Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 40

After playing his high school ball in Encino, Dollard went north a bit in California to become a part of Cal Poly’s pitching staff. He spent his first two years coming out of the bullpen, earning first-team All-Big West Conference honors as a sophomore. After a strong turn in relief on the Cape last summer, Dollard looked very good in his first chance as a starter for the Mustangs this spring.

Tall and athletic, Dollard has the chance to have a four-pitch mix that he knows how to use well, even if none of his individual offerings jump off the page. Velocity-wise, his fastball only sits in the 88-90 mph range, topping out at around 93 mph, but it plays up because of its sink and Dollard’s ability to command and manipulate it so well. His 77-80 mph slider is his out pitch and flashes plus at times, though he doesn’t always throw it hard enough and he can fold in a low-70s curveball with depth as well. Dollard doesn’t throw a ton of changeups, but he shows very good feel for it and it could end up being his best secondary pitch in the future.

Dollard has walked just 2.2 per nine in his college career and walked only 1.3 over his four starts this spring. Some see a little Tom Eshelman in him, the Fullerton command artist who went in the second round back in 2015, though Dollard isn’t expected to come off the board quite as early.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 45 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 60 | Overall: 40

Dollard probably would’ve made his big league debut in 2023 (at the very least for a few spot starts that surfaced), if not for the torn labrum in his pitching shoulder. He made just three starts with Triple-A Tacoma and tried other forms of rehab before undergoing season-ending surgery in June, which put a huge halt to the momentum he’d built in 2022, when he won Pitcher of the Year honors in the Texas League. There’s still hope for Seattle’s fifth and final pick in the shortened 2020 Draft. Recovery from that surgery has taken longer than hoped, with Dollard missing all of the 2024 season as well.

A reliever-turned-starter at Cal Poly, Dollard doesn’t possess overpowering stuff -- but it’s how he’s harnessed it that could carry him to the next level. His fastball sits in the low-90s, and he supplements it with an upper-70s slider that can miss bats when generating chases out of the zone and a slower curve that possesses good depth. He also throws a changeup, creating a four-pitch mix that profiles him better as a starter long-term.

Dollard had been touted as the most reliable arm in the system for his strike-throwing and innings-eating abilities before the shoulder injury, having cleared 144 frames in his last full season. With a lack of velocity, he’ll have to continue leaning on command and location -- but first, the focus will be on getting and staying healthy.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 60 | Overall: 40

Seattle’s final pick in the five-round 2020 Draft, Dollard had made a positive transition from relief -- the role he mostly held at Cal Poly and in the Cape Cod League -- to the rotation. Part of it had been the profile of his stuff, but perhaps an even bigger part had been his self-awareness of how it plays, helping him succeed in Double-A in 2022. All that progress came to a screeching halt when he required labrum surgery, ending his 2023 season in April.

Dollard had been touted as arguably the most reliable arm in the system, with his durability a key aspect of that before the shoulder injury. When healthy, he throws strikes and has a good feel for pitching, making 27 starts and compiling a whopping 144 innings in 2022. The big righty doesn’t wow with his fastball, and he’s more regarded for his feel for pitching than pure stuff. He averaged around 91 mph with his heater but has an upper-70s slider that misses bats and a slower curve that has decent depth. He also has a changeup that rounds out a decent four-pitch mix, another reason he could remain a starter longer term.

Because he lacks velocity, a positive transition to the Majors will hinge heavily on command and location. He was considered to have a very high floor, but now he’ll have to see if he can work his way back to his earlier success post-surgery.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 45

A promotion to High-A Everett in 2021 was a little bit of a wakeup call for the former Cal Poly product after he struck out 36.4% of the batters he faced at Low-A Modesto. For a righty who consistently fills up the strike zone, a dip in velocity as the season wore on -- from 92-94 mph to 90-92 -- could have played a part. And there’s also an adjustment curve with the 23-year-old, given that he was mostly a reliever in college and in the Cape Cod League before the Mariners took him for full pick value in the fifth round of the 2020 Draft. 

At 6-foot-3, Dollard has an ideal frame and a four-pitch mix that he utilizes well, though he has more feel for pitching than pure stuff. His fastball tends to sit around 90 mph and can touch a bit higher, and it plays up because of his command and the sink the pitch has. His upper-70s slider misses bats and will even flash plus occasionally and he folds in a slower curve with decent depth as well. He has good feel for his changeup, giving him four very usable offerings.

