Pirates ace Jameson Taillon uses rehabilitation to shorten arm action, change delivery

A second Tommy John surgery was the worst possible news for Jameson Taillon, but the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher decided rehabilitation was the perfect time to make a major change to his delivery.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander long had been interested in shortening his arm stroke and cleaning up his mechanics, something he said had caught his eye over the years because of his injury history.

“The way I’ve been throwing my whole life was getting me hurt,” said Taillon, who had his first Tommy John surgery in 2014 and also dealt with groin and hernia injuries in the minors. “Making a mechanical change when you’re at the highest level you can be at in our game is scary. It’s tough. But it’s something that I had to do.”

So Taillon dove in head-first, using everything training trick from weighted balls to medicine balls to a core velocity belt to strengthen his grip. He focused on using his back leg and keeping his back foot on the ground longer so he wouldn’t come up on his toes and found concentrating on his foundation allowed for a smoother motion.

Feels SO good to be back in Pittsburgh.. where my building has what I see as a plyo wall ? get it in any way possible! pic.twitter.com/ISd50YE5sf

— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) June 14, 2020

“Cleaning up the way my lower half moves has shortened my arm up more than anything I’ve done with my arm,” Taillon said. “I don’t tell myself, ‘Hey, short-arm it or be really short,’ but the way I’m moving now just kind of makes it happen naturally.

“Now, it’s finally starting to be … if you were to put a ball in my hand now, I think I would throw in that shorter, cleaner method,” Taillon said. “So I’m feeling healthy. It’s assisting with that. And I think the results are going to be pretty nice, too. I think I’m going to have some added deception that I never had before.”

First Bullpen with the catcher back. Another check point in the rehab progression. Head down, keep growing and learning. Been fun to be putting in work with the guys again. No complaining from anyone, just getting after it and getting better. pic.twitter.com/QDZ5Ki2fcV

— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) July 7, 2020

Taillon took a step in his recovery Tuesday, throwing 20 pitches off the PNC Park bullpen mound to a catcher behind the plate for the first time. It was only a few feet back and few more pitches than his other four times throwing off the mound, but Taillon said the ball felt good coming out of his hand and his mechanics were strong. Even better is his surgically repaired right elbow felt fine the next day.

Taillon’s presence at Pirates training camp is inspiring and bittersweet for his fellow pitchers fighting for spots in the starting rotation, as they see his progress but know that neither Taillon nor Chris Archer will pitch this summer. Archer is out for the season after undergoing surgery for neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome.

“You know, it’s a bummer,” Pirates left-hander Steven Brault said. “But it’s going to be great when we have everybody back because Jamo’s our ace. He’s a real top-of-the-rotation ace pitcher. Yeah, we would love to have him back. But we also want him healthy for the rest of his career.”