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Jameson Taillon Has a Strong Finish to His 2016 Season in Pirates’ Win

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PITTSBURGH — It’s almost as if he was showing off.

After Jameson Taillon gave up a solo home run to Anthony Rizzo, the third batter of the Pirates’ 8-4 win over the Chicago Cubs Wednesday night, he went another 5 1/3 innings without allowing a hit, torturing what might be the best lineup in all of baseball.

The second time through the order, the Pirates’ rookie set the Cubs down in order on just 34 pitches. The fifth was a master class in the pitcher Taillon has become. He put Chris Coghlan and Miguel Montero down on two pitches each before getting his mound opponent Jake Arrieta to fly out. The use of his two-seamer, a pitch he wasn’t even using on a regular basis until this season, is part of Taillon’s growth.

“Throwing the two-seamer now, I can usually tell if when I’m having a good night or a bad night based on swings they take when I’m behind in the count — hitter’s counts. Tonight, I didn’t get ahead of everybody, but when it was 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, I got a lot outs in those situations, which means I was getting the ball down and getting some good movement.”

So has been the ability to utilize effective balls to his advantage. Taillon hates walking people. He even hates throwing balls. But since he’s come to the major leagues, he’s realized the utility of being competitive around the strike zone and not just in it.

“I don’t walk many people,” he said. “I don’t like doing it. But I thought the situations where I did walk guys, there wasn’t an end of the world if they got on. … I’d rather walk a guy here and there than miss in the middle.”

Taillon’s start will be his last of the 2016 campaign and his final numbers are a 3.38 ERA and 3.44 xFIP with 85 strikeouts and 17 walks in 104 innings. He said he hasn’t taken time to reflect on what this year has meant to him, but he’s been grateful for the opportunity to grow and show his stuff at the highest level.

“This is the dream,” he said. “This where you want to be. Pitching in front of these fans and pitching for these guys is kind of what drove me for those two years. I got to realize a dream this year. … It’s pretty cool.”

Earlier in the day, manager Clint Hurdle had told the media that Taillon was one of two locks for the 2017 rotation (the other being Gerrit Cole).

“Jameson’s development and performance at this level is definitely a highlight and it’s an organizational win for everybody, but especially that young man,” Hurdle said.” To throw the number of innings he did after not throwing for two years … is fantastic. The experience he’s gained and the meaningful gains that he’s pitched, the ability to command the ball, throw strikes, mix pitches, pitch down in the zone have been fantastic to watch.

“Think about the place he’s going to be next year in spring training versus where he was when he walked into camp this past season. He’s going to be one of our five, no doubt.”

Based on his performance as the team’s best starter in the second half, it wasn’t a surprise, but it was good to hear nonetheless.

“I’m not going to rest easy and sit back — I’m going to get to work” he said. “I’m looking forward to being able to get into spring training. … I think coming into next year, I have some things I want to attack. I know what works at the big-league level and I’ll actually get to work on that in spring training as opposed to trying to blow everyone away and impress people.”

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