One of the best arms in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization is set to make his Major League debut on Wednesday, as the Bucs will call up Jameson Taillon to take on the New York Mets.
The #Pirates announce RHP Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) is expected make his MLB debut tomorrow (Wed) at 7:05pm. pic.twitter.com/wXHQ4fM1l7
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 7, 2016
Taillon is the 49th-ranked prospect in baseball and fourth-best in the Pittsburgh system.
At one point, Taillon, the second pick of the 2010 MLB Draft, was more highly touted in baseball and within his organization. But thanks to Tommy John surgery and then a hernia, the right-hander missed all of 2014 and 2015, moving down the ranks.
In 2016, though, he’s made up for lost time, posting a dominant 2.04 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and an absurd 10.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in Triple-A Indianapolis.
Whether he’ll be up permanently or for just a start or two remains to be seen. The Pirates are contenders, so they can’t afford to deal with too many growing pains that sometimes come with a young starter. On the other hand, if Taillon pitches well, it will be hard for them to justify making this run with the club nothing more than a brief cameo.