Georgia State University Athletics

Former professional pitcher and Major League Baseball scout Matt Taylor is in his third season as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator on the Georgia State baseball staff.
    
In his first two seasons in Atlanta, Taylor has been instrumental in the growth of the program under head coach Brad Stromdahl, both on the field and on the recruiting trail.
    
Taylor’s pitching staff helped the Panthers navigate one of the nation’s most challenging non-conference schedules in 2021, resulting in four victories over nationally-ranked teams, highlighted by a 4-2 win at No. 2 Vanderbilt for the highest ranked win in program history. The staff also contributed to the Panthers’ best Sun Belt Conference record since 2015.
    
Friday starter Cameron Jones was named first-team All-Sun Belt Conference as the utility player, and following the season, senior Tyler Koch signed a professional contract.
    
In his first season in 2020, Taylor made an immediate impact on the Panthers’ extremely young staff, which returned only two upperclassmen from the previous year. GSU allowed only a .227 batting average against and ranked among the national leaders with 10 runners picked off in 16 games. In particular, Taylor’s six true freshmen hurlers logged more than one third of the innings and combined for five victories and two saves with 63 strikeouts in 56-2/3 innings. Right-hander Chad Treadway was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball.
    
Taylor has also directed unprecedented recruiting success, helping the program assemble back-to-back classes that are among the best ever at Georgia State. The Panthers’ Class of 2022 was rated No. 37 in the nation, the highest-ranked class in program history.
    
Taylor came to GSU in August 2019 after spending the previous two seasons working in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as a scouting assistant and then area supervisor. In the 2019 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, the Pirates drafted six players from his Georgia/South Carolina territory, more than any other scout.
    
Before joining the Pirates organization, Taylor spent one season (2017) in player development with the Baltimore Orioles, the team that selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 draft.
    
A left-handed pitcher, Taylor played seven seasons in the Orioles system. Among his pro ball highlights, he was the 2013 Delmarva Shorebirds Mountaire Player of the Year and a 2014 Carolina League All-Star. He also played one winter (2015) with the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League.
    
During his playing career, Taylor worked with Unlimited Potential Inc., a Christian baseball organization, conducting camps in Guatemala and assisting with the Guatemala Junior National Baseball Team.
    
A native of Columbus, Ga., Taylor was a prep All-American and Georgia Player of the Year at Columbus High School in 2009 and was drafted by the Pirates but did not sign. He played one season at Alabama (2010), helping the Crimson Tide reach the NCAA Super Regional round, and one season at Middle Georgia College (2011), where he earned all-conference honors.
    
Taylor earned his degree in sociology from Columbus State University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2017.