Comments on: Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 Top Prospects: #2 – Jameson Taillon

By: Susanne Klich Langford

Susanne Klich Langford — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:20:40 +0000

Taillon is still my guy if I could only take one of him and Cole. But it is nice to have two guys this good to choose from.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 04:41:29 +0000

I don’t think it was ever meant to be permanent, they just wanted him to focus on the good ole number 1, developing the change, and keeping the deuce fresh. I mean, how hard is it to bring back a 2-seamer anyways? Grip, arm slot, maybe a little finger pressure, and boom, 2-seam movement. It’s not like learning a new breaking ball or especially a change up, and with the way the organization like to manage their pitchers, there are only so many pitches to go around. So Taillon’s first and a lot of his second year were about fastball command and learning a change up. Then, he still needed to keep the curve at least on par with what it had been. My assumption would be that bringing that pitch back was a sign that the organization feels that his overall command is good enough that he doesn’t need to throw as many 4-seam fastballs.

By: tempman89

tempman89 — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:38:13 +0000

Because they are not worried about numbers. They are worried about success at the majors. Which I agree with.

By: Steve Zielinski

Steve Zielinski — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:19:01 +0000

The reason the Pirates took away Taillon’s two seamer: “the Pirates took the pitch away from him, getting him to focus on commanding his four seam fastball.”

Taillon also began to excel late last season because he modified his mechanics, and this enabled him to pitch consistently down in the strike zone and put more movement on his fastball.

By: quikclipze

quikclipze — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:13:41 +0000

“Taillon had a two-seam fastball when he turned pro, but the Pirates took the pitch away from him, getting him to focus on commanding his four seam fastball. They gave the pitch back to him at the end of the year, and he used it to get ground balls and work from behind in the count.”

So what you’re saying here is that Taillon struggled without the 2 seamer, and when he was allowed to throw it near the end of the season, he finished with a dominant string of starts?

Any word as to why the Pirates “took this pitch away” from Taillon? Seems to me that it helps him find his comfort zone. Is this a case of the Pirates minor league staff meddling with a young players normal routine? Why would they do this? Do they want all of their pitchers to have the same repertoire? I say if the kid can throw the pitch, and he’s been throwing it his whole life, let him throw it

By: meatygettingsaucy

meatygettingsaucy — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:19:05 +0000

Is he old enough to pound some Budweisers yet?

By: Steve Zielinski

Steve Zielinski — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:19:59 +0000

Drop not, Jameson! Pound the zone and then pound some Budweisers!