September 22, 2022

By Mason Bugaresti

Carleton University

OTTAWA _ Fieldhouse Pirates pitcher Aiden Taggart is just 17 years old, and at such a young age he has already been through one of the craziest summers of his life.

Taggart’s wild ride in 2022 and his rising stock as a high school recruit means he can add another feather to his cap, an invitation to the Canadian Futures Showcase.

The Grimsby, Ont. native stands at 6-foot-3. Players of that height are usually positioned in the corner outfield or stepping on the mound as a pitcher. Before this summer, Taggart was both.

“I was an outfielder before this,” said Taggart.

This summer marked a transition for Taggart in which he became a full-time pitcher. He’s motivated to expand and perfect his pitching arsenal and earn himself an NCAA scholarship.

“That’s the path I want to go down in the future. I want to be a pitcher in college, that’s my goal.”

Taggart is entering grade 11 and has two more years with the Fieldhouse Pirates to gain some notoriety among scouts. He has spent his last four seasons playing for the Pirates after he played one year with the Beamsville Stingers. Fieldhouse is a player development program aimed at getting NCAA scholarships for players.

The transition to full-time pitching has been an impressively smooth one for the 17-year-old righty. He says he believes that pitching will give him the best chance at earning an NCAA scholarship. Betting on his pitching capabilities seems to have paid dividends for the Pirates’ starter. His two favourite weapons on the mound are his four-seam fastball and his changeup.

“My best pitch is probably my changeup. I do a good job changing speeds which helps create some separation between my change and my fastball.”

Batters stepping into the box know that Taggart loves to throw his changeup in two-strike counts, but they are unable to sit on the changeup because of the threat of Taggart’s equally impressive four-seamer. His fastball sits around 85 MPH, while his changeup drops to roughly 10 MPH slower which terrorized hitters this past summer. When you factor in the movement on his fastball due to his unorthodox grip, the West Niagara Secondary School student is almost unhittable.

“I throw a four-seamer and it has a lot of run on it like a two-seamer would have, but I still grip it as a four-seamer.”

Taggart’s four-seamer spins at nearly 2300 RPM which makes it appear like the ball is rising to a hitter facing him. The spin rate is impressive as he is already close to the average RPM of the 2021 MLB average four-seamer.

As scouts flocked to Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Park in Ottawa, Ont. for the first day of the Canadian Futures Showcase, Taggart was relaxed and calm beyond his years.

“I don’t think it matters too much. As long as you go on the mound and put it all behind you, and just be ready to compete.”

If any of the young players were feeling the nerves at Tuesday’s day 1 workout, Taggart was not one of them. He made a point of mentioning his excitement and was noticeably upbeat and talkative with the other pitchers shagging balls in the outfield while other youngsters took batting practice.

“I love the atmosphere. All the great baseball players here and meeting the guys I am going to spend the week with. I’m excited to watch them play.”

Taggart’s enthusiasm and desire to pitch in big moments is one of the reasons he was selected to Team Ontario as a relief pitcher in the 2022 Canada Games. Taggart was the youngest player selected. Team Ontario won the gold medal with Taggart making multiple appearances out of the bullpen. For Taggart, it was a special moment winning gold in Niagara, Ont., just a short drive from his Grimsby, Ont. home.

“Winning it in Southern Ontario was awesome. It was right near where I live so it was cool to see my family and friends around when it happened. I’m glad they were part of that moment.”

He reflects on the Canada Summer Games as a monumental moment in his young career. Taggart also mentioned that the competition was some of the toughest he’s ever faced making the gold medal win even sweeter.

“It really was the biggest moment in my baseball career. I’m glad we came away with gold. We had a really great group of guys who were all great people. That win really meant a lot to me.”

Alongside the personal achievement, Taggart earned himself some good exposure to scouts at Baseball Canada who are working on building their junior national team roster.

Taggart says he has had discussions with scouts, recruiters, and his parents, but has not yet made a decision on where he will play his college ball. Right now, he says his main focus is adding a solid third pitch to his already lethal one-two punch with his four-seamer and changeup.

The right-hander looks to impress at this year’s Canadian Futures Showcase. A pitcher for Team Black, Taggart is hoping that some strong pitching performances in the team’s three round-robin games will get him some looks from college scouts, and also book himself a spot in the Sept. 22nd Prospects Game which closes out the showcase week.

With 12 pitchers on the Team Black roster, Taggart will be competing for innings and likely will not have a chance to go the length of his usual starts. He says his experience coming out of the bullpen for Team Ontario will come in handy.

The major leagues is an obvious dream for almost every kid invited to the Canadian Futures Showcase. As these players inch toward starting their college baseball careers with each passing day, Taggart keeps the same razor-focus that helped him transition from an outfielder into one of Canada’s brightest pitching prospects.

“I’m hoping to go D-1 as a pitcher. Whatever happens after that, I just have to go with the flow.”