3 college outfielders the Pittsburgh Pirates should keep on their draft radar

Will Taylor

Will Taylor originally attended Clemson University as a two-sport athlete, playing both baseball and football. He and Bubba Chandler were supposed to be teammates. But Taylor dropped the gridiron to focus on baseball after 2023. The move has seemed to help him out, however, as his talent has been on full display.

He's been slowed by injuries this year, but he is still slashing a strong .230/.465/.480 through 145 plate appearances. He already has seven home runs with a .250 isolated slugging percentage and has walked in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances with a 22.8% BB% while only striking out 17.9% of the time. He’s a good runner and has been successful in six of seven stolen base attempts.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the low batting average. Taylor is walking more often than he’s striking out, and his batting average on balls in play of just .239 indicates some bad batted ball luck. It’s been less than 150 plate appearances, so with time, I would expect this to increase. After all, he batted .362 with a .460 BABIP.

Taylor isn’t considered a big power hitter. According to Baseball America, his pop projects as fringe average, but he does hit the gaps with authority. He can occasionally be fooled by off-speed stuff, though, so this is something he will need to sharpen up as he enters pro ball. Taylor is a plus runner with a great glove. He should be able to stick up the middle, but he has a strong enough arm to move to a corner if he is required to.

Taylor has a feel for contact with great fielding prowess and speed. He has missed a good chunk of 2024 due to a fractured wrist, which might be enough for him to slide into the third or fourth round. He is still a bit of a raw talent, but one of the better outfielders in this year’s draft.