Jameson Taillon was pulled from his start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday after just 68 pitches, and he certainly wasn’t happy about it.
The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander fired six shutout innings on the afternoon before running into some trouble in the seventh inning. Taillon gave up two runs on three hits in the frame, tying the game at 2-2. With two outs and a runner on first, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle took him out of the game and put reliever Edgar Santana in. Santana then gave up a double on his very first pitch to score the go-ahead run for the Phillies, and the Pirates lost 3-2.
After the game, Taillon expressed frustration about the decision to pull him.
“Trust is a two-way street,” said Taillon, per Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. “I’m going to have to figure out what I can do going forward to have their trust in that spot. I understand about the third time through the lineup [being difficult for pitchers]. I’m more analytically inclined that a lot of guys. I understand certain things. But when I’m pitching the way I was today …
“When I was coming up [from the minors], I was told by some of the older guys that when you go to the pen, it has to be the best option,” he continued. “Clearly, there was a number there or a gut feeling that said I wasn’t the best guy. We’ll talk it through. It’s over now and there’s nothing I can do about it. If Santana rolls him over there, it’s a good decision. So that’s baseball.”
The 26-year-old, who fell to 5-7 on the year with a 4.05 ERA, also indicated he was upset that he didn’t get to be the one who ended the team’s losing streak.
“At 68 pitches without a guy touching second base and someone’s warming up? That’s tough,” Taillon said. “I don’t know. I haven’t been pitching the greatest, so I understand that maybe the trust isn’t there. But, again, I was looking forward to being the guy who gives the bullpen a rest by going even deeper and ends the [four-game losing] streak.”
The Pirates are quickly losing hope and have plunged to 40-48 on the season (fourth in the NL Central). They may blow it up at the trade deadline too, and it’s obvious that team morale is not particularly high for them right now.
