MIAMI – Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon tried something different from the first batter he faced Tuesday.
The changeup’s kind of a new weapon for me,” Taillon said after the Cubs’ 14-1 win Tuesday against the Marlins. “I’ve rarely thrown it in two-strike counts, just in my career. And then now, to have a real weapon with two strikes, I have to be comfortable saying yes to throwing change ups in two-strike counts.”
Against Marlins leadoff hitter Jesús Sánchez, Taillon said yes twice.
He got ahead with one ball and two strikes and threw a changeup low and away to the switch hitter. Sánchez watched it for a ball.
Then Taillon came back with the same pitch, over the outer third of the plate but even slightly lower. Sánchez whiffed.
That strikeout set the tone for one of Taillon’s best starts of the season. He held the Marlins to one run through seven innings, matching a season high in length. The only run he allowed was on a solo shot to Nick Fortes, one of just four hits he gave up.
“At a time when we really needed pitching just like that, and then the offense supporting the pitching, we got it,” manager Craig Counsell said, noting that the bullpen was short.
The offense broke out with an eight-run sixth inning, batting around – and then some. Seiya Suzuki led off the inning with a walk and hit a two-run homer before the rally was over. Kyle Tucker, who’d homered in the first, hit a pair of singles in the sixth.
The game had long been decided by the ninth, when the Marlins put shortstop Javier Sanoja on the mound, but the Cubs scored five more runs off him.
So, Taillon didn’t need to pitch so well to collect the win. But his start also represented a bounce-back from surrendering seven home runs in his last two starts combined, against the Marlins and Mets.
“He throws too many strikes,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said with a laugh before the game. “He does. I mean, in reality, he throws more strikes than probably most guys in baseball. And that’s what you love about him, is he’s not afraid of contact.”
Taillon entered Tuesday with the ninth-lowest walk rate (4.4%) among qualified major-league pitchers. But Fortes’ home run in the third inning Tuesday brought Taillon’s season total up to 14 homers allowed, tied with the Rays’ Zack Littell for the most in the majors.
Going into his start Tuesday, Taillon was aiming to be less predictable with his sequencing, while expanding outside of the strike zone when the situation called for it. He made strides in both areas.
As teams continue to stack their lineups with left-handed hitters, Taillon’s changeup played a large role. He generated four whiffs on the pitch.
“The addition of this new grip on the changeup is giving him more confidence to use it,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said before the game. “And it’s a pitch that he throws for chase a lot to lefties. So that’s why I think it’s performing really well.”
Taillon walked three batters, something he’d only done once before this season. But while he bemoaned the four-pitch walk he issued to Ronny Simon to lead off the seventh inning, Taillon’s free pass to Sánchez with two outs in the third inning contained signs of promise.
In a 3-2 count, Taillon didn’t cave by throwing a pitch safely in the strike zone, where Sánchez could barrel it up. Taillon landed a curveball on the inner edge of the plate, where it dropped below the zone. Sánchez took it for ball four.
“I wish he would have swung at it,” Taillon said. “But I can always live with throwing a really good hitter a really competitive curveball. So I just need to get comfortable doing that.”