Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon opened the season on the injured list after missing all of Spring Training due to calf and back issues, but club manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including the Chicago Sun Times’ Maddie Lee) that Taillon’s next start will come with the big league club in Chicago after a strong rehab start from the 32-year-old Friday night during which he struck out 4 in 3 2/3 scoreless innings while building up to 68 pitches.
Taillon is in the second year of the four-year, $68MM deal he signed with Chicago and enters 2024 hoping to get off to a better start after a brutal first half sank his 2023 campaign. The right-hander pitched to solid results in his first 3 starts with the Cubs last year but struggled badly following a groin injury he sustained in mid-April, posting a 7.61 ERA and 6.07 FIP in his next eleven starts. From there, however, the right-hander appeared to turn a corner and performed more like the mid-rotation arm he was signed to be, with a 3.38 ERA and 4.24 FIP over his final 90 2/3 innings of work.
If the veteran righty can maintain that form he showed in the second half of the season last year, it would provide a major boost to the Cubs’ rotation. The club has been forced to lean heavily on youngsters Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, and Ben Brown to this point in the young 2024 campaign due to injuries sustained by Taillon and ace lefty Justin Steele in addition to the struggles of veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks, who has posted a 12.08 ERA across the first three starts of his 2024 campaign. Taillon’s return to the rotation could allow one of those young pitchers to move to the bullpen, where the club has seen closer Adbert Alzolay and veteran free agent signing Hector Neris scuffle somewhat to open the season.
Looking beyond Taillon, it seems as though more reinforcements for the club’s pitching staff could be on the way in the coming weeks, as Counsell indicated to reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) that Steele was also making progress in his bid to return from the hamstring strain he sustained during his Opening Day start against the Rangers. Per Counsell, Steele was scheduled to throw a 25-pitch bullpen session yesterday. It’s a notable step forward for the lefty, which MLB.com adds comes on the heels of a 75-pitch simulated game pitched off flat ground in San Diego earlier this week.
The news appears to leave Steele on track to return sometime next month. That Steele appears to be on track to return fairly quickly is surely a relief for Chicago, as the lefty has broken out as one of the game’s best starters in recent years. Dating back to June of the 2022 season, Steele has pitched to a sterling 2.73 ERA with a 3.05 FIP across 45 starts. In that time, only Justin Verlander, Shohei Ohtani, and Blake Snell have posted a lower ERA in at least 250 innings of work, while only Verlander, Spencer Strider, Kevin Gausman, and Sonny Gray boast a lower FIP.
Also on the mend from injury is slugger Patrick Wisdom, who began the season on the injured list due to back strain. The 32-year-old is six games into a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa, however, and could be rapidly nearing a return. Counsell told reporters recently (including those at MLB.com) that Wisdom could rejoin the club at some point during their current road trip. The Cubs will finish a series in Seattle this afternoon before wrapping their road trip with a three-game set in Arizona.
Should Wisdom end up joining the club in Arizona, that could be the end of veteran first baseman Garrett Cooper’s time with Chicago. Cooper has impressed in part-time duty with five hits including a double, a triple, and a home run in his first 15 plate appearances with the club. Even so, it’s hard to imagine the Cubs having room for both the 2022 All Star and Wisdom on the roster when Michael Busch and Christopher Morel appear to have locked down the infield corners for the foreseeable future. Cooper cannot be optioned to the minor leagues after signing a minor league deal with the club in free agency, though each of Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, and Miles Mastrobuoni have options remaining should the Cubs wish to retain Cooper on the big league roster.
I’d keep Copper for now, Wisdom shouldn’t be bumming anyone of the roster
Common wisdom says hold onto copper. It’s only increasing in value given market demand…
How’s the market for steele?
Despite recent injurious events reducing present value, the long term outlook for Steele is still bright.
Reading that Wisdom has options makes me wonder why he’s never been optioned before. Sure he finished last season strong but was pretty awful to start.
Jettisoning Cooper for Wisdom at the moment doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me unless CC really saw something in Wisdoms second half and this spring.
It’s tricky though, because while Cooper is having a hot start, over his career he’s shown to be a somewhat reliable bat with modest power. He makes more contact then Wisdom, but does less damage.
Wisdom can also play 3rd (in a pinch) which gives him some small added value given modern baseball’s desire for flexibility.
The argument can be made for either player depending on what a team is looking for.
Both have warts.
I myself might prefer Cooper because I dislike low contact guys, no matter how much power they have.
Wisdom can play any corner but in the same breath, Madrigal and Morel can cover third, as can Mastrobouni, we have enough outfield options as well.
Personally I’d probably move Mastrobouni vs Cooper. Miles is basically Madrigal without the defense but pretty interchangeable, I’d keep Nicky, move Mastrobouni, figure out how to get Wisdom in the line up against anyone throwing low 90s.
