Jim Callis had his weekly mailbag at Baseball America today, withtwo questions touching on Jameson Taillon. Here is a summary of the notes:
-Callis rated Taillon #2 on his “Pitching prospects under 21 years of age”, behind only Julio Teheran of the Atlanta Braves. No other Pirates’ pitcher made the list (which was a top 15).
-Callis also mentioned how Taillon could start the 2011 season in West Virginia, which is the same league that Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are expected to start in. He listed the following dates as possible matchups:
April 25-29: Hagerstown (Harper) at West Virginia (Taillon)
May 25-28: West Virginia (Taillon) at Delmarva (Machado)
June 5-7: Delmarva (Machado) at West Virginia (Taillon)
I don’t think Taillon will start off in full season ball, which pretty much rules out the April 25-29 series, and any hope of a Taillon/Harper matchup this year (unless they meet in the playoffs). The May 25-28 series against Delmarva might even be a stretch, although it’s not out of the question. I think the Machado/Taillon battles could be interesting, considering how the Pirates were choosing between the two players for the second pick in the 2010 draft.
