Jameson Taillon named National League Player of the Week presented by W.B. Mason

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has been named the National League Player of the Week presented by W.B. Mason for the period ending April 8th.
In his first two starts of the 2018 season, Taillon compiled a 2-0 record while allowing two earned runs over 14.1 innings pitched to claim his first career Player of the Week Award. The second overall selection in the 2010 MLB Draft tallied 16 strikeouts and issued two free passes along with just five hits in two dominant starts last week. Taillon paced the Majors in innings pitched and matched Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers for the league-wide lead in strikeouts. Jameson, who represented MLB in the "Shred Hate" anti-bullying initiative during the off-season, is the first Pirates pitcher to earn weekly honors since Francisco Liriano on August 4, 2013.
On Sunday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park, Taillon threw his first career complete-game shutout on 110 pitches with seven strikeouts and two walks. The 26-year-old surrendered just one hit in the outing, a single by opposing pitcher Tyler Mahle in the third inning. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Major League pitcher to record the only hit for his team in a shutout was Philadelphia's Zach Eflin, when the Phillies were being shut out by Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets on July 17, 2016. In addition, Taillon's outstanding start was the first individual one-hitter by a Pirates hurler since A.J. Burnett against the Chicago Cubs on July 31, 2012. In his first start of the season on Monday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins, Taillon matched a career-best with nine strikeouts and zero walks, limiting the Twins to two runs on four hits in Pittsburgh's 5-4 victory.
Five-time All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper (.586 OBP, 7 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI) also delivered a strong week for the Washington Nationals. For his career in the month of April, Harper enters play today batting .325 with 39 home runs and 103 RBI in 127 games. According to Elias, Harper's career OPS in April (on-base + slugging percentage) of 1.109 is the highest in Major League history with a minimum of 500 plate appearances, ahead of Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (1.089) and Ted Williams (1.088). Other noteworthy performances last week included third baseman Maikel Franco (.375, 4 R, 4 XBH, 10 RBI) of the Phillies; starting pitcher Carlos Martínez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.1 IP, 10 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals; second baseman Ozzie Albies (.320, 6 R, 5 XBH, 4 RBI) of the Atlanta Braves; and Jameson's teammate, outfielder Corey Dickerson (.391, 5 R, 4 2B, 6 RBI).
In recognition of his National League Player of the Week Award, Jameson Taillon will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.