Pirates' Jameson Taillon to undergo Tommy John surgery

Pirates' right-hander Jameson Taillon will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2014 season, according to the team. According to Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dr. David Altcheck will perform the surgery after rest and treatment failed to help Taillon's arm pain.

Taillon, 22, was slated to start the season at Triple-A Indianapolis and was expected to be in the mix for the Pirates' rotation later in the season. The 2nd overall pick of the 2010 draft was recently ranked by Baseball America as the second best prospect in the Pirates' system and the 22nd best prospect in all of baseball, but will miss the entire regular season and will attempt to get back on track next spring.

Taillon experienced some elbow pain during spring training, but initial MRI results showed that no ligament damage had occurred. He likely had one or two more opinions on the elbow, and those revealed a tear of the UCL ligament that led to the Tommy John prognosis.

Taillon is the latest of many pitchers who have been sent under the knife this spring, joining Jarrod Parker (Athletics), Brandon Beachy (Braves), Kris Medlen (Braves) and Patrick Corbin (Diamondbacks).