Jameson Taillon’s run with the Cubs is over, and the timing gives his old Pirates criticism a sharp edge.
Chicago designated the veteran right-hander for assignment Monday, one day after Pittsburgh tagged him for seven runs in four innings. The Pirates also launched three home runs against their former starter, leaving Taillon with a league-high 25 homers allowed in just 76 innings this season.
It was a rough finish to a disappointing Cubs stretch. Taillon leaves Chicago with a 2-6 record and a 5.92 ERA in the first season of the four-year, $68 million deal he signed before the 2023 campaign.
The irony is hard to miss because Taillon has not been shy about taking shots at the Pirates since leaving in 2021. In 2024, he posted on social media that a major reason for his success in Pittsburgh was that he sought outside help with weight-room programming, analytics and scouting reports instead of simply following the organization’s plan. He and former Pirates catcher Erik Kratz also poked fun at Pittsburgh’s pitching development on an episode of “Foul Territory” that year.
“A big part of why I threw well with the pirates was because I went and got outside help for weight room programs, analytics and scouting reports etc…. and started doing what I needed to do to be successful VS just nodding my head and doing what was asked. And it was pre a 2nd TJ”
Some of that criticism wasn’t exactly out of nowhere. The Pirates of that era were hardly known as the gold standard for developing pitchers, and plenty of arms did better after moving on. But Taillon’s own numbers make the story more complicated than a simple case of Pittsburgh holding him back.
Across 82 starts for the Pirates, he put up a 3.67 ERA and a 112 ERA+. After being traded to the Yankees in 2021, those marks dipped to a 4.08 ERA and a 100 ERA+ over 61 starts. His Cubs stint was worse still, with a 4.84 ERA and a 93 ERA+ in 29 starts.
That doesn’t erase his point that he took charge of his own career and found outside help that mattered. But it does make the hard line he’s drawn between his own success and the Pirates look a lot less clean in hindsight.
Taillon was a strong pitcher in Pittsburgh. He never matched that level with the Yankees or Cubs for any sustained stretch. And now the Pirates, the team that drafted him second overall in 2010, have played a part in ending his latest chapter.
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