KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Manager Will Venable approached pitcher Grant Taylor after the team’s 5-4 victory in 10 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday at Rate Field, a game in which the right-hander had a perfect first as the opener.
Taylor struck out one while only needing nine pitches to retire the side during the home opener.
“Venable came to me and said, ‘We’re going to run it back and do it again tomorrow,’” Taylor told the Tribune on Sunday. “I was like, ‘All right, sweet. Let’s do it. Let’s try and do the exact same thing.’
“And it was pretty close.”
He set the tone again Saturday, pitching another perfect first inning with one strikeout. The Sox went on to defeat the Blue Jays 6-3.
Taylor made 36 appearances, including two starts as an opener, during his rookie season in 2025. The reliever was called on for the opener’s role three times in four days — the first two games of the series against the Blue Jays and Monday’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles — during the just-completed homestand. He surrendered one hit and struck out one in a scoreless inning against the Orioles.
“It’s very similar to what I do on a daily basis,” Taylor said. “Just the preparation is a little bit closer to the outing. I’m still going out there expected to face three, four batters and be done.
“So I try to treat it similar as if I was coming in the ninth in terms of being on the mound. But I fall back on the preparation I had last year in the minors whenever I was starting to get ready for those situations.”
Venable credits Taylor for being ready for any task.
“One, he wants to help in any way possible,” Venable said Tuesday. “He understands that he can make an impact and go get big outs for us. And I don’t think he cares where those come. He knows that they are all important and he’s a huge piece of this.
“As far as opening, I think that he’s a starter at heart, and that gives him the chance to go through that process, which I think feels good for him. Seems like it. Every time we tell him, he’s really excited. I’m happy that he and the rest of the group are bought into whatever it might look like on a given day for us to make these decisions that we’re trying to do to help us win.”
Taylor, 23, entered in relief of Anthony Kay in the sixth inning Thursday in the series opener against the Kansas City Royals. He allowed two hits and struck out a batter in 1 1/3 innings in a 2-0 Sox victory.
Taylor has a 1.42 ERA in six outings (three starts), allowing one run on six hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in 6 1/3 innings.
“Been able to get ahead of hitters a lot earlier than I was in the spring,” Taylor said. “Made a few adjustments. It’s made it a lot easier to get the punchouts and to make sure the innings are a lot smoother. Getting ahead two strikes early saves the day on the pitch counts being available for the next day.
“There were a couple mechanical things that I made in the spring training outings, two batters too late where it might have been a walk and a single rather than being able to make it in between pitches. I think I’m at the point right now where I can feel whenever I might be rushing on the mound and be able to make those adjustments in the middle of an at-bat instead after I’ve already walked a guy.
“That’s been pretty crucial so far. And also a couple intent things on where I’m throwing different pitches and how I’m executing different pitches. Just allows me to get in the zone a little bit earlier and be able to expand later and get the chase that you want.”
Roster moves
The Sox made four roster moves ahead of Thursday’s game at Kauffman Stadium, placing pitcher Chris Murphy (left elbow impingement syndrome) on the 15-day injured list, optioning pitcher Tyler Schweitzer to Triple-A Charlotte and recalling pitchers Duncan Davitt and Brandon Eisert from Charlotte.
“We need some availability here, number one,” Venable said before the game. “(The Royals have a) right-handed-heavy lineup, do have some lefties in there. But a lot of good righties. And so Davitt gives us some really good length.”
Davitt, 26, made two starts with Charlotte this season, going 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA. The right-hander has 11 strikeouts in eight innings. He was acquired in July as part of a trade that sent pitcher Adrian Houser to the Tampa Bay Rays. He entered Thursday with no big-league experience.
“I grew up 2½ hours from here so this is the stadium I grew up going to the most often,” said Davitt, who resides in Indianola, Iowa. “I walked out (Thursday), took a look at the field from a little bit of a different perspective. It was kind of a whirlwind. And just really exciting in general.”
Murphy’s IL stint is retroactive to Wednesday. Schweitzer allowed one run on two hits with one walk and one strikeout over 1 1/3 innings Wednesday during his major-league debut. Eisert appeared in 72 games with the Sox last season.
