Fourth Round: RHP Jacob Taylor

RHP Jacob Taylor, 19, from Pearl River CC (he was signed by LSU for next season) was the Bucs' fourth round pick. Taylor started his college career as a two-way player his freshman year, but his velocity kept improving (he's sitting at 93, touching 97) and the Wildcats turned him into a full-time pitcher. He's also got a solid slider and a developmental change in his tool kit. Taylor was ranked #77 by MLB.com & #97 by Baseball America.

Jacob Taylor (photo - Sun Herald)

His stats aren't much (2-5/3.90, 44 K and 27 walks in 57-2/3 IP), and he still has some command issues, but for a guy with just nine college starts under his belt, he has all the tools and is the young, upside kind of pitcher the Bucs love to coach up. He's also fair sized at 6' 3", has smooth mechanics and a decent downward plane to his deliveries.

The only question is whether that LSU commitment will be a hurdle in signing him; in that regard, he's the same as trying to sign a hot shot HS senior committed to a major program, except that Taylor will be draft eligible in one year (after his junior season) instead of three.

That'll be it for the picks for awhile; we'll wrap up rounds 5-10 in a post later today.