Two-seamer has become Taillon’s primary pitch

PITTSBURGH — Jameson Taillon spent more than a year refining his mechanics, preparing himself to effortlessly pitch down in the zone. A little more than a week before his Major League debut, the Pirates made one more tweak to help turn Taillon into a ground-ball machine.

Before his second-to-last start in Triple-A, Taillon met with pitching coach Stan Kyles, pitching coordinator Scott Mitchell and assistant GM Kyle Stark to talk about his pitch selection. Primarily a four-seam fastball pitcher, Taillon always threw a two-seamer as a situational pitch, a weapon to be deployed in specific situations.

But the Pirates’ pitching brain trust presented Taillon with the data. Hitters were missing his two-seamer more often; when they did make contact, they were more likely to hit a ground ball. The pitch made him more efficient.

“So they were like, ‘Why don’t you try it out and see how it works?'” Taillon said Monday night. “I kind of just ran with it.”

Twelve starts into his promising Major League career, Taillon has made the two-seamer his primary pitch. He’s …

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