Blake Taylor

BIOGRAPHY

Blake Michael Taylor was born on August 17, 1995, in Orange, California. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Taylor attended Dana Hills High School in Dana Point, California. Taylor was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2nd round, with the 51st overall selection, of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.

Taylor spent his professional debut season of 2013 with the GCL Pirates, going 0–2 with a 2.57 ERA over 21 innings. On June 14, 2014, Taylor was traded to the New York Mets as the PTBNL in a trade that had also sent Zack Thornton to the Mets, in exchange for Ike Davis. Taylor split the 2014 season between the GCL Mets and the Kingsport Mets, going a combined 4–1 with a 3.95 ERA over 40 1⁄3 innings. He split the 2015 season between the GCL and the Brooklyn Cyclones, combining to go 0–0 with a 2.25 ERA over 12 innings. In 2016, he made five appearances for Kingsport, having a 4.15 ERA in 8 2⁄3 innings. He spent the 2017 season with the Columbia Fireflies, going 1–9 with a 4.94 ERA over 85 2⁄3 innings. He split the 2018 season between the St. Lucie Mets and the Las Vegas 51s, going a combined 3–8 with a 5.40 ERA over 86 2⁄3 innings. He split the 2019 season between St. Lucie, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, and the Syracuse Mets, combining to go 2–3 with a 2.16 ERA over 66 2⁄3 innings. Following the 2019 season, Taylor played for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. On November 4, 2019, Taylor was added to the Mets 40-man roster.

On December 5, 2019, Taylor and Kenedy Corona were traded to the Houston Astros in exchange for Jake Marisnick.

In 2020, he was 2–1 with one save and a 2.18 ERA in which he pitched 20+2⁄3 innings over 22 relief appearances.

In 2021, he was 4–4 with a 3.16 ERA. In 50 relief appearances, he pitched 42+2⁄3 innings.

On June 4, 2022, the Astros placed Taylor on the 15-day injured list due to left elbow discomfort, and transferred him to the 60-day injured list on July 1, 2022. The Astros activated Taylor on September 13, 2022, and assigned him to the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys of the Pacific Coast League.

On January 13, 2023, Taylor avoided arbitration with the Astros, agreeing to a one-year, $830K contract for the season.