Jameson Taillon’s season is over, and the next stop in his story is a medical one.
The Blue Jays right-hander said he won’t pitch again this year, and he’s set to get another opinion on his elbow from Dr. Keith Meister next week. Taillon was placed on the injured list last week with elbow inflammation, and while Toronto manager John Schneider had left the door open for a possible return, Taillon has now shut that down.
The bigger concern is what comes next. Taillon admitted that when the elbow discomfort flared up and ended his final start after just two innings, he briefly wondered whether he had thrown the last pitch of his big league career. A week and a half later, he says he’s feeling better and is “pretty committed to creating a plan of attack and giving it another good go.”
That uncertainty lands at a rough time for a veteran pitcher heading into free agency. It’s also been a brutal year on the mound for Taillon, his worst since he signed the four-year, $68MM deal with the Cubs before the 2023 season. Chicago designated him for assignment in late July, and the Blue Jays acquired him on Aug. 2 for cash or a player to be named later.
Before the move, the numbers were ugly. Taillon carried a 5.92 ERA through 15 starts, had thrown 76 innings, and posted a 20.9% strikeout rate that matched his career mark.
His 8.3% walk rate was a career high, though still better than league average. The real damage came from the ball leaving the yard: he gave up 25 home runs, or 2.96 per nine innings.
That rate ranked behind only 2017 Josh Tomlin and 2019 David Hess for the highest single-season HR/9 mark by any pitcher with at least 70 innings this century. Some of that was probably bad luck, since Taillon entered the year with 12.2% of his fly balls turning into homers and then watched that number jump to 21.4% before his DFA. But the contact profile was rough too, with a career-low 33.8% ground-ball rate and a career-best 51.3% fly-ball rate.
The pitch mix wasn’t helping. Taillon’s 91.8 mph average four-seamer with the Cubs was the lowest of his career, and hitters punished it: nine home runs, a 93.9 mph average exit velocity and a 21.3% barrel rate.
Toronto did get a small sample of better results. In 10 innings, Taillon allowed four runs for a 3.60 ERA, but he also gave up two home runs, nine hits and five walks while striking out eight of 44 batters.
The Blue Jays were hoping the move might give him a chance to stabilize in a rotation that needed arms, but that never materialized. He’d already missed time with the Cubs in June and July because of a hamstring strain, and with Toronto he’s now been on the injured list for forearm tendinitis and elbow inflammation.
So Taillon heads into the offseason with a career-high 5.65 ERA and a lot to sort through. His strikeout, walk and swinging-strike rates were all near league average, and his walk rate was a touch better than that, but the home runs are the issue he’ll have to solve if he wants the rebound to come.
A team looking for pitching depth, especially in a roomy home park, could still see a fit. For now, though, everything depends on what Dr.
Meister says next week.
Before this season, Taillon had been relatively durable since returning from his second UCL reconstruction. From 2021 through 2025, he averaged 28 starts and 155 innings per year, and he hadn’t gone on the injured list for an arm issue until this latest stretch with Toronto. The former No. 2 draft pick in 2010 and once top prospect has a 3.99 ERA across 1323 major league innings.
In Other News...
Cubs Just Lost A Bullpen Option At The Worst Time
Shelby Millers comeback was always going to be measured more in caution than urgency, and the Cubs are taking that approach to its end. Manager Craig Counsell said the club has shut Miller down for the rest of the 2026 season while he finishes his rehab from UCL/flexor surgery that was performed last fall, a move that closes the book on any late-year bullpen help from a pitcher the team had been watching closely.
There had been some encouraging signs during his rehab assignment at Triple-A, but Chicago opted not to push it given Millers injury history. The expectation now is that hell be ready for Spring Training 2027, leaving the Cubs to wait another year to see whether he can factor into their bullpen plans the way they hoped. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Suddenly Have A Bullpen Problem At The Worst Time
The Cubs had the kind of night that can rattle a team in September, building a 3-0 lead before watching it slip away in a 6-3 loss to the Braves. Chicago still occupies first place in the NL Wild Card race with just ten games left, so the standings cushion is real enough, but games like this are a reminder of how quickly a late lead can vanish once the bullpen gets involved.
Jacob Webb was hit hard in relief, surrendering the go-ahead two-run homer that flipped the game, and Edward Cabreras first appearance out of the bullpen only added to the mess with two insurance runs allowed. For a club trying to bank wins and keep some separation in a crowded playoff chase, the timing could hardly be worse, because one shaky inning can change the tone of a stretch run in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Face One Urgent Goal As Rotation Questions Loom Again
The Brewers have wrapped up the National League Central again, leaving the Cubs to reckon with the same gap that has shadowed this rivalry for much of the season. Injuries to Cade Horton and Justin Steele have made the rotation harder to sort out, and the timing has not helped a club that has tried to keep pace while searching for more stability on the mound.
Chicago still has a path to October, though, and it is a more immediate one now. The Cubs remain in the wild-card race with a magic number of six to clinch a playoff berth, which gives the rest of the season a clear urgency even as the rotation questions linger and the division race slips out of reach. [Read more 🡒]