Port Coquitlam pitcher Curtis Taylor has parlayed a run for a championship in the Mexican Pacific Winter League into a longer-term commitment to the country.
Taylor, 28, recently signed a contract with Algondoneros de Union Laguna of the Mexican League. The team is based in Torreon, an industrial city of 1.5 million in the state of Couhuila.
Taylor was a free agent after helping the Hermosillo Naranjeros win the winter league title and advance to the Caribbean Series against other top Latin American teams last February in Miami.
In nine innings pitched for Union Laguna, Taylor has one loss and he has an earned run average of 5.40.
In a game on Sunday, July 14, the 6’6” right-handed reliever gave up a home run and triple to consecutive batters in a three-run fourth inning of a 7-2 loss to Caliente de Durango.
Union Laguna currently sits in third place in the Mexican League’s north division with 43 wins and 33 losses.
Taylor, who attended UBC, was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Since then he's been a part of five other Major League teams including the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins, but has yet to play a big league game.
Instead Taylor’s plied his trade in various minor league outposts in North Carolina, Alabama, New Hampshire, western New York, Pennsylvania and Iowa.
He also played for Canada at the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
