Taylor James Cole (born August 20, 1989) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He was drafted by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in the 29th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

. He made his MLB debut for the Blue Jays in 2017 and also played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Minor leagues

Cole was born in Simi Valley, California. He was drafted by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in the 26th round of the

2007 Major League Baseball draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the f ...

out of Bishop Gorman High School in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He did not sign, and instead attended the

College of Southern Nevada The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) is a public community college in Clark County, Nevada. The college has more than 2,500 teaching and non-teaching staff and is the largest public college or university in Nevada. It is part of the Nevada Syst ...

. He was drafted again, this time by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 31st round of the

2008 Major League Baseball draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

, and again did not sign. Cole did not play baseball in 2009 and 2010 while he was on his

Mormon Mission Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

. He returned to pitch in 2011 for the

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Cougars baseball team. Cole was drafted a third time, by the

in the 29th round of the

. 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 An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

, and 25

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 33 innings. Cole played the entire 2012 season in Vancouver and greatly improved, posting a 6–0 record, 0.81 ERA, and 57 strikeouts in 66 innings. He played the majority of the 2013 season with the Lansing Lugnuts, and made 1 start for the

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

at the end of the season. Cole would pitched to a combined 7–12 record, 3.94 ERA, and 103 strikeouts in 137 innings. In 2014, Cole pitched mostly for Dunedin and made two starts for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He finished the season with a combined 8–11 record, 3.43 ERA, and an MiLB-leading 181 strikeouts. 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. Cole was invited to Major League

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

on January 12, 2016, and reassigned to minor league camp on March 12. He battled injuries in 2016, pitching only 77 innings and posting a 4–4 record, 3.97 ERA, and 62 strikeouts.

Major leagues

Cole was called up to the Blue Jays on August 5, 2017. He made his debut on August 9, pitching one inning of the Blue Jays' 11–5 loss to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. Cole allowed four earned runs and struck out

Aaron Judge Aaron James Judge (born April 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Judge was unanimously selected as the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 2017, and finishe ...

for his first MLB strikeout. The following day, Cole was placed on the disabled list with a broken toe. On August 14, Cole was released. Cole signed a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays on August 18, and was added to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

on September 29. He was outrighted to Triple-A on November 6, 2017, and elected free agency the following day.

Los Angeles Angels

On March 4, 2018, Cole signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels. On June 28, Cole was added to the team's active roster. For the 2018 season, he was 4–2 with a 2.75 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 36 innings. On July 12, 2019, Cole pitched two innings in a combined

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. Cole was designated for assignment by the Angels on March 22, 2020. In August 2020, Cole underwent shoulder surgery and missed the 2020 season. 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 The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

that included an invitation to Spring Training. 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. 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.https://www.milb.com/mexican/news/lmb-movimientos-en-listas-de-reserva-10-de-enero-de-2023

References

External links

BYU Cougars bio
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Taylor 1989 births American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from California Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players BYU Cougars baseball players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Lansing Lugnuts players Living people Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers New Hampshire Fisher Cats players People from Simi Valley, California Salt Lake Bees players Southern Nevada Coyotes baseball players Toronto Blue Jays players Vancouver Canadians players