Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon took a break from his offseason routine over the weekend to stop by the 2018 X Games in Aspen, Colo. The 26-year-old right-hander was representing Major League Baseball on behalf of the Shred Hate bullying-prevention initiative.
More than 10 million students report being bullied each year in the U.S., according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Education, and the Shred Hate initiative aims at addressing that issue.

"Because of what I do, I'm given a platform to speak out, and I know kids look up to me and look up to all athletes, so it's my duty to speak out," Taillon said. "We're standing up for you. There are people who care about you. There's people at the highest level of sports that are thinking about you and trying to speak out and make a change."
Shred Hate was launched at least year's X Games, and MLB joined the initiative in August, applying Shred Hate practices throughout its various youth initiatives.
Partnering with No Bully, a nonprofit organization that shows schools how to eradicate bullying and cyberbullying, worked with MLB and ESPN to integrate baseball-themed components into its curricula.