Jameson Taillon Quietly Shoving in Season’s Early Going
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The Yankees are on a roll right now, having won 11 in a row while compiling a league-leading 18-6 record. Several individuals have been major contributors to New York’s torrid start to the season, but perhaps no one has been more overlooked than Jameson Taillon.
The righty enjoyed his best outing of the season on Tuesday as the Yankees cruised to a 9-1 victory in Toronto. Taillon threw six innings for the first time this season while holding the Blue Jays to one run. He struck out four and didn’t issue a single free pass over 71 pitches.
“It’s fun,” Taillon told reporters of New York’s winning streak after the game. “I knew if I could just keep them in that game, those guys were going to breakout at some point.”
Taillon, who also praised the defense behind him on Tuesday, deserves some credit as well. The 30-year-old’s most recent outing was hardly an aberration; he owns a 2.84 ERA after five starts and 25.1 innings this season. But fellow starters Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino and even Nestor Cortes command the headlines in a rotation that was fifth in the majors in ERA (2.80) and fWAR (2.5) prior to Wednesday’s games. Sometimes Taillon and the similarly unheralded Jordan Montgomery, who also dealt in Toronto, get lost in the shuffle.
Taillon may not be a star, but he is fourth in the majors in BB% (1.9%) and sixth in K/BB (10.5). He led the Yankees in innings pitched prior to Cortes’s fifth start on Wednesday, and Taillon’s 128 ERA+ only trailed the contorting lefty among New York’s starters.
Taillon’s 2021 season, his first back from a second Tommy John surgery, featured peaks and valleys, but he owns a 3.15 ERA since July 6 of last year. He has been both reliable and durable for New York despite undergoing offseason ankle surgery.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Taillon have seen a different pitcher than the one Taillon was at the beginning of last season, when he tallied a 5.43 ERA in his first 15 starts for the Yankees. Taillon said Tuesday that he has “a lot more weapons now.” That includes changing the pitches he’s willing to throw to lefties and righties and utilizing his cutter and changeup more.
“I’ve definitely expanded the package,” Taillon said. “I was just backing myself into a hole last year. Now I’m showing the pitch ability that I have.”
So far, the extended arsenal is working well for Taillon, even if he’s flying under the radar.
MORE:
- Marwin Gonzalez Serves as Unlikely Hero in Yankees' Latest Win
- Gleyber Torres Leads Yankees to 10th Straight Win
- ‘Shocked’ by Demotion, Clarke Schmidt Shouldn’t Be Gone Long
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