We knew this move was coming yesterday, when Cubs manager David Ross announced Jameson Taillon as the starter for the finale between the Nationals and Cubs, but now it’s official. Taillon (groin strain) has been reinstated off the injured list, and Jeremiah Estrada is the odd man out on the roster, heading back to Iowa.
As you’ll recall, Jameson Taillon threw about 45 pitches in a simulated game on Tuesday, so he won’t likely be able to throw more than 60 or so pitches in today’s start. But Javier Assad was also called up (presumably) to piggyback off him on slightly less than full rest.
In the meantime, Estrada gets sent back to Iowa, where he’ll get a chance to actually pitch, because it wasn’t really happening (at least not in any sort of real leverage moments) with the big league team so far this year.
Big League stats: 4.0 IP, 2H, 0ER, 3BB, 6K
Minor League stats: 6.0 IP, 2H, 0ER, 2BB, 7K
We’ll see him back up with the team eventually, hopefully next time with an actual role to play. He still has stuff to work on, but the results have been pretty good so far and the ceiling is that of a late-inning reliever. Also note that Estrada was squeezed out in part because the Cubs needed to call up Javier Assad today to piggyback off Taillon. Unfortunately, you can’t just immediately call Estrada back up after today, unless he’s replacing an injured pitcher. So we’ll go at least 15 days without him.