Taylor Jordan (born January 17, 1989) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) and the

Fubon Guardians The Fubon Guardians () are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. The team is owned by Fubon Financial Holding Co. and play their home games at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City. ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL).

Professional career

Jordan was drafted by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

in the 18th round of the

2007 Major League Baseball draft The 2007 Major League Baseball draft, was an annual choosing of high school and college baseball players, held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the first 25 rounds and was scheduled to be broadcast "l ...

out

Merritt Island High School Merritt Island High School is a public high school located in Merritt Island, Florida. It was built in 1965. Principals #Robert Bruton: 1965 - 1983 #Hank Smith: 1983 - 1999 #David M. Piccolo: 2000 - 2002 #Gary Shiffrin: 2002 - 2013 #Dr. Karyle ...

Merritt Island, Florida Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Florida coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and south ...

, but did not sign.

Washington Nationals

He was then drafted by the

in the ninth round of the

2009 Major League Baseball draft The 2009 Major League Baseball draft was held June 9 to June 11 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The drafting order is as follows: First-round selections Key Supplemental first-round selections From Baseball Americ ...

out of

Brevard Community College Brevard may refer to: People * Aleshia Brevard (1937–2017), American author and actress * Caroline Mays Brevard (1860–1920), American historian * John Brevard, American artist * Joseph Brevard (1760–1821), American soldier and politicia ...

. He made his professional debut for the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the low ...

Nationals in 2009. During the 2010 season he appeared for the

Vermont Lake Monsters The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont, United States, who were founded in 1994 as the Vermont Expos. They were members of Minor League Baseball, in the New York–Penn League (NYPL), ...

of the short-season

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

and the

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A (baseball), Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They pl ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

. In 2011, Jordan played for Hagerstown and the New York–Penn League's

Auburn Doubledays The Auburn Doubledays are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) that is located in Auburn, New York. From 1958 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) ...

, before ending the season early and undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. He split time between Hagerstown and Auburn again in 2012 after his surgery. Jordan began the 2013 season with the

Potomac Nationals The Potomac Nationals were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They were situated in Woodbridge, Virginia, and played their home games at Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium. After the 2019 season, the team relocated to ...

of the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. He was promoted to the Double-A

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team who play in the Eastern League, and are the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The team is based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at FNB Field on Cit ...

after making six starts for Potomac in which he had a 2–1 record and a 1.24

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

. Jordan's contract was selected from Harrisburg on June 29, 2013 and he made his major league debut the same day against the

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

. At the time of his promotion, Jordan had made eight starts for Harrisburg and compiled a 7–0 record with a 0.83 ERA. In 9 starts for the Nationals, Jordan recorded 1 win and 3 losses with an ERA of 3.66. Jordan opened the season as the Nationals fifth starter in 2014. He was the pitcher who allowed

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

' slugger

Albert Pujols José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (, ; born December 11, 1985) is a Dominicans, Dominican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former first baseman and designated hitter who is the manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Domin ...

's 500th career home run on April 22. He went on to start in 5 games but was inconsistent, going 0-3 with an ERA of 5.61. He was sent down to AAA, where he would start 6 games before being shut down due to an elbow injury. In 2016, Jordan began the season with the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

and made 3 starts, going 0-0 with a 1.72 ERA. The Nationals announced that Jordan would undergo a second Tommy John surgery and would miss the remainder of the 2016 season. On June 28, 2016, Jordan was released by the Nationals.

Sioux City Explorers

On March 19, 2018, Jordan signed with the

Sioux City Explorers The Sioux City Explorers are a professional baseball team based in Sioux City, Iowa, in the United States. The Explorers are inaugural members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseba ...

of the independent American Association. He pitched to a 3.29 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over 15 starts and 95.2 innings.

Fubon Guardians

On August 8, 2018, Jordan was signed by the

of the

(CPBL). He became a free agent following the 2018 season.

Return to Sioux City

On April 3, 2019, Jordan signed with the

of the American Association. Jordan was released by Sioux City on March 13, 2020. In 20 starts 124.1 innings he went 6-10 with a 4.49 ERA with 95 strikeouts and threw 2 complete game shutouts.

Pitching style

Jordan's repertoire consists of a

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch (baseball), pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the fastest ball thrown by a pitcher. It is s ...

at 92–95 mph, a sinker at 91–94 mph, a slider at 82–86 mph, and a

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced spee ...

at 82–85 mph. He throws mainly sinkers and changeups against left-handed hitters and throws mostly four-seamers, sinkers, and sliders against righties.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Taylor 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Merritt Island, Florida Baseball players from Brevard County, Florida Washington Nationals players 21st-century American sportsmen Gulf Coast Nationals players Vermont Lake Monsters players Hagerstown Suns players Auburn Doubledays players Potomac Nationals players Harrisburg Senators players Syracuse Chiefs players Sioux City Explorers players Fubon Guardians players Major League Baseball pitchers