Blake Taylor

A second-round pick back in 2013, Taylor was traded once for Ike Davis and a second time in December of 2019. He was sent from the Mets to the Astros along with Kenedy Corona in exchange for Jake Marisnick. A little over 20 innings later and Taylor looks like another nice pitching find for Houston. The left-hander faced 87 batters and allowed just five earned runs on 13 hits, including two homers. That level of run prevention does not quite align with the skills; Taylor had just a 5.7 K-BB%. That being said, Taylor ranked among the elite in inducing weak contact, with lefty and righty hitters alike struggling to hit his four-seam fastball even as it averaged just 93.7 mph. We need to see a little more, but Taylor already has his first career save and it seems inevitable that he will fall into at least a couple matchup-based saves in his sophomore season.