One of the game’s promising young starters, the PIttsburgh Pirates’ Jameson Taillon, has missed most of this season already with elbow injuries. Now it appears he’ll miss all of next season, too, after Wednesday’s announcement that Taillon needs Tommy John surgery.
Doctors confirmed the diagnosis while performing surgery on Taillon for his flexor tendon. During the procedure, surgeons determined his ulnar collateral ligament also was damaged.
“I received the news yesterday, so, yeah, it wasn’t the result or the finding that we were looking for or hoping for,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said, according to ESPN.com.
#Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon, who started the season atop the rotation, will miss the entire 2020 and won’t be able to return to the mound until ‘21 https://t.co/dxsEGWchv8
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) August 15, 2019
Promise interrupted
Taillon started the season as the Pirates’ No. 1 pitcher. He was 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 191 innings in 2018. All of those numbers were career bests.
However, Taillon started having forearm trouble early this season. He hit the injured list in late May after going 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA in seven starts. He returned to throwing in late June but felt pain again in July, leading to Wednesday’s surgery.
It’s the second time Taillon, 27, has needed Tommy John surgery. He also had the procedure in 2014 as a minor leaguer.
Pirates fans- I’m sorry that the 2019 season hasn’t gone according to plan. I had extremely high hopes and expectations. However, GREAT days are ahead! The only option is to learn through this process and grow. I WILL be back, and better than ever. You can count on it! pic.twitter.com/kDlGaGPYAr
— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) July 25, 2019
Moving forward
The Pirates hope Taillon will be ready in time for spring training 2021 and that they can still get a couple of healthy seasons from him before free agency.
Taillon is the type of young pitcher teams with smaller payrolls can build around, and Taillon can be that guy if he’s healthy.
“Now we’ll deal with the reality of what it is and do everything we can to support him again, encourage him,” Hurdle said, according to ESPN.com. “And I’m sure there will be a point and a time and place where he will figure out what his next steps are.”
Joel Hanrahan was finished after his second Tommy John surgery. He thinks Jameson Taillon’s future will be different.
From @RobBiertempfel: https://t.co/iailFDPtNj #Pirates
— The Athletic (@TheAthleticPGH) August 15, 2019
