Pittsburgh selects HS pitcher
PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Pirates threw a draft curveball Monday night and that could turn out to be a good thing. The Pirates drafted Jameson Taillon, a flame-throwing 6-foot-7, 230-pound right-hander from The Woodlands High School in suburban Houston with their first-round pick and the second overall selection. It was a pick that was unexpected until the final hours leading up to the draft as all indications were that the Pirates had planned to pick Manny Machado, a power-hitting shortstop from Brito Private School in suburban Miami.
“It was an excruciating decision,” general manager Neal Huntington said after giving his usual disclaimer thanking Pirates owner Bob Nutting for the financial resources to select a talented player. “We think so much of both young men, not only as players but as people.”
In the end, though, the Pirates decided to go against the grain and draft Taillon despite plenty of past evidence that high school right-handers selected in the first round usually fail to pan out as major-leaguers.
Yet, the Pirates have faith that Taillon will be different. Huntington firmly believes that after watching Taillon pitch twice this spring, and so does scouting director Greg Smith and the army of Pirates scouts who caught glimpses of an 18-year-old whose fastball has been clocked as high as 99 mph.
“We know the history, but we also know that you have to take each player on a case-by-case basis and look at each individual,” Huntington said. “There were a lot of attributes about Jameson that we liked, a lot of things that led us to believe that he has a lot of upside and was the right pick for us.”
Huntington then rattled off a list of Taillon attributes: size, strength, arm speed, rhythmic delivery, three above-averages pitches in that blazing fastball, curveball and slider, and, of course, outstanding mental makeup.
“Not only did we see him pitch on numerous occasions but we talked to a lot of people about him,” Huntington said. “We talked to his teachers and other coaches in the area. Every person we talked with told us about what a great family Jameson comes from and what a good person that he is.”
Of course, after 17 consecutive losing seasons, Pirates fans would probably accept a mass murderer fronting the starting rotation if he could win 20 games a year. However, Taillon’s athletic ability seems to match his personality as his fastball regularly sits at 95 mph and he has the two, plus breaking pitches.
Huntington often says that staff aces are developed and not drafted. If that is indeed the case, then Taillon has a better chance of becoming a No. 1 starter than anyone else in the Pirates’ farm system or on current major-league roster. Nobody possesses more arm strength or such a deep array of above-average pitches.
Still, there is that nagging history of high school pitchers taken in the first round. The Pirates hadn’t taken one since tabbing left-hander Sean Burnett in 2000. The last scholastic right-hander taken in the first round was Bobby Bradley, Burnett’s high school teammate in Wellington, Fla., in 1999.
Burnett is now a reliever with the Washington Nationals and has just eight major-league victories in a career marked by multiple arm surgeries. Arm problems also derailed Bradley’s career as he never reached the majors and now spends his time participating in long-driving contests and Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments.
Time will tell if Taillon amounts to more, but you can’t blame the Pirates for betting on his vast raw talent.
Herald-Standard sports correspondent John Perrotto is the editor-in-chief of BaseballProspectus.com.