Taillon strikes balance while waiting for callup

INDIANAPOLIS — Jameson Taillon wasn’t satisfied. He thought he could’ve been sharper. More consistent.

To everyone else, Taillon’s last Triple-A outing looked like another quality start in his comeback season: six innings pitched, four hits, one earned run, three strikeouts.

To Taillon, it wasn’t good enough. Regardless of opponent, his thought lingers: “What if this was Game 7 of the World Series?”

“If I get an eight-hole hitter from Toledo to hit a fly ball, maybe that doesn’t work against [Chicago Cubs first baseman] Anthony Rizzo,” Taillon said.

Taillon balances that perfectionist tendency with a new perspective, which he gained after suffering back-to-back injuries in two years. He had Tommy John surgery in April 2014 to repair a torn right ulnar collateral ligament. Then, just as he was nearing a return, Taillon had an inguinal hernia, which required surgery in last July. He matured during the time spent sidelined, using it to work on pitching mechanics and improve his diet and overall health.

If injuries hadn’t kept Taillon down, the Pirates may have called up the 24-year-old long ago.

“I’m sure he’d probably be in the middle of a very successful Major League career right now if he hadn’t been injured,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said.

Instead of lamenting two years of injuries, Taillon used them to get better in whatever way he could. Spending that much time unable to play, much less have full control of his body, has made him less likely to panic on the mound.

“If there’s a runner on third and no outs, it’s not a big deal to me,” Taillon …

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