Saving baseball career Taillon’s current battle
BRADENTON, Fla. — Jameson Taillon grabbed his iPhone, found the video taken the previous day by Pirates bullpen coach Justin Meccage and started swiping his right index finger from side-to-side, fast-forwarding and rewinding to make his point.
A reverse-angle shot, the video showed the sizable overhaul to Taillon’s mechanics, which is one of several projects for the 28-yearold right-hander as he works his way back from a second Tommy John surgery.
During the season, Taillon will function as a de facto coach or analyst, helping Pirates pitchers digest scouting reports and providing them with another set of eyes and ears.
But now, in spring training, Taillon is relishing the ability to be one of the guys — albeit with a slightly different set of goals, the biggest one being to get healthy and fix his mechanics so he never experiences an arm problem again.
“It’s definitely a different spring training for me,” Taillon said.
Taillon has worked through his throwing program, extending out from 60 to 75 to 90 feet. By the end of spring training, Taillon said he’ll throw from 120. Next will come a progression of upping the intensity, throwing off flat ground, a mound, etc.
“I’ve got a challenge and something to work toward,” said Taillon, who admitted to lengthening some of his throws. “It feels great.”
Taillon speaks of this upcoming season as being a lost year for him, though he’ll spend time around the big club, breaking down video, helping coaches and functioning as a sounding board for his friends.
It’s obviously not Taillon’s first choice, but at least it’s something. He’ll be happy to help pitching coach Oscar Marin or Meccage however possible.
“I’ll have plenty of time on my hands,” Taillon said. “I’ve definitely got some experience with hitters. I know some of our analytics guys pretty well. I’ve got a good relationship with Oscar and ‘Mess.’ Anything they need from me, I’ll be available.
“I’d love to help the starters game plan and stuff, but it’s also a fine line. You don’t want to overstep.”
The biggest thing for Taillon involves a mechanical overhaul.
As he demonstrated what he’s trying to change, striding and rotating his trunk for emphasis, it’s easy to see why Taillon has experienced arm problems in the past.
Too many times, after his plant foot landed, he would wind up throwing across his body, forcing his arm to work way too hard. His arm motion was long and caused undue stress on his elbow.
“If you’re throwing a punch, you don’t want to throw it from back there. You throw it from in here,” Taillon said, bringing his right arm closer to his body. “I’m trying to be a little more efficient, a little shorter and cleaner.
“What’s helping with that is not even thinking about my arm. It’s thinking about my direction, the way I get into my glutes and the way I use my hamstrings.”
Watch Taillon throw, and that much is obvious. His head is down. Every movement is exaggerated. To use his own word, Taillon is “sitting” into his throws, clearly trying to focus on proper alignment with his knees and hips and reducing wasted movement.
“I’m into my glutes way more,” Taillon said. “My arm is at a stronger angle. My foot is staying planted on the ground. I used to be wasting movement, and it left my elbow out to dry.
“Everybody says use your legs more, but what does that actually mean? What does that look like? Now I’m breaking it all down. I’ve got time to build myself back up. Just trying to strip it down and re-learn some things.”
Taillon has also relied on training tools to keep his elbow in the proper place when he throws. One of them looks like a playground ball. “All you have to do is brand it and make it sports-related,” Taillon said, laughing.
But he’s right. Plus, Taillon would use a tennis ball, basketball or a kitchen utensil if it meant pitching with full health for the next decade or so.
“Not in a morbid way, but I’m viewing this rehab like life or death for my career,” Taillon said. “I need to take every measure I can — whether it’s mechanics, diet, weight room or massages — and do everything to the best of my ability.”