One of the questions that I’ve been asked maybe more than any other question this winter is whether or not the Pirates should expect anything from Jameson Taillon. In general when talking about pitchers that could help the Pirates in 2016, I mention Tyler Glasnow for obvious reasons and Nick Kingham pending his TJ rehab, but I haven’t talked much about Taillon. This isn’t because I’m particularly down on Taillon, so much as I don’t feel comfortable talking much about a subject with such little information.
Taillon hasn’t pitched a competitive inning since the 2013 Arizona Fall League; he got hurt in the spring of 2014 and had Tommy John, then was shut down with a hernia problem while rehabbing last year. Prior to his injuries, Taillon’s stuff was electric; you might remember his impressive start for Canada against Team USA in the last World Baseball Classic, and you may recall that every once in a while you’d read the opinion of a scout who thought he had better stuff than Gerrit Cole (to be clear: this was never a consensus opinion, but if even one scout in 100 thinks you have better stuff than Gerrit Cole, you must have pretty good stuff). Since he was in Triple-A when he got hurt, you’d think he’d be close to ready once healthy, it’s just that it’s hard to have a real opinion on that given how long it’s been between starts fro him.
The good news is that he pitched on Wednesday in Pirate City and quite a few people came away impressed. Tim Williams has a recap of Taillon’s day ($) and you can watch some of his footage on YouTube; the short recap is that he was throwing an easy mid-90s fastball with the same impressive curveball he had before his injury. Baseball America’s JJ Cooper was there and also had some favorable opinions.
There are a ton of questions for Taillon to answer on his way back. I have no idea what sort of pitch or inning limit he’s on this year, given his long hiatus, and I have no idea of the Pirates’ willingness to put him in a relief role, should those durability questions come into focus. Having stuff and command back is no trivial thing after Tommy John surgery or a long layoff, though, and so even a short start in minor league camp is a positive sign if he’s showing both of those things clearly enough to leave observers impressed. At the very least, it’s time to start watching Taillon again, and we’ll get to all of those other questions as we approach them.
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