Pirates fourth-rounder Jacob Taylor has had Tommy John surgery

Pirates 2015 fourth-round pick Jacob Taylor has recently had Tommy John surgery, Pirates Prospects reports. Taylor, a righty out of a Mississippi community college, was the top pitcher the Pirates chose in an otherwise hitter-heavy draft, and probably also the highest-upside one -- his $500,000 bonus was above the recommendation for his pick, and was far higher than any other bonus the Pirates awarded to a pitcher this summer.

As Tim Williams points out, too, this injury might mean Taylor won't pitch competitively until 2017. He'll take a year to recover from the surgery, and the minor league season will likely be almost over, or maybe will be over, by the time he's healthy. Taylor wasn't likely to pitch a ton of innings in either year anyway, but it's still unfortunate that he'll be out that long, especially since the time off could become a problem when Taylor becomes eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.

Taylor pitched one outing in the Gulf Coast League after being drafted, striking out two but walking three in two innings.