It’s fair to say Nick Kingham is on the Jameson Taillon track. That’s what Kingham is shooting for, anyway, and he’s serious about it. So serious that he and Taillon moved in together this offseason, sharing a condo in Houston and training together at Fairchild Sports Performance.
Kingham, a 6-foot-6 right-hander, was the Pirates No. 6 prospect, according to Baseball America, before he had Tommy John surgery in May 2015, a year and a month after Taillon had the same surgery. After watching Taillon reach the majors this past summer and post a 3.38 ERA in 18 starts, Kingham decided he should try replicating Taillon’s path to recovery.
“Looking at what he does and the progression he’s gone through is definitely a good way to expect what will happen to me,” Kingham said Sunday at PirateFest at David L. Lawrence Convention Center. “I just want to follow in his footsteps and take whatever he did and do it for myself.”
Kingham, 25, has been close behind Taillon for years. Drafted in the fourth round in 2010, he came on the radar after three strong seasons in the low minors and was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 64 prospect in baseball before the 2014 season. He had a 3.77 ERA over 20 starts for Class AAA Indianapolis in 2014 and 2015 and was near promotion to the majors before the elbow injury.
The Pirates didn’t really need starting pitching help that season. In 2016, though, the year Kingham spent rehabilitating, they used just about every available arm in the minors to fill the rotation.
“To sit out and have that opportunity not come yet, it is a little discouraging and saddening,” Kingham said, “but it fueled me to go into the offseason and work that much harder. If I don’t make it, it was the talent that didn’t get me there, not just the help opportunity.”
Kingham returned to the mound late last season and made 10 starts between the rookie, Class A and Class AA levels. Originally uncertain he would have a chance to pitch competitively in 2016, Kingham said the late-season starts were a big bonus and helped his mental confidence.
“It’s just good to be sure [the elbow] going to hold up and take a full game at full intensity,” he said.
General manager Neal Huntington said he expects Kingham to play a part for the Pirates at some point next season. In 2016, Taillon was impeccable at Indianapolis for two months before being called up June 8. Kingham could be in a similar situation next summer. If the phone call comes, Kingham anticipates he, like Taillon, has the mental makeup to stay composed in the majors.
“In the two years of rehab, you grow more than you expect to — mentally, physically, everything,” Kingham said. “You just have a different outlook on everything. You compose yourself better. You handle adversity in a whole lot better manner. It’s part of it. The rehab has definitely changed me in a better way, for sure.”
Kingham was born in Houston and went to high school in Las Vegas. Taillon was born in Lakeland, Fla., and went to high school in Houston. They’ve enjoyed being in the same spot this offseason. For Halloween, Kingham dressed as a penguin and Taillon as a groovy 1970’s hippy. Suffice it to say they wouldn’t mind spending a few seasons together in Pittsburgh.
Recently, Kingham said, Taillon dispensed this advice: “Don’t expect too much, but don’t be scared, either. Just let your body tell you how far to go, how far to push it, and roll with it.”
Scouts hired
The Pirates announced Monday the hirings of Gary Varsho and Andrew Lorraine as pro scouts. Varsho served as John Russell’s bench coach from 2008 until August 2010, when Russell and Huntington fired him. He had been a pro scout for the Los Angeles Angels since 2012.
Lorraine spent the past seven seasons as a pitching coach in the Seattle Mariners minor league system.
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
First Published: December 13, 2016, 5:15 a.m.
