Walking the Plank: Jameson Taillon, Ace, Bust, or What?


Let me start out with this, I love Jameson Taillon (Better known as Jamo). Jamo is a genuine guy who does alot of great things in the community while overcoming many hardships such as cancer and Tommy John surgery throughout his career. I admire Jamo for overcoming so many injuries throughout his career and staying positive throughout it all; However, what might make him likeable as a person takes away from his play on the field. As everyone loves to say, “An athlete’s best ability is availability,” and this is something that Jamo has lacked. This all leads in to my main question, is Jamo an Ace, Bust, or What?

As the Pirates #2 overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft, the expectations for Jamo were sky high. When a pitcher is taken that high in the draft, they are looked at as a future ace of the team that drafted them. Jamo was living up to expectations mowing his way through the minors before experiencing injuries along the way. I remember hearing journalists and broadcasters talk about his amazing repertoire of pitches and how he is the future ace of the Pirates; as a Pirate fan, I could not have been more excited.

Now here we are in May 2019, and Jamo is on the Injured List… again. I feel awful for Jamo as he suffers another injury, but his impact on the team also has to be taken into account. I will answer the first part of my question, no, Jamo is not an ace. Has he shown signs of being an ace? Yes, Jamo has had stretches where he has looked like one of the best pitchers in the game, but these stretches are often too short or ended by an injury. Most pitchers in the MLB have the ability to be an ace, but the thing that makes someone an ace is being able to pitch at a high level on a consistent basis, and Jamo just has not done that unfortunately.
Now for the next part of my question, is Jamo a bust? It would be easy to answer this question as a definitive yes. A #2 overall pick who has spent a majority of his career on the injured list and who pitches inconsistently when healthy can easily be classified as a bust; however, I am not ready to write Jamo off just yet.
So, what is Jamo? Right now, he is an above average MLB pitcher who has been bitten by the injury bug too much. As of now, he is moving more towards the bust classification, but here’s how he can change my mind. Right now the Pirates are a team defined by their starting pitching teetering on the .500 line. Once Jamo returns from injury, he needs to become the leader of this rotation and take the Pirates to a place they have not been for a few years. Here is my bold take on Jamo, if he can lead this team with alot of holes into wild card contention at the end of the season after coming back from injury, then I will start to move him towards ace consideration.

Overall, as a lifelong Pirate fan, I hope that when we revisit this article at the end of the season, the title reads “Jameson Taillon: Ace.”


Join the conversation in the comments below and give me your opinions on Jamo. Thanks for reading!

- Aaron, TGYK

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