Report: Phillies a "Team to Watch" for Jameson Taillon

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Philadelphia Phillies are among the frontrunners to land Jameson Taillon, one of the highest upside arms on the free agent market.

While Taillon's early career was stifled by injury, as well as a battle with testicular cancer, the 31-year-old has come into his own over the last two seasons. He's stayed mostly healthy, and has managed to find some success at one of baseball's toughest hitting environments in Yankee Stadium.

An important key to Taillon's success was the elevated usage of his cutter this past season, which escalated from four- to 11-percent usage between 2021 and 2022. The Phillies have particularly targeted pitchers with feel for a cutter over these last few years, and surely noted the success that Taillon found with the pitch.

In such an inflated starting pitching market, experts have tabbed that Taillon is likely to receive a lucrative deal, probably in excess of a $15 million annual average value across four years.

There are a lot of things to like about the former first round pick. He ranks in the 94th percentile in all of Major League Baseball in walk percentage, and limited hard contact during the 2022 season. In fact, the former Yankee has many similarities to former-Phillie Zach Eflin, who just signed a three-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

One thing is certain, should the Phillies land Taillon, he will likely emerge as a slightly different pitcher come Opening Day of the 2023 season. The team has found a great deal of recent success in developing similar pitchers, and Taillon fits the mold they've favored over the past few seasons.

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