CHICAGO — In all of Clint Hurdle's years in baseball, he doesn't think he's seen a pitcher accomplish what Jameson Taillon has over his last 21 starts. Taillon has yet to allow more than three runs in any start during that span, one of only two starters to do so this season and the first for the Pirates in 55 years.
That culminated Monday night with seven innings on the mound at Wrigley Field, spoiling the potential Cubs playoff berth by pitching the Pirates to a 5-1 win to open a four-game series. Afterwards, he recalled his legs getting "pretty shaky" before striking out Jason Heyward to escape a sixth-inning jam, and how he barely saw the animals at the zoo one day earlier because people kept recognizing him.
Taillon then deflected some of the credit across the room to the two men who have caught most of those 21 starts: Francisco Cervelli and Elias Diaz. It was Cervelli who guided the right-hander on this night by diagnosing that Taillon's slider was sharper than his curveball. Cervelli even provided enough run support with his two-run homer in the first inning.
But it's Diaz, the backup, who caught Taillon's bullpens between starts. There are also extensive conversations between the two, even if Cervelli's the one scheduled to be behind the plate. Diaz is the lesser experienced of the best catching tandem in the majors, yet his performance this season, whether he starts or not, could offer as much hope for 2019 as Taillon's brilliant outing or Cervelli's swing in late-September for the Pirates, who improved to 79-76.
"It’s huge," Taillon told DKPittsburghSports.com of his catching duo. "As a pitcher, we have enough to worry about: I have to worry about my mechanics, I have to worry about all my pitches being sharp. The last thing I want to worry about is being robotic out there and what pitches I want to throw. … That takes all the pressure off you. They say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this.’”
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