The Cubs placed starter Jameson Taillon on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 8, with a left hamstring strain. Chicago brought up two relievers, Tyler Ferguson and Ethan Roberts, from Triple-A Iowa. Trent Thornton goes on the paternity list in the other pitching move. The Cubs also activated Matt Shaw from the 10-day injured list and optioned outfielder Kevin Alcántara back to Iowa.
Chicago also added lefty reliever Antoine Kelly to the 40-man roster, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Kelly was optioned to Triple-A. The Cubs acquired him in a cash trade with the Dodgers over the weekend. That suggests the Chicago native triggered an upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Los Angeles. Kelly has still yet to reach the Majors.
Taillon has a moderate hamstring strain, skipper Craig Counsell told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of The Chicago Tribune). The Cubs expect him to miss more than a month and be sidelined beyond the All-Star Break. Taillon has had a middling first couple months, allowing a 5.19 earned run average through 67 2/3 innings.
The Cubs will turn to Colin Rea, Shota Imanaga and Edward Cabrera for this series at Coors Field. They haven’t listed any plans for their weekend set in San Francisco. Matthew Boyd went five innings and 80 pitches on a rehab start for Iowa on Saturday. He’s expected to make his return from meniscus surgery at some point this weekend. Boyd and Ben Brown should take the first two games of the Giants series in some order, which would put Rea back on regular rest for the finale.
Brown is the only Cubs starter who has gotten strong results this year. He only moved into the starting staff when Boyd went down in early May. Brown has responded with a 1.44 ERA and 29% strikeout rate over six starts. He has also continued throwing strikes while turning a lineup over multiple times. Cabrera, Imanaga and Rea have all been far too home run prone. No team’s rotation has given up more longballs than Chicago’s 32.
It’s too early for the Cubs to do much on the trade front. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer acknowledged last week that’ll likely be the focus when the deadline gets closer. They’re not likely to push Cabrera, Imanaga or Boyd out of the rotation anytime soon, but they could certainly move Rea back into a swing role. Jordan Wicks and Doug Nikhazy are the only depth starters on the 40-man roster; they’ve both gotten rocked in Triple-A.
