Taking the mound takes Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon's mind off MLB negotiations

For someone sidelined this season, Jameson Taillon had a baseball-filled Tuesday — a day that will go down for its monumental moments.

Taillon threw off the mound for the first time in his recovery from a second Tommy John surgery, firing 15 fastballs after making mechanical changes to shorten his delivery. He has spent his downtime “diving into the analytics,” focusing on spin rate.

“Kind of like my first TJ, I’m trying to use it as an opportunity to not have a wasted year and just go through the motions,” Taillon said of his throwing session in PNC Park’s bullpen. “I’m trying to come out way stronger on the other side and trying to be a positive statistic for guys with two TJs. Right now, I feel healthy. I feel more healthy than I’ve felt in four or five years. The ball is flying out of my hand.”

A welcome sight: Jameson Taillon, about 10 months removed from his second Tommy John surgery, threw off the bullpen mound at PNC Park yesterday. pic.twitter.com/JneOe97z4l

— Adam Berry (@adamdberry) June 24, 2020

Taking the mound took Taillon’s mind off the MLB negotiations for a moment. As the Pittsburgh Pirates’ player representative, he was involved in the return-to-play bargaining and Monday’s 33-5 vote to reject the owners’ proposal for a 60-game season with expanded playoffs. That forced commissioner Rob Manfred to implement a 60-game schedule under their March 26 agreement, paying players at prorated salary, to which the MLB Players Association agreed Tuesday.

“I think these negotiations could be a preview for our future and maybe the CBA,” said Taillon, who returned to Pittsburgh earlier this month after rehabilitating in Bradenton, Fla. “Hopefully, both sides have learned something, and we can put that in the past and come together and (work) alongside in the journey instead of making it one against the other and one side has to win. Hopefully, we can find a way that we all win because I think that’s what’s best for everybody.”

Fun game of catch with @KuhlWhhip_11 today. He sneaky catches the best flat grounds in the show, and has a nasty slider that’s super fun to catch. Great to be back in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/DIDLMbQf3X

— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) June 20, 2020

Taillon found it “pretty eye-opening” how engaged major league players became in the process, given that they were in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic, and believes the union is more unified than ever.

Where the focus of negotiations was primarily on the prorated salaries and number of games, Taillon thinks there is an opportunity for the MLB Players Association to do better in the next bargaining session.

“We were so focused on certain things in the negotiation that we might have left things by the wayside or other ideas to get creative in other ways, not just with prorated salaries and games and schedules,” Taillon said. “But I’ve learned a lot from it. I’d like to see a little less of the leaking, a little less of the fear tactics, fear negotiating through social media. I could go on and on and on.

“It wasn’t a very fluid process. It wasn’t very easy to be a part of, to see our game get slandered on social media so much and to see the bad press that it brought and the sour taste that it left our fans. I hope that’s enough to wake both sides up going forward. I’ve said it on social media but negotiating through the media, I think that just needs to stop — and the leaks and the threatening. It was a weird process to be a part of but, at the end of the day, everyone’s glad that it’s over and there’s going to be baseball.”

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

Now, it’s up to MLB owners and players alike to repair their relationship with a frustrated fan base and change the perception both sides put the economics of the game ahead of the entertainment of their fans. Baseball is returning, but with fans not allowed to attend games, Taillon knows it’s going to take some effort to win them back.

“We’re going to have to find ways to interact, other than signing an autograph or doing meet-and-greets at the field,” Taillon said. “A lot of guys have charities that they’re involved with. I think that’s a good opportunity for guys to dive in and be active with charity work. It’s a good opportunity for us as a league to get more involved in social media and marketing our players and connecting with our fans. It’s as important now as ever to connect on social media, to connect with the younger generation.”