Given that he’s a little older, the 2022 season will be a big one for Dollard, who has the ceiling of being a back-end starter in the big leagues and the floor of a swing-man out of the bullpen. He’ll need to find better ways to limit extra-base hit power and continue fortifying his secondary pitches to realize his full potential.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 40

Dollard spent his first two years at Cal Poly, which has produced a fair number of big league arms, most recently Spencer Howard of the Phillies, pitching out of the bullpen and was an All-Big West Conference reliever as a sophomore. A strong performance in the Cape Cod League in 2019, also in relief, served as a springboard for Dollard to enter the Mustangs’ rotation in 2020 and while it was short-lived, he showed enough for the Mariners to take him and sign him for full pick value in the fifth round of the Draft, then watched him get off to a strong start during his 2021 pro debut in High-A.

The right-hander has an ideally athletic 6-foot-3 pitching frame and a four-pitch mix he uses well, though he is more feel for pitching than pure stuff. His fastball tends to sit around 90 mph and can touch a bit higher, and it plays up because of his command and the sink the pitch has. His upper-70s slider misses bats and will even flash plus occasionally and he folds in a slower curve with decent depth as well. He has good feel for his changeup, giving him four very usable offerings.

Dollard walked only 2.2 per nine innings at Cal Poly, 1.3 during his short time as a starter, a trend that continued at the start of his pro career. That command and his feel for keeping hitters off-balance give him the chance to reach his ceiling as a back-end starter in the big leagues.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 40

After playing his high school ball in Encino, Dollard went north a bit in California to become a part of Cal Poly’s pitching staff. He spent his first two years coming out of the bullpen, earning first-team All-Big West Conference honors as a sophomore. After a strong turn in relief on the Cape in the summer of 2019, Dollard looked very good in his first chance as a starter for the Mustangs last spring, catching the eye of the Mariners, who took him in the fifth round and signed him for full pick value.

Tall and athletic, Dollard has the chance to have a four-pitch mix that he knows how to use well, even if none of his individual offerings jump off the page. Velocity-wise, his fastball only sits in the 88-90 mph range, topping out at around 93 mph, but it plays up because of its sink and Dollard’s ability to command and manipulate it so well. His 77-80 mph slider is his out pitch and flashes plus at times, though he doesn’t always throw it hard enough and he can fold in a low-70s curveball with depth as well. Dollard doesn’t throw a ton of changeups, but he shows very good feel for it and it could end up being his best secondary pitch in the future.

Dollard walked just 2.2 per nine in his college career and walked only 1.3 over his four starts in the spring of 2020. There isn’t much margin for error because his he doesn’t have a true out pitch as of now, but his ability to throw quality strikes gives him the chance to fit in the back end of a big league rotation.

Awards

MiLB.com Organization All-Star

Year	Team
2022

TEX Post-Season All-Star

Year	Team
2022

TEX Pitcher of the Year

Year	Team
2022

Baseball America Double-A All-Star

Year	Team
2022

TEX Pitcher of the Month

Month	Team
06/2022

TEX Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
05/01/2022

NWL Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
09/19/2021

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	11/01/2024	Tacoma Rainiers activated RHP Taylor Dollard from the 60-day injured list.
	03/20/2024	Tacoma Rainiers placed RHP Taylor Dollard on the 60-day injured list.
	03/20/2024	Tacoma Rainiers placed RHP Taylor Dollard on the 60-day injured list.
	11/03/2023	Tacoma Rainiers activated RHP Taylor Dollard from the 60-day injured list.
	07/19/2023	Tacoma Rainiers transferred RHP Taylor Dollard from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
	04/26/2023	Tacoma Rainiers placed RHP Taylor Dollard on the 7-day injured list.
	03/30/2023	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Tacoma Rainiers from Arkansas Travelers.
	01/31/2023	Seattle Mariners invited non-roster RHP Taylor Dollard to spring training.
	01/31/2023	RHP Taylor Dollard roster status changed by Seattle Mariners.
	04/06/2022	RHP Taylor Dollard and assigned to Arkansas Travelers from Everett AquaSox.
	06/19/2021	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Everett AquaSox from Modesto Nuts.
	04/30/2021	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Modesto Nuts from Mariners Organization.
	02/12/2021	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Mariners Organization.
	02/12/2021	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Mariners Organization.
	06/25/2020	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Everett AquaSox.
	06/25/2020	Seattle Mariners signed RHP Taylor Dollard.
	06/25/2020	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Everett AquaSox.
	02/08/2020	RHP Taylor Dollard assigned to Cal Poly Mustangs.