The 2022 New York Yankees season depends on Jameson Taillon’s right arm. Despite the image he left on Game 2 of the AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, that may not be such a bad thing after all.
Yes, he hasn’t started a game in two weeks and faced three batters in the 10th inning of that Game 2 and failed to retire any of them, conceding a couple of runs in the process as Cleveland tied the series. However, two of those hits were bloops that fell, and he wasn’t all that bad.
During the regular season, the Yankees’ righty had a solid 14-5 record and a 3.91 ERA in 177.1 frames, so he was quite good. He is no ace, but is capable of throwing a quality start at home and put his team in a position to win.
The Yankees’ righty starter has a plan
What’s Taillon’s plan for tonight? He explained it himself.
“I know it is cliche, but at the end of the day it is about executing my pitches to my areas and that’s as simple as I can keep it,” Taillon told NJ Advance Media. “Look at the scouting reports, figure out my safe areas and attack those with my best stuff. That’s what my game plan is going to be. I’m not going to have anything in mind other than just attacking with my best stuff to my best areas.”
The Yankees’ starter had a good start against Cleveland this year in the season’s first month: a one-run, five-inning win at Yankee Stadium on April 22.
“They’re extremely contact-oriented, spread-the-ball around, a deep lineup,” Taillon said of the Guardians. “There is competitive at-bats all the way through. I feel like they do a lot of different things pretty well. They have a bit of thump in the middle, got contact throughout. They have got aggressive guys, patient guys, fast guys. It is a good challenge.”
The Yankees are counting on Taillon. Can he deliver?