BRADENTON, Fla. – After spending over six years talking with Jameson Taillon about the adjustments to his game and what he needs to do to reach the majors, I thought that this Spring Training would mark the end of things we had to talk about. Taillon’s transition to the big leagues was about as seamless as you’d expect. All of his work to overhaul his delivery paid off. He made a switch to a two-seam fastball right before his promotion, and that gave him the final boost. It looked like everything was working for him last year, leaving little reason to change.
Then again, I should have known better. Taillon isn’t the type of guy who gets content with his game. He’s the type of guy who always looks for improvements.
“I’m always working on something,” Taillon said. “Always tinkering going on.”
Earlier this week, I saw that The Pitcher List talked with Taillon and discovered he was playing around with a new changeup.
Here's a screenshot of what he told me about his Changeup grips pic.twitter.com/2mv7pvhMII
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) February 21, 2017
Taillon was throwing his four-seam fastball about 75% of the time and his two-seam about 25% of the time when he threw a fastball in the minors. In his final Triple-A start, he switched that up and tried the two-seamer 75% of the time, with the four-seamer now becoming the situational pitch. It worked for him, as the two-seamer had the same velocity and so much more movement. But this also led to a need for a switch with the changeup.
When I was talking with Pirates Senior Pitching Coordinator Scott Mitchell this week about Tyler Glasnow’s changeup, he said that the Pirates prefer to match up the changeup grip to the fastball grip. If a guy throws a four-seam fastball, he uses a four-seam grip on the changeup, and vice-versa with the two-seam fastball. Taillon previously threw a four-seam to match up with his fastball, but now that he was throwing a two-seamer more often, he needed an adjustment.
“That in itself was a pretty big switch,” Taillon said. “I didn’t have much time in the season to mess with my changeup grip to pair it up. That’s kind of a goal of mine right now. I’ve been messing with it in catch a little bit, and yesterday I went into live BP and kind of said ‘Screw it.’ The only way to find out if it’s any good or if it’s going to work is by throwing it. So I went out there and threw it and it looked good.”
Taillon got some good feedback from hitters on Tuesday in his first opportunity to throw the pitch against live batters. He went with catcher signs, rather than signaling his own pitches, so that batters wouldn’t know what was coming and could give an honest reaction. The reaction was that the spin of the pitch matches up with his two-seam spin, and definitely has more movement than his four-seam changeup.
The goal for Taillon is to be able to throw strikes with the two-seam changeup, which is something he can already do with the four-seamer. He also had times where the new changeup was moving too much, and he’s had times in the past where he cuts the pitch or it sinks.
“I’m trying to re-create the pressure points and the exact grip of my four-seam on the two-seam and just basically spin the ball around and match it up,” Taillon said. “It’s pretty much the same grip as my two-seam fastball.”
Here is a look at Taillon’s four-seam changeup grip:
And now the two-seam changeup grip:
As you can see, the grip is pretty much the same, with the one exception being that the fingers are closer together on the seams. That might change, since Taillon said he’s focusing on playing around with the pressure points. He’s embracing the movement of the two-seam, so that it matches his fastball and adds some further deception. He’s still “trying to throw the heck out of it” and trying to throw it downhill and down, also matching the two-seam fastball.
The deception is there and the comfort is there, which are two things you want from a changeup. Now it’s about getting the same command of the pitch that he had with the four-seam changeup, and getting the proper movement and action. If all of that goes well, then Taillon will fully make the switch to his new changeup, and drop the four-seam changeup.
“Yesterday was the first time I’ve thrown it to actual hitters,” Taillon said. “I threw it for strikes, got swings and misses, ground balls. We’ll just build off that and see where it goes. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll just stay with the four-seam.”
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Tim, I am shocked and dismayed that Pirates Prospects would not have this story first. I feel like you should do some sort of penance. Maybe drink only mass produced beverages for the entire weekend. The good news is that now it has appeared here, I can now read about it in the Trib.
Looks like it should be a fairly easy transition to make considering how similar the two grips look. Especially compared with Glasnow.
If this pitch becomes a weapon for him, he will be the Ace of the staff. Great command of fastball and curve already make him a solid #2 .
If it didn’t cause difficulty in consistency–and I’m sure it would–I think identifying and preserving the stuff he does to make it sink or cut to have in his back pocket would be useful, and likewise with the four-seam change.
Of course, that’s coming from a guy whose hardest fastball might touch 70, so if I’m pitching, I’m reaching for anything to keep hitters off balance, even if that means throwing 30 different pitches.
I ask this question yesterday, thanks! Hope it works, his four seam change is not very good. I find it somewhat funny that out of all the pitcher that were called up last year, that Kuhl ended up having the better change. I wrote better not,saying that it was great!
Is Kuhl’s changeup a weapon vs LH batters?
Is not the best change, but he did get a few swing and misses with it. The thing with Kuhl is that he does not have a plus pitch, his slider is not bad either, but again is not plus. Sequencing is a big key for him.
I diasagree. I’d say a 97mph sinker is a plus pitch.
The 4 seam FB has been around 97, but I think Kuhl’s Sinker is around 92/93.
When he commands it, I will say it is. Gave up lots of hard contact due to elevating said sinker. So let’s call it above average.
I think Kuhl is alot better then he gets credit for from the posters on here. The kid has tenacity. You won’t see that deer in headlights look that you seen from Locke & Morton. On a really good staff he’s a 4 or 5. But if he’s your no.5 the team should go far.
He is a fine 4-5, I do not think he should be a reliever.
He’ll start getting more credit when the narrative built for why he deserves it doesn’t begin with “tenacity” or “grit” or “bulldog”.
How about results, his was pretty good in his 1st taste of the Show. He has a future HOF’s that he has W’s against if I recall correctly. Will that do.
Oh yeah, deer in the headlights! My favorite!
He has worked very hard since being the 9th Round pick of the Pirates in 2013 out of that Baseball Factory the U of Delaware. Not flashy, but obviously knows how to pitch with the pitches he has. I like your description of him as having tenacity, and he has the work ethic to possibly bump some of those pitches into the plus range as he moves forward.
He drew the attention of other teams with his work in the minors – 33-14 record in 83 minor league starts. There were trade rumors, but the Pirates refused to include him. Smart management. Taillon, Glasnow, Brault, and Kuhl will all be in their first years of MLB Service Time in 2017. Cole Nova, and Hutchison all have 3 years remaining. Go Bucs.