PITTSBURGH -- When Pirates right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon made his first rehab start Sunday in Erie, many fans were surprised that he was back in action just 20 days after undergoing surgery to treat testicular cancer.
You can count Pirates general manager Neal Huntington in that list. Huntington spoke to the media in Pittsburgh hours after Taillon threw three scoreless innings in Erie. Even then, Huntington seemed genuinely surprised how far into his progress Taillon has come.
"You think about, just a short time ago, what was going through the process for Jameson, to get back out there today and throw three innings and 47 pitches and to have velocity get to 95 and hold it into his third inning, to have the breaking ball that he had, to be able to move his fastball around the z.