NEWSLETTER
A small, not great, and expected update on Chicago Cubs starter Jameson Taillon.
Given the time he’s been/is going to be out with the back tightness, it’s very unlikely he’ll be ready in time for Opening Day:
The regular season starts in just over two weeks, and Taillon has yet to appear in a Cactus League game. The idea that he could be stretched out to 70+ pitches in, say, three weeks, just seems fanciful to me (and probably not even a good idea, given how important he is to the rotation over the course of a full season).
So, then, if Taillon is ON THE WAY to being stretched out by, say, next week, then you might be looking at a minimum-length IL stay. As Meghan Montemurro points out, that can be backdated three days from Opening Day, so Taillon would be out just 12 days. The Cubs would have the arms and dates available to make that just one missed start if they wanted and if Taillon were ready.
That is to say, this is not great news, but it’s also what you had to be expecting at this point. Now we just root for good health from here, and only one or two missed starts to open the season. I understand that Taillon did not perform last year over the full season as we hoped he would, but once he got some mechanical issues sorted out, he was outstanding in the second half. The Cubs DO need that guy.
In the meantime, you can assume the Cubs will use two of Jordan Wicks, Drew Smyly, Hayden Wesneski, and Javier Assad to cover the back two spots in the rotation. If both of those two – whoever they are – are looking fantastic by the time Taillon is ready to return, well, that’s a wonderful problem the Cubs will be all too happy to sort out when they absolutely have to.
