Many Pirates fans are hopeful that Jameson Taillon will once again return to a PNC Park pitching mound, but that has already happened this month.
Taillon is back in Pittsburgh, and is continuing his rehab from Tommy John surgery from the Pirates' home ballpark.
"Right now, I feel healthy. I feel more healthy than I’ve felt in 4-5 years," Taillon said during a recent Zoom call. "The ball is flying out of my hand."
Taillon has been through this process before in 2014 and 2015 while recovering from his first Tommy John surgery. It is normally a very lonely process, but this time has been a bit of an exception.
"Selfishly, it’s been really nice to have guys around me," Taillon said. "Usually when you’re rehabbing you’re on an island by yourself, but I’ve been working with [Steven] Brault and Clay Holmes. I’ve been around [Joe] Musgrove up here. Chad Kuhl came and watched my ‘pen. It’s been really cool to have all the guys around."
He is going to spend more time at PNC Park and around the guys during his rehab, too. On Monday, the Pirates announced Taillon will be the 40th member of their Pittsburgh camp for spring training 2.0.
While he will not pitch in the majors in 2020, it will allow Taillon to continue to work with Major-League coaches and trainers for potentially the next three weeks. Players will report to camp on July 1, and camp will officially open July 3. The Pirates' first game will be either July 23 or 24.
The Pirates had a spot in their Pittsburgh camp open up Sunday when Edgar Santana was suspended for performance enhancing drugs. Before Monday, Taillon was simply on the injured list and was not taking a spot.
The Pirates now have 40 players going to Pittsburgh and 19 to their alternate site in Altoona, Pa..
Despite the shutdown, Taillon has been able to work with pitching coach Oscar Marin and bullpen coach Justin Meccage over the past few months. Meccage stayed with the rehabbing players -- like Brault and Holmes -- in Bradenton, Fla. once the shutdown started. When Taillon came back to Pittsburgh this month, he started working with Marin.
"Oscar and Meccage both have been a driving force for me," Taillon said. "They’re using weighted balls with me. They’re giving me drills to do. They’re videoing things. They’re using the core velocity belts on me. They’ve gotten all their toys out to help me."
They are not just working on Taillon's rehab, though. The right-hander is also working on some mechanical changes to take better care of his arm and elbow.
That was Taillon's idea.
“He’s very thoughtful about his work and what he does,” Marin told me recently. “His concerns were, ‘this is my second Tommy John, I need to change something.’ The idea started from, ‘hey, what do you think about this,’ and it ran from there.”
In fact, Taillon had made up his mind to make the change before Marin was hired, even "probably the day my elbow got hurt." That was in early May of last year.
"That’s something that’s been on my mind for a long time," Taillon said. "I knew I wanted to make some changes eventually. Once my elbow started barking, I kind of viewed that as my body telling me, ‘Hey, what I’m doing right now is not working. It’s time to make a change.’
"I tried making the changes before my surgery, but my elbow just wasn’t feeling right. Once I got the surgery, it was almost like, in a weird way, kind of exciting because now I’ve got the full year to heal, get better and make the changes that I’ve been wanting to make."
Taillon has shortened his arm action in his throwing motion and is keeping the ball closer to his body now, both moves that could put less stress on his arm and elbow.
To see it in motion, here is a tweet of Taillon throwing in May:
First time throwing 4X in a week. Feeling strong, and moving right along in the process ? Enjoying every step of this rehab journey, and learning tons along the way! pic.twitter.com/Ef2IVG24hk
— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) May 7, 2020
"Obviously, things aren't going to look normal, so I think one possibility is that I'll be able to get my work in at PNC Park, but I'll have to leave once the team arrives basically, which I saw was five hours before game time," Taillon said. "I'm not able to travel, so we're either going to keep a P.T. [physical therapist] back for me to get my work in, or we might have to commute to Altoona and get my work in when the team's on the road.
"I'm just willing to do literally whatever it takes so I can stay on track. I'll drive anywhere, do anything. I just want to stay on track, and I'm making some really good headway and progress."