You constantly undervalue that Mastrobuoni is the only LH bat there. Every time.
And? You throw that he hits lefty out there like it matters, he equally cannot hit lefties or righties so what’s the point? Seriously, what is the point?
Miles only value is versatility and speed. He isn’t the defender Madrgial is, doesn’t have the same contact skill set. Doesn’t have anywhere near the power of Wisdom who happens to be fantastic at hitting soft tossing pitchers and off-speed stuff.
Again, don’t care what side of the plate a guy stands on and doesn’t hit.
You also, don’t, realize that Wisdom had an ops+ of over .800 against every single NL Central team. .844 was his lowest, against the Brewers, every other team it was over 1.000. Call me crazy, call me stupid but a guy who smack the bish up against our division rivals is a valuable guy to have.
I generally like the cubs lineup but Miles really shouldn’t be there. I get the versatility, but that spot could be used so much better.
Trade Cooper to a team needing a backup 1B. Houston would be my choice, because they can’t be sure that the White Sox wouldn’t claim Cooper on waivers.
Get rid of Wisdom & keep Cooper.
Absolutely.
“after a brutal first half sunk his 2023 campaign. ”
Come on, Nick. Be a professional writer. The past tense of sink is sank. Don’t feed us Disney wordage.
What is “Disney wordage?”
Maybe you should subscribe so they can hire writers you like better. Sink. Sank. Sunk. And what does”wordage” mean? Is that like verbiage?
Here ya go:
dictionary.com/browse/wordage
Here ya go:
dictionary.com/browse/sunk
I choose to read grammar and vocab pedantic comments in a whiny, historical voice. It is at least amusing as I waste my life on it
Imanaga has looked impressive thus far.
Truly baffling that the Cubs consistently over value marginal players like Wisdom, cut him loose already
It’s the bench. Wisdom is a valuable bench piece.
I also vote for keeping Cooper over Wisdom. The Cubs have Morel, Busch, Madrigal, Mastobuoni and in a pinch Hoerner to play 3rd. How many do you really need? Everybody is so worried about Morel you’re making yourselves ill. Let him play there and learn. It’s not going to happen overnight. The best move was losing Cuas. We can just hope Keegan’s first outing is a step on the way back. The only bad things that happen will be Brown going down when Taillon comes back and Cooper getting DFA’d if thy bring back Special K Wisdom. I dread it but it will probably happen.
The problem with Wisdom is he is SO up or down. He’ll have a hot streak (not often enough) and then hit a cold streak of one K after another. And his defense was flat out bad last season.
Morel looked confident at 3B last night– two great defensive plays by him in one inning. I think the coaching staff has really helped him with his mindset, and he could finally be figuring things out and turning the corner!
One more stinker from Hendricks and time for the phantom DL trip to “rehab” at Iowa.
I’d rather watch Ben Brown learn on the job.
Lose Mastobuoni over Cooper. He’s got options. Morel is doing okay at 3rd, the more he plays there, the less he looks like he doesn’t belong.
Indeed, if Mastrobuouni has options – use them. Cooper looks like his bat can help. And even though Wisdom isn’t my favorite style of player, I have to admit he CAN be valuable at this time, off the bench.
Morel is getting more comfortable at 3B, so Mastro isn’t needed. In fact if Morel continues to do half decent at 3B, I would consider calling up Mervis to have a shot at DH. Especially if Nico isn’t showing signs of improvement. Busch should be hitting 5th in the lineup – Swanson should be 6th.
I agree to a point Bone. People have to get used to the fact that Morel will have games like Sat. Night where he looks great and then he’ll have nights where he looks awful. You have to let him learn on the job and take the consequences. He just needs the reps. He has the ability, He just needs to be left alone. The only qualm I have about him is his injured left arm. He has trouble squeezing his left hand due to the injury that will be with him forever. It might make him drop the ball sometimes. And you’re right about Busch also, CC will figure that out. After all he’s still just learning his own personnel. No manager wants to be left with an all RH hitting bench so Mastro will stay until they find somebody better, If he doesn’t hit.
Enjoy the overpriced mismanagement Cub fans. It’s going to be a long season.
They have a winning record so far.
We are stuck with Wisdom. They will get rid of Cooper unfortunately.
Hoping for the return of Wisdom to your team is just ridiculous. There’s JUCO guys who can do exactly what he’s doing. No wonder this team has 10 yr rebuilds.
Taillon taking 68 pitches to go 3 2/3 innings against minor leaguers does not qualify as a “strong” outing. Hope the bullpen is rested for his first start.
That’s not horrible. Not efficient, but more and more common these days. Seems rare for starters to go over 5 or 6 IP and 100 pitches anymore.
How does 2 solo homeruns equate to “scuffing”?