Jameson Taillon‘s start tonight was cut short in the second inning, as the right-hander was removed due to what the Cubs later revealed as a left hamstring strain. Taillon allowed a run on a walk and two hits in his first inning against the Giants, but after walking Matt Chapman to lead off the second inning, Taillon requested a visit from the team trainer and then left the mound.
More will be known about Taillon’s status when manager Craig Counsell meets with the media postgame, but it isn’t a good sign that Taillon’s injury has already been termed as a strain. A trip to the 15-day injured list might be inevitable, though a lower-grade strain might see Taillon return in a fairly minimal amount of time.
Taillon has a 5.19 ERA over 67 2/3 innings, and a league-leading 20 home runs is the root cause of his struggles. While Taillon has never been great at keeping the ball in the park, this season’s spike in homer rate is eye-opening. Taillon’s hard-hit ball rate is actually around league average, yet his dismal 14.5% barrel rate indicates that opposing batters are maximizing the damage when squaring up against the righty’s offerings.
As much as the results haven’t been there for the 34-year-old, he has at least been able to take the ball for 13 starts, providing the Cubs with some innings in an injury-ravaged year for the team’s pitching staff. Now it seems like Taillon may be the latest Wrigleyville hurler bit by the injury bug, just after Edward Cabrera was activated from the 15-day IL on Friday and Matthew Boyd may be just days away from returning from left meniscus surgery.
Cade Horton was also lost to a Tommy John surgery and Justin Steele‘s return from a TJ surgery has been delayed until some time in the second half of the season. Despite all these rotation ailments, the bullpen has perhaps been hit even harder by a variety of major and minor injuries, leaving the Cubs scrambling for arms basically since Opening Day. The Cubs overcame their lack of healthy and effective pitching to go 27-12 in their first 39 games, but they’ve since lost 19 of their last 26 games heading into tonight’s matchup with San Francisco.
Monday’s off-day provides some chance for a rotation reset, and perhaps a chance for Taillon to undergo further evaluation on his hamstring strain. Chicago’s rotation currently consists of Shota Imanaga, Colin Rea, Ben Brown, Cabrera, and possibly Boyd taking Taillon’s place if Boyd doesn’t require a third rehab start. Javier Assad could be a candidate to be a stretched out for rotation work as well, should Boyd need more ramp-up time.
