Red Sox lefty Josh Taylor on the road back

By escaping the confines of his Boston hotel room, Josh Taylor has already made the first step toward rejoining the Red Sox bullpen.

The left-hander tested positive for COVID-19 during the club’s Summer Camp and was immediately isolated. Taylor spent 14 days opening his door only to accept food delivery. His meals were left on the floor for Taylor to pick up and carry inside.

Taylor, who was asymptomatic, had no contact with his teammates. He could not return to [...]

By escaping the confines of his Boston hotel room, Josh Taylor has already made the first step toward rejoining the Red Sox bullpen.

The left-hander tested positive for COVID-19 during the club’s Summer Camp and was immediately isolated. Taylor spent 14 days opening his door only to accept food delivery. His meals were left on the floor for Taylor to pick up and carry inside.

Taylor, who was asymptomatic, had no contact with his teammates. He could not return to Fenway Park. And he remains on the road back at the club’s alternate site, resuming his workouts at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

"You come in ready to go," Taylor said. "You’re ready to throw right away. Having to take the two weeks off and trying to find a way to keep yourself ready — I was throwing into a sock in the hotel room."

Taylor has thrown a pair of live batting practice sessions and is scheduled for one simulated inning on Tuesday. How hitters react to his mainly two-pitch arsenal — fastball and slider — will give Taylor a truer indication of where his stuff is at the moment.

"Throwing bullpens you don’t get the sights," Taylor said. "You don’t get the hitter to read. I feel really good about how my stuff is coming out right now."

The 27-year-old enjoyed a fine debut season with Boston in 2019. Taylor appeared in all but one of his 52 games out of the bullpen, pitching to a 3.04 earned-run average. He struck out 62 and allowed just 40 hits in 47 1/3 innings.

"It comes down to what you’ve wanted your whole life," Taylor said. "You finally get your opportunity and you do the best you can with it. Now you’re not looked at as, ‘Let’s get him up here, let’s get him innings and let’s move on.’

"I feel like what I did last year, I went out and I earned a spot. It feels good to know they rely on me. It fuels you and it’s confidence-building in you."

Acquiring Taylor from the Diamondbacks was a nice piece of business executed by former Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Boston sent infielder Deven Marrero to Arizona in May 2018 when there was no obvious place for him in the Red Sox lineup at the time. Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt were all preferred options.

Taylor was recalled twice by Boston in 2019, with the second time coming on June 14. He remained with the club for the rest of the campaign, establishing himself as a go-to option alongside fellow rookie Darwinzon Hernandez.

"I told a lot of people when I got called up the first time I was pitching with my back against the wall," Taylor said. "I was pitching not to get sent down instead of pitching to earn a spot. When I got sent down, it kind of put me in that place.

"When I got called right back up, it kind of put my mindset as, ‘They want me here. I earned this opportunity and I’m going to run with it.’ "

The Red Sox have staggered to a 3-7 start, including a 9-7 loss to the Yankees on Sunday night. Boston squandered a pair of two-run leads and a couple of one-run leads while being swept in the Bronx. Taylor is itching for his next chance to help the Red Sox avoid sinking any deeper in what is just a 60-game season.

"I’m watching every game and cheering for the team," Taylor said. "It’s just tough seeing something go on and sit back saying, ‘I wish I could go help. I wish there was something I could do.’

"I know my time is going to come, and hopefully sooner rather than later, I’ll be up there to help the team."

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25