Cubs officially sign Taillon
Right-hander James Taillon, whose parents are Canadian, has officially signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Cubs. Photo: Chicago Cubs/Twitter
December 19, 2022
Official Chicago Cubs News Release
CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon on a four-year major league contract.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Taillon, 31, recorded a team-high 14 wins, going 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA in 32 starts for the New York Yankees in 2022. The right-hander tied his career high in wins and starts and recorded his most innings and lowest ERA since 2018. Taillon allowed three or fewer earned runs in 25 of his 32 starts, two or fewer earned runs in 18 and one or fewer earned runs in 10 of those starts. He walked 32 batters, the fifth-fewest in the majors among pitchers with at least 150 innings pitched.
Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round (second overall) of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, Taillon owns a 51-35 record with a 3.84 ERA, 710 strikeouts, compared to 193 walks, and a 1.21 WHIP in 143 career major league starts with Pittsburgh (2016-19) and the Yankees (2021-22). Among all National League pitchers with at least 450 innings pitched from 2016-20, Taillon ranked ninth with a 1.66 ground ball to fly ball ratio, 11th with a 48.2-percent ground ball rate and 14th with a 19.5-percent soft contact rate.
Taillon made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 2016, going 5-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 18 starts. The right-handed pitcher was diagnosed with testicular cancer on May 8, 2017, and missed five weeks of game action after undergoing surgery.
The six-foot-five-inch Taillon enjoyed a breakout 2018 season, setting career bests in wins (14), ERA (3.20), innings pitched (191) and strikeouts (179), and was one of only four National League pitchers to throw multiple complete games. He finished among the N.L. leaders in ERA (9th), wins (T-9th) and innings pitched (11th). Taillon concluded the season by holding opponents to three or fewer earned runs in each of his final 22 starts.
Taillon missed the majority of the 2019 and 2020 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery and then was acquired by the Yankees in a five-player deal in January 2021. In his first season with the Yankees in 2021, he went 8-6 with a 4.30 ERA in 29 starts. Taillon went undefeated in 15-straight starts from June 5-August 26, going 7-0 with a 3.63 ERA, including a career-long seven-game winning streak from June 24-August 19.
Taillon, a Lakeland, Fla., native, graduated from The Woodlands (Tex.) High School in 2010. He played for USA Baseball’s 18U National Team as an amateur in 2009 and participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic for Team Canada, as his parents were both born in Canada.