AA Frisco RoughRiders
When he was in eighth grade his travel ball coach told him, in front of all the other players, that he would never play college baseball. Now, he is excelling in Double-A.
About three weeks ago some friends and I were discussing the Rangers lack of 1B prospects in their system. A couple of days later, I noticed someone playing 1B for the Frisco RoughRiders, who I had not noticed playing that position previously. The player was John Taylor. I had forgotten all about us signing Taylor during the 2025 season, but his playing 1B intrigued me enough to find out more about him.
What I discovered in researching who John Taylor was, revealed to me the story of both a young player who had performed very well since joining the Rangers organization and a young man who has already overcome many obstacles to reach this point in his career. He told his story on the Enjoy The Show Podcast a few months ago. It is the story of an overcomer; of a young man who just won’t quit on his dream.
John Taylor turned 25 years old just a few days ago. Last year at Hub City he slashed .256/.336/.352/.688 in 58 games. This year at Frisco he has slashed .301/.438/.506/.944 in 24 games. A year ago, he had never played in a minor league game. In less than a year in the minors he is having a fantastic season. How he got to this point is an amazing story of grit, determination, and resilience.
Let’s go back to when he was in eighth grade. He was only 4’ 10” tall and only weighed 95 pounds in eighth grade. He was so small that his dad encouraged him to voluntarily repeat eighth grade so that he could catch up to the other kids playing baseball, in size. He agreed to stay in eighth grade for two years.
By the time he got to ninth grade he had made it up to 5’ tall and weighed 105 pounds. When he finished his freshman year, he was up to 5’3”. He was on the freshman team in his freshman year. In his sophomore year he played on the varsity team and only hit .061. He only got one hit that year.
He didn’t’ give up, though. In his junior year he had grown to 5’10” and had finally reached the same size as other guys on his team. He did well in high school in his last two years. He used the Covid downtime to work out more and got in great shape.
He went to Salt Lake Community College after he graduated high school. He struggled there. The next year he transferred to Yavapai Junior College in Prescott, AZ. He started out there fourth on the depth chart at 3B. He only hit .100 in the fall and almost got cut. Two of the guys in front of him on the depth chart got hurt and the other one struggled so John got the chance to play. He hit .398 with 10 HR that year. Everything clicked for him that year. It took him until he was 21 years old for him to feel like he was “solid at baseball.”
After that he committed to Louisiana-Lafayette for the 2023 season. He was third on the depth chart there. He worked his way up to be a starter. He batted .304 in his junior year with 7 home runs. In his senior year he hit .296 with 9 home runs.
Even after his success at Louisiana-Lafayette he didn’t get drafted, and he wasn’t offered a free agent contract. He didn’t give up, though. He decided to go play Indy ball with the Milwaukee Milkmen. He batted .128 and struck out 17 times in 42 plate appearances. After that season he wanted to give up on baseball. He was cut by the Milkmen.
That fall he went to California to join a pay-to-play league, the California Winter League. In his second game he hit a home run and after that he received some offers from 4 Indy league teams. He chose to go play for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs to begin the 2025 season. The Blue Crabs were in a league that was a step up from the league he performed poorly in the year before.
After his first two weeks with the Blue Crabs, he was Hitting .067. He had a teammate on the Blue Crabs that had played for 10 years in MLB. His name was Alejandro De Aza. John asked Alejandro for some advice. He told John that he was too tight, too “muscly”, and had to loosen up.
John followed De Aza’s advice to get looser, and it made a huge difference. He hit great for 2 months after that. Then one night he went 4 for 5, and the next morning his coach told him the Rangers wanted to sign him. He had gone to bed the night before thinking that “maybe this Indy ball thing is for me.” The Rangers signed him on June 26, 2025. He hit .330 his first month with Hub City and was batting behind his college teammate, Julian Brock.
He played mainly 2B in college at Louisiana-Lafayette, but also a little SS and 3B. The Indy League teams played him at the same three positions. Since the Rangers acquired him, they have mainly played him at 2B and SS. Last year the Rangers played Taylor in the OF once, when he played for Hub City. Then about three weeks ago, they put him at 1B for Frisco. He has played at 1B twelve times since then. I like how the Rangers have given him a chance to expand his versatility by playing him at 1B this year. We could certainly use a first baseman in the upper levels to do well.
So far, he has overcome one obstacle after another. When he was in eighth grade his travel ball coach told him, in front of all the other players, that he would never play college baseball. Now, he is excelling in Double-A. No one ever mentions him as a prospect for the Rangers, but with all that he has overcome to get to this point, I would not doubt him continuing to overcome and make it up to the big leagues, at some point.
John Taylor has an effervescent personality and is extremely likable. He loves the game. He is resilient and refuses to give up no matter how many obstacles have been in the way. Whatever you do, don’t count out John Taylor, because he is an overcomer.