Top Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon made his 12th start of the season for West Virginia Monday, and this is as good a time as any to check in on him.
↵He's been great. Not just good, but great. Taillon is still only 19, and he has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly eight to one. He has allowed only four home runs in 47.1 innings and has done a nice job keeping the ball on the ground. He's also striking out nearly a batter an inning. Then add in the fact that he's a couple years younger than most of the other players he's competing against.
↵That's awesome. He's still going to allow some runs while he's down there, but that's at least in part because Class A infield defenses aren't as good as major-league defenses. The Pirates will go slowly with him, but he's showing every indication of being ready to play at Bradenton next year, and perhaps Altoona by the end of 2012 - at which point he'll still be 20.
↵One year after he signed as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, Taillon has been everything he's been advertised to be.
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