When reporters were asking Jameson Taillon about his recovery from testicular cancer last season, all he wanted to talk about was baseball. The Pirates' 26-year-old right-handed pitcher didn't view his rehab assignment in June as simply another benchmark in his return from surgery.
He wanted to use that time to fix everything he struggled with on the mound before his career was put on hold in early May. So, naturally, Taillon didn't seem all that interested in discussing his health when asked about it at PiratesFest last month.
"Getting checkups, it's all coming back good, so nothing really to report on, which is good," Taillon said.
Questions about baseball, though? Well, he was more than excited about that topic, specifically a formula he thinks could help him achieve so much more in 2018: More changeups.
"For me, I think I have a good changeup, and I actually really like my changeup," Taillon said at PiratesFest last month. "It’s just that in the heat of the moment when you’re pitching and you're facing Anthony Rizzo, I’m going to go to my curveball in survival mode. (The changeup is) something for me to have in my back pocket, and I need to change that mentality."
Well, there's reason for Taillon's confidence in his curveball. It's his strikeout pitch, producing 73 whiffs in 2017, according to Statcast. Opponents batted just .241 against the pitch — the lowest of his arsenal. His fastball averages 95 mph, so an 81 mph curveball, specifically one with as much topspin as his, can be quite the weapon against a hitter as formidable as Rizzo.
However, two pitches are typically not enough for a starting pitcher. Taillon theorized that his difficult second half, which included a 5.96 ERA, was a product of predictability. As a result, he tried to throw his changeup more. It produced mixed results, though.
Taillon was implementing a two-seam grip on his changeup, which caused the ball to tail out of the zone like a slider. He wasn't comfortable throwing the pitch, so he often avoided it in high-leverage situations. But he seemed to find a solution during his final three starts of the season.
While implementing a four-seam changeup grip, Taillon allowed just four earned runs over his final 17 innings, striking out 15 and walking only three, with a 2.12 ERA. According to PITCHf/x data, Taillon's changeup had an inch more of vertical break during the final two months of the season.
"I throw it for a strike much easier," Taillon explained. "I’m going to just play off that group now that I know that's the one I like. Repetition. Trusting and throwing it. We can say all we want that I need to throw it, but when I get out there I need to trust it and throw it. That goes with our catchers, too. They need to trust to call it, too."
So, Taillon is focusing on throwing more changeups and sinkers. Although he has only one full season in the major leagues, Taillon seems to have developed an awareness for what troubles him on the mound, which bodes well for his development.
After all, he has the pedigree to be a top-of-the-rotation starter. Selected second overall in the 2010 draft, Taillon did not reach the major leagues until last June after he missed two full seasons because of injury. However, he's proven to be more than capable.
Taillon had a 4.44 ERA in 25 starts this season, but his 3.48 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching, which accounts for just home runs, strikeouts and walks) indicates he's capable of much more. His ground-ball percentage rose five percent from 2016 and he recorded a 2.9 fWAR — an increase of 1.2. Additionally, he induced soft contact five percent more often, and he ranked third in the National League in home runs allowed.
His progress is one of the reasons why Neal Huntington expressed a willingness to trade one of the club's starting pitchers. Gerrit Cole has been the subject of trade rumors since the beginning of the Winter Meetings, with some reports indicating the Yankees are aggressively pursuing the 27-year-old. A Chicago-based report Tuesday indicated the Cubs have interest in Cole as well.
If a trade is consummated, Taillon or Ivan Nova would likely start Opening Day in Detroit on March 29. Even if Cole stays, he is only under contract through 2019, so it's only a matter of time before there's a changing of the guard in the rotation.
Taillon is now a pillar of the Pirates' youth movement and according to Hurdle, he, Chad Kuhl and Trevor Williams were the silver lining to a difficult season.
"Our guys took positive steps all over the place but to boil it down, to look at that young starting pitching with the exception of the elder statesman Nova, Cole, Taillon, to watch that growth throughout the season, that's special," Hurdle said at the Winter Meetings. "I've been in the game over 40 years and I don't know if I've seen three pitchers with two or less years Major League experience take the ball, do the things with the ball that those three guys did. And then you have Cole to do his thing, you have Nova do his thing, there's a reason I'm smiling a lot of times when other people aren't."
But Taillon was far from satisfied. He wasn't pleased with the length of his outings, which, like those of Kuhl and Williams, often taxed the bullpen. And there's the second half of the season, when he became all too predictable. However, he started his offseason throwing program earlier than usual, and expressed confidence that he and Ray Searage have a clear understanding of how to attack 2018.
For him, it begins with a change.
"I wasn’t happy with my end result of the year," he said. "I was happy with some of the year, but I think all of us would say we have to be better and that we can be."