Two innings, then the walk back to the dugout
Jameson Taillon lasted two innings against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. Bobby Witt Jr. took him deep in the first, a second hit followed, and the right-hander then came out of the game with discomfort in his elbow.
An MRI was scheduled for Saturday. Sportsnet reported that Toronto expect to place him on the injured list by Sunday, which for a club with three weeks of regular season remaining is not a minor piece of admin.
The start was itself a comeback. Taillon had been working his way back from right forearm tendinitis, and the arm gave out again almost as soon as he returned to a mound.
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A pitching arm with a long medical file
Taillon is 34 and has already been through two Tommy John surgeries. Any sentence containing his name and the word elbow reads differently than it would for most pitchers on a September roster.
His 2026 has been difficult in its own right: 2-6 with a 5.65 ERA across 18 starts split between the Chicago Cubs and the Blue Jays. Put that beside the career line and the drop is plain. Ten major league seasons, 84-66, a 3.99 ERA, 242 appearances of which 241 were starts, spread across Pittsburgh from 2016 to 2019, the New York Yankees in 2021 and 2022, Chicago from 2023 to 2026 and now Toronto. He was taken second overall in the 2010 draft, one pick behind Bryce Harper.
What it costs the Blue Jays
Toronto sit at 71-71 and remain one of several clubs still applying for the third American League wild card. Losing a starter in September, even one pitching to a 5.65 ERA, means somebody has to absorb those innings while the standings tighten.
The club also worked the margins on Saturday, claiming catcher Shawn Ross off waivers from the New York Mets and optioning him to Triple-A Buffalo. Ross, 26, was designated for assignment by New York on 3 September and owns two big league games, both of them with Pittsburgh this season.
The scan will decide how the rest of the month looks for the rotation.
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