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Although the Chicago Cubs (72-54) have played .500 baseball since the MLB All-Star break, their starting pitching rotation remains a strength. Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga offer vital stability at the front end and rookie Cade Horton looked terrific for the last month before contracting a blister in Monday's abbreviated outing versus the Milwaukee Brewers. Even so, this ballclub needed a change amid its ongoing struggles. Enter Jameson Taillon.
After holding off a Brewers comeback and pulling out a 6-4 win in the first game of a Tuesday doubleheader, the returning right-hander helped ensure that the Cubs would come away with a huge momentum-boost. He allowed only one run on five hits and struck out four batters in six innings, out-dueling the usually terrific Brandon Woodruff en route to a 4-1 Chicago victory.
Considering he missed more than a month and a half with a calf strain, Taillon's performance was especially outstanding. He maintained a selfless outlook following his big night in Wrigley Field, showing perhaps an unfair amount of modesty.
“My job is to come in and not mess that up, I guess,” Taillon joked after learning that the Cubs' starting rotation now has an MLB-best 3.10 ERA since the break, via MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. “They’ve been awesome.”
Taillon lowers his own ERA to 4.26, hoping to start fresh following a brutal June in which he surrendered 20 runs in 32 1/3 innings pitched. He certainly looked like a new man on Tuesday night. The 33-year-old is more important than he is giving himself credit for, though.
With Horton battling a blister issue and possibly facing an innings limit down the road, Cubs manager Craig Counsell will need at least one more consistent starter he can send to the mound behind Boyd and Imanaga. Colin Rea is a strong candidate for that role after allowing just four runs across his last three outings, but either way, Taillon should be valuable.
Even if All-Stars like Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong can regain their mojo in the batter's box, Chicago will need its pitching staff to provide clutch innings. Perhaps Jameson Taillon can remind fans why the organization signed him to a four-year, $68 million contract in December of 2022.
