Brian Tallet

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2000
A-:  0-0-0, 1.15 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 1.7 BB/9, 11.5 K/9

Tallet dominated in a brief debut in short season ball.

2001
A+:  9-7-0, 3.04 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 160.0 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 9.2 K/9

Although he put up impressive numbers, including more than a strikeout per inning, the Indians left Tallet in high A all year.

2002
AA:  10-1-0, 3.08 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 102.1 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 6.4 K/9
AAA:  2-3-0, 3.07 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 44.0 IP, 3.3 BB/9, 5.1 K/9
MLB:  1-0-0, 1.50 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 12.0 IP, 3.0 BB/9, 3.8 K/9

Tallet pitched well in AA and AAA, and in a two-game trial in the majors in September, but his K rate dropped significantly.

2003
AAA:  4-4-0, 5.14 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 84.0 IP, 3.6 BB/9, 7.2 K/9
MLB:  0-2-0, 4.74 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 19.0 IP, 3.8 BB/9, 4.3 K/9

Tallet opened the season in AAA and struggled there in 15 starts.  The Indians called him up in June anyway, and he continued to struggle through five games, three of them starts.  His struggles may have been injury-related, as he ended up having Tommy John surgery in August.

2004
A-:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 2.2 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 6.8 K/9
A:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 4.5 K/9
AA:  1-1-1, 5.32 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 23.2 IP, 4.9 BB/9, 9.1 K/9
AAA:  0-0-0, 4.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 3.1 BB/9, 7.3 K/9 

Tallet worked his way up through the minors on rehab, pitching 37 innings total.

2005
AAA:  6-5-0, 4.05 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 97.2 IP, 2.3 BB/9, 5.6 K/9
MLB:  0-0-0, 7.71 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, 4.2 IP, 5.8 BB/9, 3.9 K/9

Spending most of the year in AAA, Tallet didn’t allow a lot of baserunners, but he had trouble with gopher balls (17) and didn’t fan many.  He spent parts of August with the Indians, but made only two relief appearances.  He didn’t pitch in September.

2006
AAA:  1-2-3, 5.68 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 25.1 IP, 3.6 BB/9, 7.5 K/9
MLB:  3-0-0, 3.81 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 54.1 IP, 5.1 BB/9, 6.1 K/9

Cleveland basically gave Tallet away to the Jays and he opened the season with them, pitching in relief.  He didn’t pitch well in April and spent most of May struggling in AAA.  The Jays brought him back up at the end of May and he pitched better, although his control wasn’t good.  He pitched in 44 games in the majors, with one start.

2007
AAA:  0-0-0, 1.75 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 6.2 IP, 1.4 BB/9, 4.0 K/9
MLB:  2-4-0, 3.47 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 62.1 IP, 4.0 BB/9, 7.8 K/9

Toronto designated Tallet for assignment after the 2006 season and he opened 2007 in AAA.  The Jays called him up late in April, though, and he spent the rest of the season in their bullpen.  He had probably his best season, walking a few too many but allowing only one HR, and holding hitters to a .215 BA and .298 slugging average.

2008
AAA:  0-0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 4.5 BB/9, 4.5 K/9
MLB:  1-2-0, 2.88 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 56.1 IP, 3.5 BB/9, 7.5 K/9

Tallet had another good season in relief for the Jays.

2009
MLB:  7-9-0, 5.32 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 160.2 IP, 4.0 BB/9, 6.7 K/9

Tallet opened the season back in the bullpen, but the Jays moved him to the rotation in mid-April due to injury problems.  The move didn’t go well; he had a 5.41 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 25 starts and didn’t pitch as well when he went back to the bullpen.  He had trouble with longballs, allowing 20.

2010
A+:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 4.0 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 6.8 K/9
AAA:  0-1-0, 54.00 ERA, 7.50 WHIP, 1.1 IP, 6.8 BB/9, 6.8 K/9
MLB:  2-6-0, 6.40 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 77.1 IP, 4.4 BB/9, 6.2 K/9

The Jays opened the season with Tallet back in the rotation and he struggled through five starts, two of them coming after he missed six weeks with a forearm injury.  He didn’t pitch any better after moving to the bullpen.  He allowed another 20 HRs, better than one every four innings.

2011
A (StL):  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 2.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 22.5 K/9
A+ (Tor):  1-0-0, 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 4.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 11.2 K/9
MLB (StL):  0-1-0, 8.31 ERA, 1.92 WHIP, 13.0 IP, 3.5 BB/9, 6.2 K/9
MLB (Tor):  0-1-0, 54.00 ERA, 12.00 WHIP, 0.1 IP, 54.0 BB/9, 27.0 K/9

The Cardinals signed Tallet as a free agent, but he wasn’t able to pitch much due to a broken hand and an intercostal strain.  He was still out with the strain when St. Louis traded him to Toronto at the trade deadline.  After a brief rehab, Tallet pitched just one game with with the Jays, who released him to clear roster space.

The odds that Tallet will be a productive major leaguer look very long at this point, so he’s probably best cast as AAA depth.  The Pirates may see it the same way, as Tallet didn’t get an invitation to major league camp.  He also didn’t get assigned to Indianapolis to start the season, instead remaining in extended spring training.