Locals In MiLB: Brayden Taylor Cracks Rays Top-5 Prospects

SALT LAKE CITY – Former Copper Hills baseball star Brayden Taylor is steadily rising through a loaded Tampa Bay Rays system, landing at No. 3 on MLB.com’s 2025 Rays top-30.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo rated Taylor as the No. 66 prospect in all of MLB and the fourth-best third baseman on the 2025 list.

There was Only 1 Minor League Player To Have:

>20 HR
>20 SB
>=15% BB%

Brayden Taylor#RaysUp pic.twitter.com/X3ugr7YmSH

— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) February 8, 2025

Despite his tantalizing tools, Taylor has a long way to go before making an MLB debut with Tampa Bay. Former top prospect Junior Caminero figures to have the inside edge at the hot corner, while current top prospect Carson Williams is slotted in as the shortstop of the future.

Taylor has 12 plate appearances in eight spring training games this year. He has two hits, including a double and one RBI, and has struck out three times against one walk.

Brayden Taylor had a great past year for the Rays organization. He was a SAL Post-Season All-Star and a Baseball America High Class A All-Star. The infielder earned his promotion to Montgomery in July where he was able to play 30 games. pic.twitter.com/NS9YfaMCRS

— Milb Central (@milb_central) February 7, 2025

He finished 2024 with 30 games at Double-A Montgomery. While with the Biscuits, Taylor struggled to a .194 batting average, hitting six long balls and driving in 17 runs.

About Brayden Taylor

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits – Tampa Bay Rays

2024 Stats: 114 games | .250 | 106 Hits | 27 2B | 8 3B | 20 HR | 62 RBI | 76 BB | 141 K | 29 SB

A 2020 Copper Hills High School graduate, Taylor was rated the 188th-ranked high school prospect according to Perfect Game, entering his senior season after earning first-team all-state and all-region recognition as a sophomore and junior. Taylor left Copper Hills with a .461 career batting average while being named to the academic honor roll all four years.

Brayden Taylor: smooth operator 😎

The @RaysBaseball prospect makes a slick diving play and flips to second for the out. pic.twitter.com/XsSYpK45Dp

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) February 25, 2025

Taylor committed to Texas Christian University (TCU) following his prep career. The West Jordan, Utah native didn’t miss a beat at the next level, starting 58 games and hitting .324. Taylor was named to several postseason all-freshman lists and was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. He earned All-Big 12 Second Team as a sophomore and All-Big 12 First Team as a junior.

In three seasons with the Horned Frogs, Taylor became the program’s first position player first-round pick. He launched 48 home runs, including 23 long balls as a junior. Taylor hit .315 in 184 career games and had an OPS (on-base + slugging) above 1.000 all three years.

Tampa Bay selected the TCU infielder with the 19th pick in the 2023 MLB player draft.

MLB.com projected Taylor as a solid defender who will eventually settle at third base.

Batting in the left side of the box, Taylor raises his right leg fairly high and stamps it down in time to generate lift and pull consistently. It has helped make him a power threat both in college and the pros, and it was notable that 11 of his 21 hits went for extra bases (including six homers) during what may have been an otherwise tough time in the pitcher-friendly Southern League. His main Double-A struggles were against softer stuff, specifically breaking pitches, but Rays coaches believe some of that may have come from late-season fatigue in his first campaign of more than 100 games.

Taylor may be just an average pure runner but he’s a solid athlete, capable of picking his stolen-base spots and moving around the infield. In other words, he’s a good fit for the Rays. He stopped playing shortstop after the promotion in deference to Carson Williams, and he’s a capable fit at third base with his arm strength. He also moves well enough for second, though that will take some transitioning to learn to read balls on the other side of the dirt.

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Brian Preece is a KSLSports.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X and Instagram and BlueSky at @bpreece24. 

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