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The Pittsburgh Pirates continue their 2017 today with the second game in the opening Boston Red Sox series. Jameson Taillon will take the mound, opposing Chris Sale.
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If you are a reader of this site, I would safely assume that you are a Pittsburgh Pirates observer if not a full on fan, so I do not need to spend much time rehashing Taillon’s achievements during his debut season. Perhaps his most significant achievement was showing that he is completely healthy again after missing so much development time due to injury, notably Tommy John surgery. In total, Taillon made 18 starts, showing a welcomed durability – save for a short DL stint that was more precautionary than anything.
Now, all eyes will turn to Taillon as he begins his second campaign. Many might expect major league hitters to punch back against Taillon, but it was the work that Ray Searge and company put in in 2016’s latter stages that may guard against that.
When he first broke in, Taillon relied heavily upon his sinking fastball/four-seam fastball combination to get him by. But, by the time the season was over, he had quite subtly made an adjustment to his offerings.
image courtesy of Brooks Baseball
Though it may not seem like much on the surface, incorporating the change to a higher degree will be the key to Taillon’s continued effectiveness. We have already seen that Searage would like to have Taillon pull the string more frequently in crucial pitch counts, and it stands to reason that a more comfortable Taillon may also offer the curveball at a greater rate.
Those two factors alone should minimize any “punch-back” hitters should have in store for him. This will be a fun battle to watch all season long, that much is certain.
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Baseball Talk on the Web
- Pump the brakes when it comes to getting excited about all those velocity spikes, writes Dave Cameron.
- Happy anniversary to Bartolo Colon, who celebrates 20 (!) years in MLB.
- Stephen Piscotty had a night to remember last night. If he wants to remember it at all. Or, if he can remember it.
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