Two Keys For Jameson Taillon In His Second Start

Jameson Taillon will make his second major league start tonight versus the New York Mets. After a lukewarm debut, here are the keys to a better second outing.

A So-So Debut, and a Quick Return

Now that Jameson Taillon has shaken off the pageantry of his debut, the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans get another chance to see what the right hander can do. With the news today that Gerrit Cole will be placed on the DL, Taillon will get at least two more starts at the major league level. His performance in his first outing was decidedly average – his Game Score of 49 is right below the “average” score of 50 – yet still showed great promise, particular in his breaking pitches.

For Jameson Taillon to stick in the rotation, following these two keys is paramount.

Finish the Job By Mixing It Up

Taillon worked to a two strike count in 10 at-bats against the New York Mets, and came away allowing three hits – two of them doubles. His two walks came after 3-2 counts.

Of course, you would like to see any pitcher put a hitter away after working to gain two strikes on hitters, but in Taillon’s case, looking a bit deeper shows that his pitch selection could be to blame. According to Brooks Baseball’s Pitch F/X data, Taillon threw 14 pitches labelled as four-seam fastballs out of 30 total pitches on two-strike counts. This represents nearly half of the pitches thrown in this scenario.

Only one change-up was thrown in X-2 counts, and only 20 were thrown out of 91 pitches overall. Taillon’s impressive fastball can only be made stronger by an increased reliance on a reliable change-up. By all accounts, Taillons change up has near-perfect movement to mimic his fastball while dropping off 10mph or more.

If he can find the confidence in the pitch to pull the string more often, the result should be keeping hitters off-balance.

Rely on the Curve

When faced with hitter’s counts, or men on base, Jameson Taillon would do well to let his curveball do the work. The nasty 12-6 stuff is tailor made for weak contact, or bad swings and misses.

The two-run home run from Ty Kelly came with a runner on second base and a 3-1 count. Serving up a center-cut 94 mph four seamer, Taillon did not challenge a sub-replacement level position player (Kelly is hitting .174 on the season) with any movement. Though the right-hander has been heralded for some time as the savior of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, he is still facing hitters that have achieved enough to be in the bigs, no matter how middling they may be.

It is hard not to imagine that the at-bat would have gone much better for Taillon if he had brought the hammer, especially considering that equally light-hitting catcher Rene Rivera was to follow.

In paying more attention to his pitch sequencing and usage, Taillon could have a much better result in his second go-around versus the Mets.