was last accomplished by Lance McCullers Jr. with the Houston Astros in 2017. Before that, it was Madison Bumgarner with the San Francisco Giants in 2014.

And before Bumgarner? You have to go all the way back to 1983, when Sammy Stewart recorded one for the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS against the White Sox.

For a White Sox team that is deficient in starting pitching, Chicago's real advantage in the postseason is a bullpen full of arms capable of going multiple innings. And when that group is anchored by a lights-out reliever like Taylor, it shortens the game and makes the job of every other pitcher much easier.

Taylor already established himself among baseball's elite relievers during the regular season. Only three MLB pitchers finished 2026 with at least 60 appearances, an ERA of 2.25 or lower and more than 100 strikeouts: Taylor, San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller and Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith.

But October is where Taylor has started to separate himself.

In a postseason where even Miller has faltered under the bright lights - Miller gave up two earned runs in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday as the Padres dropped Game 2 of the NLDS, 4-3 - Taylor deserves national attention for just how reliable he's been.

And if he can continue this dominance while pitching multiple innings at a time and taking the ball in the highest-leverage situations for Chicago, there's no telling how far this White Sox playoff run can go.