On May 11th, Pittsburgh Pirates Jameson Taillon threw two sliders and the internet went nuts.
On May 22nd, he followed that up with five sliders. From there, he steadily increased his slider usage with each passing start.
The revolution had arrived. The Pittsburgh Pirates were allowing the cornerstone of their starting rotation to work in more breaking balls.
Now, nearly two months after Taillon broke the “glass ceiling” for Pirates starters, let’s check in on how the club’s starters have taken to the pitch.
We’ll look at all data from May 22nd onward, an arbitrary date to be sure, but as Taillon’s slider usage indicates a significant sea-change in Pittsburgh Pirates’ starter offerings, it may not be as arbitrary as it seems.