Jameson Taillon concerned by Astros' cheating scandal, optimistic about Tommy John recovery

Jameson Taillon speaks carefully and thoughtfully on the two issues confronting the sport he loves and the right arm that helps him pursue it.

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, who will spend the 2020 season recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, is the team’s union representative. In that role and as a guy who makes his living playing baseball, he looks at the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal with palpable concern for the game and some of those who play it.

“Technology’s great,” Taillon said of the video equipment at the center of sign-stealing scandal. “It’s great for pitchers. It helps develop pitchers. There are so many new cameras and technologies and slow-mo cameras and stuff.

“But it’s also dangerous.”

Taillon, who grew up an Astros fan and makes Houston his offseason home, said he can’t walk into the grocery store without someone mentioning it.

“It’s the talk of the town in Houston,” he said. “A lot of those Astros guys do great things in the Houston community. I was a little disappointed to see it.”

No one hates sign stealing as much as a pitcher who doesn’t need the batter knowing what he’s throwing. But Taillon, without condoning the act, also understands human nature.

“It’s a battle of ethics and morals,” he said. “If it’s right in front of you, would you cheat? Would you not?

“I think it’s tricky. If your team tells you to do something, you don’t want to be the one guy who’s not fitting in and taking part in it.

“The union, obviously, backs players always. But part of why we’re in the big leagues and part of why we want to be in the big leagues is to compete. That’s competing player against player.”

But he added: “With the use of technology and in-game stuff like that, it takes away from the me vs. you competiveness.”

Back in Pittsburgh on Saturday for PiratesFest at PNC Park, Taillon discussed his other — more personal — problem.

He is 28-years-old and already has confronted a surgeon’s scalpel four times, including the Tommy John reconstructions — the second was last August — and procedures for testicular cancer and inguinal hernia repair.

Taillon was the Pirates’ No. 1 draft choice in 2010 (second overall, after Bryce Harper and before Manny Machado). Ten years later, and he has had only one full, healthy season and 29 victories to show for his time in the majors.

“I guess it’s a part of my blood now,” he said of the injuries.

It sounds like a joke because he regularly smiles when he speaks. But it is serious stuff.

“I don’t know how he’s doing it,” said fellow Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove. “It’s been one after another for him. He can’t seem to catch a break.

“If anybody is built to come back from this, it’s going to be him. It’s all positivity.”

Truth be told, the Pirates missed more than Taillon taking the mound every fifth day last season.

“That was our horse going into last year,” Musgrove said. “He was going to be our tone setter, the guy everyone was following in line. And not only missing his performance on the field but his presence in the clubhouse. He was a guy everyone looked up to.

“It felt like he was a 10-year vet. Losing that energy was tough for all of us. He was carrying the energy and carrying the momentum, and we were trying to play off him.”

Taillon has a long way to go in his rehab, but he has started throwing from 60 feet three times a week and will continue that leading into the start of spring training Feb. 10. He will start adding more throws for longer distances — more intense workouts — as the season progresses.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself,” he said, “but I feel really, really good.

“At this point, no news is good news for me. Every checkpoint … if I compare it to (his first Tommy John in 2014), this time’s been a better experience.”

Taillon said he has had discussions about sticking around the team this season when he is not doing his rehab in Bradenton. That will include going over scouting reports with Pirates pitchers and meeting the team when it visits Atlanta and Miami.

“Obviously, the rehab comes first,” he said. “Focus on the rehab, make the adjustments you need to make with your mechanics and just take your time.”

The real test of his comeback will occur next spring, and Taillon is cautiously optimistic.

“I understand the numbers coming back from a second one technically might not be as positive as one Tommy John,” he said. “But I felt like they fixed what they needed to fix. I’m going to make the mechanical changes I needed to make.”

Although he has chosen a tougher route, he wants to come back as a starter.

“I’ve just been a starter my whole life,” he said. “I don’t really know anything different. I’d be more than willing to learn how to throw out of the (bullpen) if that’s best for my long-term health or best for the team at that point.”

But at the root of his character, he is a competitor.

“I personally, selfishly, would like to prove to myself I can come back as a starter,” he said. “It’s not blind confidence. I’m truly confident I have to lot to give, and I can come back and compete and help this team and this city. I’m not happy-go-lucky just to be happy-go-lucky.

“I think I can come back stronger from this. I’ve done it from other injuries. Why not this one?”

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