Jameson Taillon noticed a troubling trend when the calendar flipped to May. He was falling behind in the count too often and wasn't putting away hitters in two-strike counts. Opponents were laying off his curveball early in the count, and his two-seam fastball was also getting hit hard.
So, he took a closer look at his pitch sequences, particularly what pitches he was throwing in different situations. Taillon, the Pirates' 26-year-old starting pitcher, also studied what was working for similar pitchers across Major League Baseball. He concluded that the pitch he was missing has been in his arsenal all along.
Taillon stopped throwing a slider once he reached High-A in 2012; however, he planned to bring it back once he learned to better command his fastball. After testing it in the bullpen two weeks ago, he threw two in his start against the Giants on May 11, and the results illustrated the impact the pitch could have.
"I’m excited," Taillon told DKPittsburghSports.com. "I’ve been wanting to throw one for a while. Now I won’t have that thought in my head of, ‘What if I have a slider here?’ There’s going to be no questions."
Following his discovery, Taillon threw the slider while playing catch with Justin Meccage, the Pirates' assistant pitching coach, and with Ray Searage watching. He then threw it in his bullpen sessions leading up to his start against the Giants, and the three decided it was worth giving it a try in a game.
After retiring the first six batters he faced, Alen Hanson lined Taillon's first-pitch two-seamer to right field in the third inning. Taillon then threw four fastballs to Austin Jackson, only for the nine-year veteran to foul off all of them. With a 1-2 count, Taillon then threw a slider that swept over the plate, yet it had so much horizontal movement that it broke out of the zone for a ball.
Taillon walked a batter with two outs before Andrew McCutchen stepped to the plate for his second at-bat in his first game back at PNC Park. Taillon got ahead with a first-pitch curveball and had a 1-2 count when he decided to give the pitch a try against the former National League MVP:
Taillon isn't necessarily looking for a strikeout pitch. Instead, he wants to use the slider to get ahead in the count and have a pitch to keep opponents off his two-seam fastball.
"A curveball, for me, I feel like so many times I either get a take on it, I get a swing and miss, or I get a take down for a ball," he explained. "I feel like my curveball, I put so much pressure on it to be perfect, because if it’s low I feel like I’ve gotten a lot of takes on it and stuff. I don’t have many outcomes with it. It’s a great pitch, but I wanted something I could put a wrinkle in to buy a strike early in the count."
Taillon's two-seam fastball was his most frequently used pitch last season; however, he's thrown his four-seamer more often in his nine starts this season. The two-seamer has been less effective — opponents are batting .273 against it — and the strikeout rate on his four-seamer has increased 11 percent from last season. His changeup has also been ineffective.
The problem with the sliders he threw to Jackson and McCutchen was the velocity. They were 84 and 85 mph, respectively. Since his curveball averages 81.6 mph and can creep up to 84 mph, Taillon has spent the past week experimenting with a new slider grip — it now looks similar to that of a cutter — to increase the velocity on his slider and decrease the pitch's depth.
"He’s intelligent," Meccage said. "He watches Major League Baseball a lot and sees where it’s headed. He understands the slider can be a huge benefit to his weapon package. ... It’s good right now. It’s a different shape than his curveball. It’s a different velocity than his curveball. It’s kind of between the curveball and the fastball. It’s something he’s really comfortable throwing. I think it’s going to be a good pitch for him."
The Pirates have young pitchers in the organization drop breaking balls in the minor leagues to focus on fastball command. Taillon threw the slider in Low A after he was drafted second overall in 2010 and planned to bring the pitch back later in the minors. But his curveball was so successful he decided to shelve the slider for good.
Taillon's research told him it was time to bring it back. He considers himself a student of the game and pays close attention to trends around the sport. He noticed many teams have increased their slider usage, including the Tigers, Rays, Astros and Royals. Taillon also took a close look at Phillies right-handed starter Zach Eflin. The 24-year-old has succeeded by throwing his slider 30 percent of the time to complement his sinker.
Taillon, who has a 3.97 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 45 1/3 innings, then looked at a pitcher whose arsenal closely resembles his own. Like Taillon, Clayton Kershaw's most frequently used pitch is his four-seam fastball, but his curveball is regarded as the best in the majors. Yet, the pitch wasn't being called for a strike early in Kershaw's career, so he began throwing a slider in May 2009.
He's since won three National League Cy Young awards, was named NL MVP in 2014 and has been selected to seven All-Star games. Additionally, Taillon saw his teammate, Nick Kingham, adopt a slider at the end of spring training and use it to retire the first 20 batters he faced in his major league debut.
The fact-finding mission began with a simple question, and it's led Taillon to what he thinks can be the pitch he's been missing since making his debut in June 2016.
"Looking at my two-seam, if you go watch a bullpen you’d say my two-seam is my best execution pitch, but if you look at what the hitters are telling me, hitters are hitting the two-seam," Taillon said. "We thought something going the other way would be really big. ... It’s only going to get better. The confidence is there."
