Jameson Taillon

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #4 prospect in 2016
  Taillon, the No. 2 pick in the 2010 draft, has missed the past two seasons because of injuries, though he finally took the mound again in instructional league games at the end of 2015. He had Tommy John surgery in April 2014, and the Pirates placed him on a cautious, deliberate rehab program. A sports hernia in what was to be his last of five starts in extended spring training ended his 2015 season before it began. Taillon has the requisite tall, powerful pitcher's build. When healthy, he shows two outstanding pitches in a high-90s fastball that bores in on righthanded hitters and a hammer curveball with a 12-to-6 break. He has worked hard to perfect a changeup, though he hasn't had many repetitions to hone it the past two seasons. Though Taillon stays in good shape, it is fair to question his durability going forward after he has missed two years. Taillon has the ability to be a top-of-the-rotation starter if he can stay healthy. He finished 2013 with six starts at Indianapolis and will start 2016 at Triple-A, with an eye toward making his big league debut at some point, though there is no way of knowing how he will hold up following such a long layoff.
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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #2 prospect in 2015
  After a strong 2013 season that began with him pitching for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic and finished with six strong starts at Triple-A Indianapolis, Taillon figured to make his major league debut in 2014. Instead he had to be shut down during spring training and he missed the entire season after having Tommy John surgery on April 6. It remains to be seen how surgery will affect Taillon's stuff. Before going under the knife, he routinely threw his double-plus fastball in the mid-90s while running it in on righthanders. His best pitch is a plus curveball that was of the 12-to-6 variety. However, he had started working on tightening the pitch in spring training last year in an effort to have better command of it. Taillon tends to throw his fringe-average changeup a bit too firmly, taking away its effect as offspeed pitch. Commanding his pitches has been a challenge for Taillon at times in the past. That's even more of a concern in the short term, because that is usually the last thing to come back when pitchers return from elbow surgery. Taillon likely will begin 2015 in extended spring training, then join Indianapolis in May. Before the injury, the Pirates had planned for Taillon to return to Triple-A in 2014 before calling him up during the season. That is the way the Pirates hope it plays out in 2015, though they will be cautious not to push Taillon too hard too soon.
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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #2 prospect in 2014
  The Pirates chose Taillon over Miami prep shortstop Manny Machado with the second overall pick in the 2010 draft and signed him to what was then a club-record $6.5 million bonus. While Machado played in the All-Star Game last season, Taillon finished at Triple-A Indianapolis, then had to withdraw from the Arizona Fall League with a groin strain. He impressed in the World Baseball Classic last March while pitching for Canada (his parents are both natives) when he held the United States to two runs in four innings of a start at Chase Field in Phoenix. Taillon has two plus pitches, starting with a fastball that has reached triple digits and routinely sits in the 92-96 mph range. At times his fastball has heavy sink. His best secondary pitch is his hard curveball that reaches the low 80s and features big break and power, but at times he casts the pitch. He has learned to consistently command the fastball to both sides of the plate as he has gotten older. Taillon began throwing his changeup more last season and it improved, though he still needs to trust it more in big situations. He also throws a fringe-average hard slider at times. He's very mature for his age and does not rattle easily. After reaching Triple-A last season, Taillon is close to a big league shot. He likely will begin 2014 back at Indianapolis but should be in Pittsburgh by September, if not earlier.
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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #2 prospect in 2013
  Taillon's ceiling is so high that the Pirates rated him ahead of Bryce Harper on their 2010 draft board and took him second overall even though GM Neal Huntington doesn't believe in drafting prep righthanders in the first round. Taillon had a 3.85 grade-point average in high school and planned to attend Rice until Pittsburgh changed those plans with a $6.5 million bonus. With stuff, command and smarts, Taillon has the total package for a frontline starter. His four-seam fastball sits at 94-96 mph and hits 99 with boring action, and he'll mix in a two-seamer with more sink. His curveball is an excellent pitch that breaks so late and so sharply that it can be confused for a slider. He's still refining his changeup but it should become at least an average pitch. Taillon went through a crisis of confidence for a stretch early last season where he questioned his pitch selection and stopped pitching aggressively. However, he regained his killer instinct in the second half and finished strong after a late-season promotion to Double-A Altoona. Taillon would be the future No. 1 starter for most organizations but likely will slot in at No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole with the Pirates. Taillon will begin 2013 back in Double-A but could see Pittsburgh before season's end.
