2024 MLB Draft Profile: Will Taylor
Draft Profile: Will Taylor (Clemson)
Height: 6'0
Weight: 180
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Will Taylor, a former two-sport athlete at Clemson, has committed to baseball full-time to pursue a career in the sport, giving up his football scholarship at Clemson. He is rising up draft boards now that his full concentration is on baseball.
To start, Taylor was the backup quarterback for Clemson the last two years. On his behalf, he is a good athlete. I also really like his swing and bat path consistency, he can put his bat into the zone with smoothness thanks to his hands and has swing flexibility that plays to all fields.
Taylor was good against fastballs in 2023, sporting an average of over .325 against them. He hit over .350 against them from RHP with an xwOBA over .440, and over .290 against LHP (though they did expand on him to generate more swings and misses).
There is not much data for him against higher velocity levels, but he did hit over .275 against fastballs ≥ 93 MPH in limited samples.
He did not square them up at a noticeably high rate, but he showed an ability to handle them without as much concern.
Taylor did impressively well against breaking pitches and glove-side movement in his first year as a starter.
Curveballs took a hit against him to the clip of an average over .450, with an impressive whiff rate of only 12 percent against them in limited samples. His quality of contact again did not stand out, but he did produce.
He also impressively hit over .370 against sliders, with a higher level of quality contact. Taylor had sub-30 percent whiff and chase rates against both pitches. His average against sliders from LHP was slower, but his quality of contact is higher than it was against RHP with higher barrel and hard-hit rates, signifying to me that it should not be a concern.
If there is a pitch that gives him trouble, it is the arm-side movement of the changeup. He hit sub .300 against either side with poor quality of contact, as well as higher whiff rates, especially against LHP. His average against LHP was around .200 against them, but again his quality of contact was better against them relative to RHP, so I do not see much cause for concern.
Conclusion
Taylor’s projection profile changes now that he is committed to baseball full-time. He was a good player last year, but there is room to grow in his game.
He appears to be more of a line-drive hitter, which is fine, there is room for that in the sport. I would, however, like to see some progression on his batted ball metrics (some more hard-hit balls in particular would be nice).
I like Taylor’s fundamental approach. He is not in the habit of chasing anything at a high rate, tends to make contact at a consistent clip, and walks a good amount for a first-year starter. He also can spray the ball all around the field and handles both LHP and RHP amicably.
I would like to revisit my report on Taylor later in the season once he has a good amount of a second year as a starter in the college game under his belt. I’m intrigued by what he did last year, and there are elements to like. If he can improve his batted data somewhat (turning a lot of these singles into doubles), then I think it would elevate his draft profile. I am excited to see how his development has shifted now that he is all in on baseball.
