The Chicago Cubs mean business. A day after Jameson Taillon allowed seven runs on three home runs, the Cubs have cut him loose. On Monday, the team officially announced that Taillon was designated for assignment.
They could have moved the veteran to the bullpen, or maybe even given him more time to figure things out with a second stint on the injured list, but nope, the Cubs are done with Taillon, who has a 5.92 ERA this season and has allowed 25 home runs in 76 innings.
He seemed like a great teammate, and while most Cubs fans will remember Taillon at his worst, the right-handed pitcher did have a solid 2.5-year run in the rotation prior to this year’s disaster.
The Cubs will obviously be active in the trade market for a starting pitcher, but in the meantime, they can go to either Javier Assad or Aaron Civale to replace Taillon.
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(Previous Update)
It should be, and it finally sounds like Craig Counsell is going to put an end to Jameson Taillon’s time in the Chicago Cubs starting rotation after his latest disaster on the mound. The Cubs had a chance to sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, and you would have thought that scoring seven runs would get it done, but it wasn’t, as Taillon was lit up for seven runs in four innings. After the 8-7 loss, Counsell was asked directly if Taillon would make his next scheduled start, and the response was telling.
While Counsell did not automatically say no, this was as close as the Cubs manager came to letting the public understand that the team is ready to move on from having Taillon in the starting rotation.
Via the Chicago Tribune.
“I think we’ve got to discuss it, yeah,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Taillon making his next start. “We’ve got days to figure that out, but we have to discuss what’s best for the staff in general.
“We need better than that,” the manager said. “We gave up seven, we had a great comeback. Bullpen did a great job. We played a great offense, but that’s a big gap we had to make up.”
Taillon was only able to go four innings on Sunday after giving up seven earned runs on six hits, including three more home runs. The veteran pitcher has now given up 25 home runs this season, tied for the second most among all MLB pitchers despite having thrown only 76 innings. That’s pretty much three home runs for every nine innings pitched by Taillon this year.
In his first start back from the injured list on July 20, Taillon immediately put the Cubs in a hole in the first inning when he gave up four runs on two home runs. The right-handed pitcher has given up at least one home run in 12 of his 15 starts, and multiple home runs in eight starts.
Taillon has a 5.92 ERA with only one quality start since April.
The Cubs simply cannot afford to continue punting games with Taillon on the mound, so we should be expecting a new starting pitcher the next time his spot comes up in the rotation, which is scheduled for Friday against the New York Yankees.
This is the final year of Taillon’s four-year, $68 million deal with the Cubs. He was very solid for this team from the start of July 2023 through the 2025 season, including a pair of outstanding starts in the postseason. However, he no longer has it. The Cubs should- and, again, hopefully the time has arrived- gotta move on from Taillon.
