LSU starting pitcher Grant Taylor to miss entire season with UCL injury

LSU starting pitcher Grant Taylor will miss the 2023 season with a UCL injury, according to a report from D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers. Taylor was expected to be a weekend starting pitcher for the Tigers, the preseason No. 1 team in the country. He is D1Baseball’s No. 15 prospect for the 2023 MLB Draft.

Last season, Taylor started two games and pitched in another 15 out of the bullpen. He was 4-1 with a 5.81 ERA in 31.0 innings.

Over the summer, he played for the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Taylor was 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA in five games, including four starts.

As a senior in high school in 2021, he was named Alabama Class 7A Player of the Year.

SOURCE: @LSUbaseball RHP Grant Taylor, a projected weekend starter and the No. 15 prospect in the 2023 #MLBDraft class by @d1baseball, will miss the 2023 season because of a UCL injury. #LSU clearly has depth, but Taylor had an incredible fall.

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) February 13, 2023

Grant Taylor was projected to be a key player for LSU

LSU, the preseason No. 1 team, was expected to lean on Taylor for a key weekend starter role in his sophomore year.

While the Tigers will miss Taylor, there are other players on the team capable of stepping up into the role.

With that being said, the firepower from LSU will come in the batter’s box with a team that is projected to be prolific on offense. The Tigers have three players on the D1Baseball All-America first team, the most out of any team. They are outfielder Dylan Crews, designated hitter Tommy White and utility player Paul Skenes.

Crews, a consensus First-Team All-American and 2022 SEC Co-Player of the Year, hit .349 with an on-base percentage of .463 plus 22 home runs, 72 RBIs and 73 runs.

White transferred in from NC State, where he hit 27 home runs, hit .362 and was named ACC Freshman of the Year.

Skenes is another transfer, arriving from Air Force.

It is head coach Jay Johnson‘s second year at the helm for LSU after a 40-22 first season in Baton Rouge.