After flaming out with the Chicago Cubs, new Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Jameson Taillon made several adjustments to address his struggles, which will be on display in a matchup against the Boston Red Sox on Monday, August 10.
Taillon linked up with workout facility Tread Athletics after getting cut by the Cubs. He had scuffled to a 5.92 ERA in 15 starts with Chicago this year. The veteran refined his mechanics during his stint at the facility. He also tweaked his arsenal, working on a harder cutter and adding a gyro slider.
“Not having to worry about results for a week, just getting to worry about process and working on drills,” Taillon told Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. “I thought that was refreshing.”
The 34-year-old Taillon was mediocre in his team debut, allowing three earned runs over four innings in an extra-innings win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday, August 5. The righty had four strikeouts to two walks. Despite the modest punchout total, Taillon spiked a 17.5% swinging-strike rate. The increase in whiffs could help turn his season around.
Taillon is in the final year of a four-year, $68 million contract. He’s owed $18 million this season, but the Cubs are picking up the majority of the tab.
Toronto Blue Jays Right-Hander Jameson Taillon Makes Arsenal Changes With New Team
Taillon clearly needed to make adjustments after his time in Chicago ended. After back-to-back seasons of a low-to-mid-3.00s ERA as a Cub, he was enduring his worst year in the big leagues. Taillon boosted his strikeout rate back over 20% in 2026, but his walk rate jumped to 8.4%. A 6.05 xERA supported his poor performance, although a 4.49 SIERA suggested some unfortunate luck.
Chicago moved on from Taillon near the end of July. It took a few days to work out the minor trade that sent him to the Blue Jays. Taillon went 10 days between big-league starts, which may have contributed to the uneven first outing. The righty threw less than 62% of his 80 pitches for strikes against the Astros.
“I thought it was a little rusty,” Taillon told Bannon. “I thought my command was not what it is, typically, but I thought the stuff was pretty good and sharp. I just need to dial in the command going forward.”
He’s right about the stuff. The Stuff+ metric has not liked Taillon’s performance this year, rating him at 92, the worst mark of his career. He had a sub-90 Stuff+ in four of his final five appearances with the Cubs. Taillon took a step forward in Houston, with a 94 Stuff+ in the outing.
Blue Jays Will Need Length From Taillon Against Red Sox
The Blue Jays lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in 12 innings on Sunday, August 9. While they couldn’t complete the sweep, it was still a successful weekend, as the club took two of three from a playoff squad. The matchup on Sunday was Toronto’s fourth extra-inning game in the past five days. The stretch of overtime games has completely exhausted the bullpen. Every reliever on the roster pitched at least twice against the Phillies, except for closer Louis Varland, who threw 32 pitches in his lone outing.
Taillon got up to 80 pitches in his Blue Jays debut, so he probably has 90+ bullets to offer in the series opener against Boston. The club could desperately use some length from the veteran in this spot.
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