Taylor Tankersley

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Taylor Tankersley

| image = TaylorTankersley.jpg

| caption = Tankersley with the Florida Marlins

| position = Relief pitcher

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|3|7}}

| birth_place = Missoula, Montana, U.S.

| bats = Left

| throws = Left

| debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = June 3

| debutyear = 2006

| debutteam = Florida Marlins

| finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = August 16

| finalyear = 2010

| finalteam = Florida Marlins

| statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Win–loss record

| stat1value = 8–3

| stat2label = Earned run average

| stat2value = 4.58

| stat3label = Strikeouts

| stat3value = 115

| teams =

Florida Marlins ({{mlby|2006}}–{{mlby|2008}}, {{mlby|2010}})

}}

Taylor Mark Tankersley (born March 7, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins.

Career

=Amateur=

During his senior year at Warren Central High School in Vicksburg, Tankersley went 13–0. He also played first base whenever he was not pitching. Warren Central won the Mississippi 5A Baseball State Championship that year. After high school, Tankersley continued his baseball career at the University of Alabama. He started and did relief work for the Crimson Tide. In 2002, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star.{{cite web |title=Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League |url=http://capecodbaseball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/2012website/archives/Current%20Year/All_Time_MLB_CCBL_Alumni.pdf |access-date=January 9, 2020 |website=Cape Cod Baseball}}{{cite web |title=2002 Brewster Whitecaps |url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/college/summer/stats.asp?Y=2002&T=Brewster_Whitecaps |accessdate=September 23, 2021 |website=The Baseball Cube}}{{cite web |title=East Division All Stars |url=http://master.v2.capecodbaseball.org.ismmedia.com/ftp/archives/Arc2002/allstar/CCBL_eastern_all_stars.htm |access-date=May 6, 2020 |website=Cape Cod Baseball}}

=Florida Marlins=

After three years throwing for the Tide, Tankersley was a first rounder in the {{baseball year|2004}} major league draft. The 27th pick overall, Taylor was the Marlins' first pick.{{Cite web |date=2006-06-01 |title=Tankersley gets call to the majors |url=https://www.vicksburgpost.com/2006/06/01/tankersley-gets-call-to-the-majors6106/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Vicksburg Post |language=en}} He made his major league debut on June 3, {{baseball year|2006}}, pitching a scoreless inning in relief.

In March 2009 Tankersley was demoted to the Marlin's Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs team due to an elbow injury, ultimately undergoing surgery to correct the recurring stress fracture.{{cite news |last=Berardino |first=Mike |date=2009-04-14 |title=Marlins' Tankersley (elbow) out indefinitely |url=http://www.courant.com/topic/sfl-marlins-tankersley-elbow-injured-041409,0,2157195.story?track=rss-topicgallery |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612042507/http://www.courant.com/topic/sfl-marlins-tankersley-elbow-injured-041409,0,2157195.story?track=rss-topicgallery |archive-date=2011-06-12 |access-date=2009-10-20 |newspaper=The Hartford Courant}} In May 2010, Tankersley was called up by the Marlins to work as a "Lefty specialist" out of the bullpen. 20 of the first 21 left-handed hitters Tankersley faced were retired; he finished the season "shutting down" lefties, who batted just .200 against him.{{Cite web |date=2010-05-27 |title=Marlins call up 3, place Pinto on 15-day DL |url=https://www.columbian.com/news/2010/may/27/marlins-call-up-3-place-pinto-on-15-day-dl/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The Columbian |language=en-US |agency=Associated Press}}

On October 13, 2010, Tankersley refused a minor league assignment and became a free agent.

=New York Mets=

On January 11, 2011, Tankersley reached a minor league deal with the New York Mets, which included an invite to spring training.{{cite news|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110112&content_id=16424854&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb|title=Tankersley signs Minor League deal with Mets|date=January 12, 2011|work=MLB.com|access-date=12 January 2011}} He would spend the entire 2011 season with the AAA Buffalo Bisons where he would compile a 1–1 record with a 5.79 ERA in 56 innings pitched.