The Cubs’ weekend pitching plan against the Twins points to a delay in Jameson Taillon’s return, even though his comeback feels close.
Chicago listed Colin Rea for Friday, Matthew Boyd for Saturday and Shota Imanaga for Sunday when it released its probable starters for the series in Minnesota. Taillon, who had been with the club near the end of last week in case an injury created a need, was not included.
That omission matters because Taillon had been lined up for an abbreviated start before the All-Star break if the Cubs needed him. Instead, he handled a minor-league rehab outing with Triple-A Iowa and made it count: a scoreless 4 and 2/3 innings with three strikeouts.
The Cubs have spent much of the season piecing together the rotation, and the last month has been especially messy. Taillon, Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera were all on the injured list at the same time. Brown and Cabrera are still several weeks away, and Brown’s path back to the rotation may not even happen this year.
With Taillon absent from the weekend probables, the clearest read is that he won’t be activated until Monday at the earliest. Craig Counsell should have more to say before Friday’s game, though there’s also a chance the Cubs simply wanted to keep an extra arm available in the bullpen.
If Taillon is back before the rotation comes around again, Javier Assad could slide into a long-man role this weekend. Given how shaky the bullpen has been over the past several weeks, that would help cover the club until it makes an external move before the trade deadline.
For the Cubs, the second half starts with health. They’ve managed to weather the injury storm since April, and now there’s at least a sense they’re moving toward the other side of it.
Taillon is the first piece, with Brown, Cabrera, Daniel Palencia and Hoby Milner also on the path back. Justin Steele remains the wild card, and he could end up in the bullpen in September.
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