Jameson Taillon has thought about this moment for countless hours over the past two years.
Wednesday he was finally allowed to experience it.
Taillon was back on a hill in the Major League for the first time in 23 months, making his first start since before his second Tommy John surgery in 2019.
“This will sound silly, but I will never take a day in a big league uniform for granted,” said Taillon after the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the Orioles. “That’s for sure. I was super happy to be out there. It felt really good to compete.”
It was Taillon’s post-trade Yankees debut in January that took him from the Pirates to The Bronx. The right-handed took only 4² / ₃ turns, but he was effective. He gave up three basehits, two earned runs with seven strikeouts, two solo homeruns and no walks. Taillon’s fastball was a steady 93-95 miles per hour, and it mixed into a turn and a slider.
“I thought he was throwing the ball really well,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. It was clear that this day was a long time coming. I’m sure there were all kinds of emotions on that hill again. “
Taillon did not show those emotions. Looking comfortable right away, he knocked out Cedric Mullins on a 95 mph fastball to start the game and retired the first nine batters he faced. The Orioles broke through in the fourth inning with a leadoff homerun by Mullins and another homerun by Anthony Santander that gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead.
“I thought I had made a lot of really good throws, performed well,” said Taillon. “Really, two bad places sum it up. Overall, I thought I had made more really good places than bad ones. It’s something to build from and hopefully you will get the number of pitch in the right direction after that. “
The 29-year old struckout the next two batters to get out of the inning and Boone left him for the fifth. Boone pulled him free after facing three batters in the fifth and struckout two. Taillon threw 74 pitches in his first appearance since May 1, 2019. Boone said he would not let Taillon go past 75 pitches in his first time-out. Boone called it a “solid performance” and a “strong step” for Taillon.
The Yankees have returned several pitchers – Corey Kluber, Domingo German and Taillon – after a long absence in the first week. The Yankees took advantage of early days off to keep Gerrit Cole on track, pushing Taillon’s first start to Wednesday.
It was worth the wait for Taillon.