The 2nd pick from Bryce Harper’s draft is finally debuting

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Bryce Harper was the first overall pick back in 2010’s draft. You already knew he was a special talent, given he won the NL MVP in 2015 at just 22 years old and debuted in the majors at 19 after all of 139 games in the minors. For a reminder of just how great and rare Harper has been, though, look no further than the No. 2 selection in the 2010 draft: Jameson Taillon. The right-handed starter was a top-100 prospect five times after he was drafted, with the highest ranking at 11 and the lowest at 29. He’s also just now making his big-league debut, as the Pirates called him up to start Wednesday’s game.

Now, Taillon was delayed a bit due to injury: he didn’t pitch in 2014 or 2015 due to Tommy John surgery. So, don’t hold it against him too much that Harper beat him by four years and already established himself as a game-changing player. Still, though, health is part of the whole development package, and other than some early bumps and bruisers from all-out play, Harper has had it. Taillon now gets a chance to prove that he too can stay on the field and excel: he has a 2.04 ERA over 61 innings at Triple-A with just under a strikeout per inning, so he’s off to a great start.

Taillon isn’t guaranteed to stick with Pittsburgh, but he also has very little competition in his way if he thrives. Gerrit Cole and Jon Niese have been carrying the load by themselves thus far, with Jeff Locke the least bad of the other three starters despite being below-average. With the Pirates likely to spend the entire season fighting for a Wild Card spot given they share a division with the Cubs, Taillon could be a difference maker. It might have taken him longer to get here than Harper, but now that he’s in the majors, he can make his own memorable mark on the game.