Port Coquitlam’s Curtis Taylor is coming home to Canada.
The 24-year-old right-handed pitcher was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday.
Taylor and teammate Edisson Gonzalez were traded to Toronto by the Tampa Rays to complete an earlier deal in which the Rays got second baseman Eric Sogard at the trade deadline.
Taylor had a 3.06 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings with the Rays’ Double-A minor league affiliate in Montgomery, Ala. before he was shut down for the season in early June because of elbow pain. He had been acquired by the Rays from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Nov. 30, 2017, in exchange for veteran big-leaguer Brad Boxberger.
The Diamondbacks drafted Taylor out of the University of British Columbia in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft
Taylor had three wins and two saves in eight games with the Rays’ A affiliate in Port Charlotte, Fla., before he was promoted to the Montgomery Biscuits.
In his first season of AA ball, Taylor earned three wins, four losses and six of eight save opportunities in 60 innings pitched over 30 games. That was good enough to get him an invite to the Rays’ spring training camp in February.