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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #2 prospect in 2012
  The Pirates took Taillon with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft and insist they would have selected him over No. 1 choice Bryce Harper. After signing him for $6.5 million, then the second-highest bonus in draft history, they kept him on tight pitch and inning counts in his 2011 pro debut. Taillon's size gives him outstanding leverage on his pitches and causes his fastball, which sits at 95-97 mph and reaches 99 mph, to get on hitters quickly. He also has a 12-to-6 curveball that can be unhittable as well as a slider that's both his third-best pitch and a plus offering. Taillon's changeup is still a work in progress and he didn't get a chance to work on it much in 2011. Pittsburgh had him throw approximately 80 percent fastballs to gain better command of his heater to both sides of the plate. He gets high marks for his competiveness and intelligence. Taillon will begin 2012 in high Class A, and the Pirates will allow him to work deeper into games and use his secondary pitches more often. They won't rush him, but he's talented enough to knock on the door to Pittburgh late in 2013 and eventually become a No. 1 starter.
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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #1 prospect in 2011
  Taillon entered 2010 as the highest-upside pitching prospect in the draft and cemented that status with a dominating season at The Woodlands (Texas) High. He went 8-1, 1.78 with 114 strikeouts in 62 innings, including a 19-strikeout nohitter and a 13-strikeout playoff win in his final start. The Pirates took Taillon with the No. 2 overall pick, and their scouts liked him better than No. 1 choice Bryce Harper. After a long but amicable negotiation, he agreed to a $6.5 million bonus--the second-largest in draft history--on the evening of the Aug. 16 deadline. Pittsburgh sent him and second-rounder Stetson Allie, another high school righthander with electric stuff, to short-season State College to observe the Spikes. Taillon's first pro work off a mound came during instructional league in October, Scouts compare Taillon to Josh Beckett at the same stage of his career. The two Texans had similar stuff, but Taillon has a classic pitcher's body and is markedly bigger, with room to fill out. His fastball, which is heavy and comes with explosive movement, sits at 93-97 mph and touches 99. His mid-80s hammer curveball is just as devastating, and the consensus among scouts was that he had the two best pitches in the draft (with Allie not far behind). Taillon's curve opens on the same plane as his fastball, making it that much tougher to hit. He also has a hard slider that looked nearly as good as his curve during instructional league. Both breaking balls have late bite and depth, with the curve being a little bigger and the slider shorter with more tilt. He'll need to develop a changeup. He has flashed a decent one in the past, but the rest of his repertoire rendered it moot at the amateur level. Taillon's delivery, mostly from a three-quarters arm slot, is a work in progress. He throws his fastball with the ease of someone playing catch, but good command of all pitches will come only after he consistently trusts his natural strength rather than trying to do too much. He also has plenty of moving parts, including a trademark dip in his back shoulder, though he also has the athleticism to make it all work. Any mechanical issues are minor--Pittsburgh simply wants to allow him to locate the ball down in the zone with plane--and he should develop into a solid strikethrower. The Pirates quickly have become enamored with Taillon's intangibles. Though he still could be a little meaner on the mound--think, again, of a young Beckett--he has exemplary makeup. He had no trouble assimilating into pro ball and soaking up teaching in instructional league. Taillon is projected as the franchise's first ace since Doug Drabek in the early 1990s, but Pittsburgh pledges to bring him along slowly. Then again, he's so gifted that his talent may dictate otherwise. He'll likely make his pro debut at low Class A West Virginia, where he'll pitch out of the rotation with a highly conservative inning count. His focus will be almost entirely on building up his durability and learning the professional game, so a midseason promotion appears unlikely.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked International League #8 prospect in 2016
  After missing the last two seasons with injuries, Taillon returned from Tommy John surgery and hernia surgery to log a healthy season. He quickly shook off the rust and got back to being the pitcher the Pirates envisioned when they drafted him No. 2 overall in 2010. After two months with Indianapolis, Taillon made his major league debut and spent the rest of the season in the Pittsburgh rotation. While Taillon still has a lot of the elements that made him a prototypical power pitcher early in his career, his profile has changed since the Pirates encouraged him to throw his two-seam fastball more often. He can still run his four-seamer up to 98 mph, but his sinker has become his primary pitch. As a result, he is no longer missing bats as often as he did early in his career and instead has produced a groundball rate above 50 percent. His best secondary pitch remains his hard curveball, and he also mixes in a changeup. Taillon pounds the strike zone with fastballs, and he walked just 0.9 per nine innings at Indianapolis. Now that he doesn't miss as many bats, he looks more like a mid-rotation starter, a role he has effectively handled this year.
