The Cubs seriously could not have worse injury luck this year. They have played at less than full strength since Opening Day. And even today, a good news day on the injury front (with Seiya Suzuki returning from the injured list), they lost Dansby Swanson to the IL. And now, we learn that Jameson Taillon’s back is acting up again.
It never ends!
Jameson Taillon Update
According to Megan Montemurro, Jameson Taillon experienced back stiffness throwing on Tuesday (May 7) which would’ve been his in-between bullpen session since his last start on May 4 against the Brewers.
The good news, according to Counsell (again, via Montemurro) is that this back issue is apparently not as bad as the one he dealt with in Spring Training, the injury that forced him to miss the start of the season on the IL. But that doesn’t provide too much comfort. You never want to see a player re-aggravate an injury he just returned from, and that appears to be the case here.
It hurts twice as badly, because Taillon has been absolutely lights out since returning from the Injured List, with just three earned runs TOTAL over four starts and 24.0 IP (1.13 ERA). Taillon has just been so good and has pitched at least into the sixth inning in each of his last three starts.
The flip side here is that Justin Steele is back and Hayden Wesneski has been pitching well, so the rotation did get an internal bump in the meantime. But I really rather not lose Taillon for any more time.
There is reportedly still a chance that Taillon can start this weekend (it would be Sunday), but they’ll just have to see how he feels tomorrow before making that call.