Perseverance: The Jameson Taillon Story
(Photo Courtesy: ESPN.com)
In a 2017 Pirates season that has struggled to produce any real feel good stories, one person keeps defying the odds thrown his way and jumping obstacles. The first negative story came in the offseason, as the news broke that South Korean infielder Jung Ho Kang was arrested and charged with a DUI in his homeland. This one would be Kang’s third, which has left him without a working visa and unavailable to this point for Pittsburgh. The Pirates would later suffer more devastating news, this time it was that star outfielder Starling Marte was going to be lost for eighty games due to a suspension stemming from a failed PED test.
As if this all wasn’t bad enough for Clint Hurdle’s group, rising star pitcher Jameson Taillon underwent surgery for suspected testicular cancer in early May. Fortunately for Taillon, the cancer was detected early on and he now is very close to making his return to the big leagues. In fact, Taillon just completed his second rehab start in the minor leagues.
In his second start, Taillon fanned six batters across five impressive innings for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. The Tribe went on to win the game 4-1 behind Taillon’s solid outing. This was the first start he made for Triple-A, which followed a rehab start in Double-A Altoona. Taillon made that first rehab start for the Altoona Curve on May 28th, striking out six across three scoreless frames of work.
What has been the biggest cure for Taillon all along his tough journey? Some will say the early detection of the cancer, which on the surface, is not exactly a wrong theory. However, Taillon will tell you that it’s the rehab work itself.
“Pitching’s always been my safe zone,” Taillon told Mike Lopresti of milb.com. This came on Thursday night, the eve of Taillon’s second rehab start and first for the Indians. He continued by telling Lopresti that “Things get thrown at you that you didn’t see coming, and this was one of them.” However, Taillon has always been one strong enough to handle what life throws at him. This time surely would not be different.
If any particular human being was built to handle this type of adversity, it surely was Jameson Taillon. This is not the first time Taillon has gone through setbacks in his career. Taillon has previously battled an elbow injury that got so serious that he needed Tommy John Surgery. Once that was completed, Taillon kept on battling in order to return. As he neared return from that surgery, he had an inguinal hernia, another injury that would require surgery.
For a 25-year-old youngster, this surgery for what was later confirmed to be testicular cancer was just another setback. This was not an insurmountable obstacle for Taillon, but rather a setback. Now here we are, in early June, and Taillon is well on his way to making his major league return for the Pirates.
Now I understand cancer is a totally different kind of animal. It is nothing like Tommy John Surgery, which has actually become very common and a lot easier to overcome nowadays for many MLB pitchers. Cancer also isn't anything like the inguinal hernia injury Taillon battled shortly after that Tommy John Surgery. Cancer has taken the lives of many and cancer can arise anywhere in the human body.
However, this cancer was no match for one Jameson Taillon. The kid has persevered through far too much in his short life to get where he is today. This was no time for Taillon to keep his head down and feel sorry for himself. Instead, yet again, Taillon did the opposite and fought back like he’s done in the past.
It is unclear when exactly Taillon will be available to return to Pittsburgh’s roster where he belongs. But one thing that is clear in all of this is that Taillon is a model for the word perseverance. He represents the meaning of the word in every single way and has used that perseverance to start off his major league career very sharp.
Taillon finished 2016 at 5-4 with a 3.38 earned run average in 18 starts. Through six starts in 2017, Taillon compiled a 2-1 record with a 3.31 ERA. In order to get back to those numbers, Taillon will have to continue to persevere on his road to recovery. But for someone like Taillon, he’s proved that perseverance is the only option he has. For the Pirates, getting Taillon back will be a huge shot in the arm for a team that sits five games under the .500 mark.