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  Ranked Eastern League #6 prospect in 2013
  Taillon showed no ill effects from pitching for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in March, finishing the year pitching in the Triple-A International League playoffs. He made progress with his process as well, elevating his changeup?s status so greatly that some evaluators rated it even higher than his dynamic mid-80s curveball that features three-quarter break and bite. Like many Pirates pitching prospects, Taillon throws the first few innings of games with almost exclusively a fastball that can show heavy sinking action and sits in the low- to mid-90s, pushing 96 mph. After that, he?ll mix in his power curve that scrapes 82 mph and changeup, the latter of which has deception and good contrast from his fastball. He?s also shown a willingness to throw the change to righties at any time. He?ll mix in a rarely-used slider at times. When Taillon misses up in the zone he gets hit hard, so he?ll have to work a little harder to keep his pitches at the waist or below. He also occasionally casts his curveball.
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  Ranked Florida State League #3 prospect in 2012
  On any other staff, Taillon's stuff would stand alone. Pitching in the same rotation with Cole, his 94-98 mph fastball, developing breaking ball and average changeup gave opponents just an extra reason to dread a trip to Bradenton. Taillon is 14 months younger than Cole and further from the big leagues. While Cole is working on refining his command and reading swings, Taillon is tweaking grips and arm angles for his breaking ball. He has junked the spike curveball he'd thrown since high school, replacing it with a slurvier breaking ball that he can control better and throw from the same arm slot as his fastballs. The Pirates allowed Taillon to throw a two-seam fastball again this year, giving hitters something else to worry about and providing contrast to his straight four-seamer. His overall command sometimes comes and goes, and he needs work on holding runners after giving up 30 steals in 33 attempts.
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  Ranked South Atlantic League #4 prospect in 2011
  The Pirates were protective of Taillon during his first taste of pro ball, keeping him in extended spring training until April 27 and on tight pitch counts once he got to West Virginia. Despite his limited stints--his longest outing was five innings--SAL observers raved about his stuff. Managers rated his 92-95 fastball and low-80s curveball as the two best pitches in the league, and he also shows signs of a promising changeup. As the season progressed, he did a better job of honing his fastball and command and ironing out some minor mechanical issues, such as the timing of breaking his hands during his delivery. "With his height, actions and overall mound presence, he looks like an ace," an American League scout said. "His fastball is explosive and has great movement and velocity. His curveball is a true hammer, and I saw him throw his changeup at any time in the count. When the Pirates take him off that leash, there's a good chance to gets up there in a short amount of time."

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #29 prospect in 2015
• Ranked Baseball America's #22 prospect in 2014
• Ranked Baseball America's #19 prospect in 2013
• Ranked Baseball America's #15 prospect in 2012
• Ranked Baseball America's #11 prospect in 2011

• December, 2012 Scouting Report
  Background: Taillon's ceiling is so high that the Pirates rated him ahead of Bryce Harper on their 2010 draft board and took him second overall even though GM Neal Huntington doesn't believe in drafting prep righthanders in the first round. Taillon had a 3.85 grade-point average in high school and planned to attend Rice until the Pittsburgh changed those plans with a $6.5 million bonus. Scouting Report: With stuff, command and smarts, Taillon has the total package for a frontline starter. His four-seam fastball sits at 94-96 mph and hits 99 with boring action, and he'll mix in a two-seamer with more sink. His curveball is an excellent pitch that breaks so late and so sharply that it can be confused for a slider. He's still refining his changeup but it should become at least an average pitch. Taillon went through a crisis of confidence for a stretch early last season where he questioned his pitch selection and stopped pitching aggressively. However, he regained his killer instinct in the second half and finished strong after a late-season promotion to Double-A Altoona. The Future: Taillon has frontline stuff and will begin 2013 back in Double-A but could see Pittsburgh before season's end.
• December, 2011 Scouting Report
  Background: The Pirates took Taillon with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft and insist they would have selected him over No. 1 choice Bryce Harper. After signing him for $6.5 million, then the second-highest bonus in draft history, they kept him on a tight leash in his 2011 pro debut. He was removed from each game after five innings or 75 pitches, whichever came first. Scouting Report: Taillon's size gives him outstanding leverage on his pitches and causes his fastball, which sits at 95-97 mph and reaches 99 mph, to get on hitters quickly. He also has a 12-to-6 curveball that can be unhittable as well as a slider that's both his third-best pitch and a plus offering. Taillon's changeup is still a work in progress and he didn't get a chance to work on it much in 2011. Pittsburgh had him throw approximately 80 percent fastballs to gain better command of his heater to both sides of the plate. He gets high marks for his competiveness and intelligence. The Future: Taillon will begin 2012 in high Class A, and the Pirates will allow him to work deeper into games and use his secondary pitches more often. They won't rush him, but he's talented enough to knock on the door to Pittburgh late in 2013 and eventually become a No. 1 starter.