Things heating up for Kernels’ Taylor

Forget the splitter, the curve, the change-up or the knuckler. A good, well-placed fastball is the best pitch in baseball.

Andrew Taylor was reminded of that when he became a pro.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels reliever fell in love with his slider at North Carolina State. It was one right after another.

But when he signed with the Los Angeles Angels after being drafted in the 34th round last year, his coaches drilled him to throw his heater more. As a result, that heater has gotten hotter, and so has his prospect status.

“He's got plus stuff across the board,” said Kernels pitching coach Brandon Emanuel. “We've gotten him to use his fastball more, and his velocity has climbed.”

Taylor, 22, threw regularly in the high-80s last season in Rookie ball, but his fastball has been in the low-90s this season, touching 94 or 95. Just look at his statistics to see what that has done for him.

Taylor is 2-0 with a 1.29 earned run average in 28 games for the Kernels. In 35 innings, he has allowed just 19 hits and struck out 58. The lefty has been closing some games recently.

“I just go out there when I'm called on to pitch,” the native North Carolinian said. “Closing a game, setting up a game, starting a game, it's all the same mentality. But, yeah, you do go out there with a little more adrenalin (when you're closing), of course. Get those last three outs and help your team win.”

Taylor got a promotion to high-Class A Rancho Cucamonga in mid-May but pulled a muscle in his side, struggled with his control and got shipped back to Cedar Rapids. To his credit, he didn't pout when he returned.

He went back to work, got healthy and reverted to being a dominant reliever.

“He's a guy who down the road you're looking at helping out in the big leagues,” Emanuel said.

“They expected some things, and I didn't perform well,” Taylor said. “They sent me back down, and now I'm performing the way I need to. ... I came back here and got my mechanics straight. I'm throwing strikes, so everything's good now.”

Or in his case, very good.