Taylor Cole (baseball)

Taylor James Cole (born August 20, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 29th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut for the Blue Jays in 2017 and also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels.

Taylor Cole
Pitcher
Born: (1989-08-20) August 20, 1989
Simi Valley, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 9, 2017, for the Toronto Blue Jays
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 2019, for the Los Angeles Angels
MLB statistics
Win–loss record7–6
Earned run average4.97
Strikeouts90
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Pitched a combined no-hitter on July 12, 2019

Professional career

Minor leagues

Cole was born in Simi Valley, California. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 26th round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He did not sign, and instead attended the College of Southern Nevada. He was drafted again, this time by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 31st round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, and again did not sign. Cole did not play baseball in 2009 and 2010 while he was on his Mormon Mission.[1] He returned to pitch in 2011 for the Brigham Young University Cougars baseball team.[2]

Cole was drafted a third time, by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 29th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Blue Jays and made his professional debut with the Vancouver Canadians, making 11 appearances (8 starts) in 2011 and posting a 1–3 win–loss record, 5.88 ERA, and 25 strikeouts in 332⁄3 innings.[3] Cole played the entire 2012 season in Vancouver and greatly improved, posting a 6–0 record, 0.81 ERA, and 57 strikeouts in 661⁄3 innings.[3] He played the majority of the 2013 season with the Lansing Lugnuts, and made 1 start for the Dunedin Blue Jays at the end of the season.[3][4] Cole would pitched to a combined 7–12 record, 3.94 ERA, and 103 strikeouts in 137 innings.[3]

In 2014, Cole pitched mostly for Dunedin and made two starts for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.[5] He finished the season with a combined 8–11 record, 3.43 ERA, and an MiLB-leading 181 strikeouts.[6] Cole played the entire 2015 season with New Hampshire, pitching to a 7–10 record, 4.06 ERA, and 128 strikeouts in a career-high 164 innings.[3]

Cole was invited to Major League spring training on January 12, 2016, and reassigned to minor league camp on March 12.[7] He battled injuries in 2016, pitching only 77 innings and posting a 4–4 record, 3.97 ERA, and 62 strikeouts.[3]

Major leagues

Cole was called up to the Blue Jays on August 5, 2017.[8] He made his debut on August 9, pitching one inning of the Blue Jays' 11–5 loss to the New York Yankees. Cole allowed four earned runs and struck out Aaron Judge for his first MLB strikeout.[9] The following day, Cole was placed on the disabled list with a broken toe.[10] On August 14, Cole was released.[11] Cole signed a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays on August 18,[12] and was added to the 40-man roster on September 29.[13] He was outrighted to Triple-A on November 6, 2017,[14] and elected free agency the following day.[15]

Los Angeles Angels

On March 4, 2018, Cole signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels.[16] On June 28, Cole was added to the team's active roster.[17] For the 2018 season, he was 4–2 with a 2.75 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 36 innings.[18]

On July 12, 2019, Cole pitched two innings in a combined no-hitter (which was finished by 7 innings from Felix Pena) against the Seattle Mariners.[19]

Cole was designated for assignment by the Angels on March 22, 2020. In August 2020, Cole underwent shoulder surgery and missed the 2020 season.[20] On October 5, 2020, Cole elected free agency.

Boston Red Sox

On January 19, 2022, Cole signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox that included an invitation to Spring Training.[21] On July 3, 2022, Cole was released.

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos

On July 14, 2022, Cole signed with the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League.[22] In 2022, he made 4 starts going 2–1 with a 3.68 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 14.2 innings.

On January 10, 2023, Cole retired from professional baseball.[23]

References
  1. "FSL notes: Jays' Cole on pitching mission". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  2. "Pitcher giving pros a shot". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  3. "Taylor Cole Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  4. Sarah Zintel (19 March 2013). "Wife inspires Jays pitcher Taylor Cole to bigger things". The Toronto Observer. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  5. Carter Williams (June 22, 2014). "Former BYU pitcher Taylor Cole hopes baseball will take him back to where he served an LDS mission". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  6. Franzoni, Kyle (November 22, 2014). "Blue Jays prospect Taylor Cole looking to continue recent strides". jaysjournal.com. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  7. @bnicholsonsmith (March 12, 2016). "#BlueJays make some cuts, reassigning Alford, Berti, Cole, Copeland, Dean, Fields, Jansen, McCoy, Tellez & Urena to minor league camp" (Tweet). Retrieved March 12, 2016 – via Twitter.
  8. "Blue Jays call up reliever Taylor Cole from triple-A Buffalo". Sportsnet. August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  9. "Yankees use long ball early, then pad lead in win over Blue Jays". Sportsnet. August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  10. "Blue Jays place Taylor Cole on DL with toe fracture". Sportsnet. August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  11. "Taylor Cole: Released by Toronto". cbssports.com. August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  12. @BlueJaysPR (18 August 2017). "Blue Jays have signed RHP Taylor Cole to a minor league contract" (Tweet). Retrieved August 18, 2017 – via Twitter.
  13. "Blue Jays bring in Taylor Cole, move Aaron Sanchez to 60-day DL". Sportsnet. September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  14. Nicholson-Smith, Ben (November 6, 2017). "Blue Jays claim right-hander Taylor Guerrieri on waivers from Rays". Sportsnet. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  15. Eddy, Matt (November 7, 2017). "Minor League Free Agents 2017". Baseball America. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  16. Baseball-Rosters (@RosterRoundup) | Twitter
  17. "Angels' Taylor Cole: Contract purchased from minors". cbssports.com. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  18. Taylor Cole Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
  19. Mariners vs. Angels Box Score
  20. "Angels pitcher will miss 2020 season following shoulder surgery". 14 August 2020.
  21. "Red Sox sign pitcher Taylor Cole to minor league deal with spring training invite". 19 January 2022.
  22. "BRANDON BRENNAN Y TAYLOR COLE SE SUMAN A LA ROTACIÓN FRONTERIZA". tecolotes2laredos.com (in Spanish). July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  23. "LMB: Movimientos en listas de reserva - 10 de enero de 2023".
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