Hurdle: No Taillon rush
It’s easy, Clint Hurdle said, for people to forget players are morethan their Major League performances.
While some might be calling for Jameson Taillon’s rapid return after having surgery for testicular cancer, the Pirates manager isn’t one of them.
“There’s a lot of people in a hurry to see him pitch, and they forget the human being that’s tied to this whole deal,” Hurdle said. “They think about a pitcher. We’re not going to be those people. We’re tiedt o the man.”
Therefore, Hurdle hasn’t set a timetable for Taillon to get back on the mound at PNC Park. Instead, he wants to let how Taillon feels to dictate the course of action.
Sunday, 19 days after surgery, Taillon tossed three scorelessinnings for Class AA Altoona at UPMC Park in Erie. On 47 pitches, he struck out six, giving up one hit and one walk in a rehab start.
Taillon, who has a 3.31 ERA in 35.1 innings pitched this season, handled AA hitters well enough for his roommate ChadKuhl’s liking.
“He seems to be doing all right,” Kuhl said of Taillon’s outing. “I’m looking forward to having him back here, and he’ll do that up here.”
His history of overcoming the odds has given Taillon the perspective to stay positive in a way many players maybe couldn’t, Kuhl said. Taillon previously had Tommy John surgery and surgery for a sportshernia.
“He understands life and baseball,” Kuhl said. “He balances it really well. He’s gone through Tommy John, he’s gone through a sports hernia. I think he’s just gone through all this adversity so he sees it just as another roadblock. Or he sees it as another detour. He doesn’t see it as an end.”
Before the start of Sunday night’s game against he Mets, Hurdle said he hadn’t been in touch with Taillon after his start. But he thought the return to routine would be help fulf or the right-hander.
“He likes structure,” Hurdle said. “And to be able to fall back in line with his teammates, and this is what he does during the summers, I think it’s been a benefit to him.”
Taillon told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he will throw a bullpen session Tuesday.
Relievers deliver
The bullpen combined for five scoreless innings in Saturday’s 5-4, 10-inning win versus the Mets. The Mets failed to get a hit off Wade LeBlanc, Juan Nicasio or Felipe Rivero, with Tony Watson giving up two hits in the 10thinning before striking out Travis d’Arnaud to end the game.
The efficiency struck Hurdle, with the bullpen keeping the Pirates in the game long enough for John Jaso to tie it, 4-4, in the ninth, then win the game on a walk-off single to rightfield in the 10th.
“They made pitches,” Hurdle said. “They attacked, they were aggressive. So it was the shotin the arm we needed.”