With Taillon on the mend, Cubs’ rotation leaning left
Until Jameson Taillon gets right, it's looking like the Cubs' starting rotation is taking a left-handed turn.
The good news coming out of training camp is Taillon's sore lower back is improving and he's on track to begin throwing again after being scratched from a March 9 Cactus League start.
The bad news is the regular season opens next Thursday and the right-hander is going to be on the injured list.
With Taillon down, the Cubs could have four left-handers in their starting five for the first few weeks of the regular season.
“With how right-handed we’ve been in the past, it’s amazing for us to even be thinking or talking about having four lefties in the rotation,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told reporters. “It’s just so unique, but one thing (manager Craig) Counsell has talked about is we want to take the guys who are going to give us the best chance to win and we’ll figure out the ways that we can piece that together and move guys around accordingly.”
Lefty Justin Steele is locked in at the top of the Cubs' rotation, and he'll start the season opener against Nathan Eovaldi and the Rangers in Texas.
Last year, Steele emerged as the Cubs’ ace. He was 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA and finished fifth in National League Cy Young Award voting.
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks is lined up to pitch the second game and newcomer Shota Imanaga, a 30-year-old left-hander signed out of Japan, is in the No. 3 slot.
Imanaga signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Cubs in January. In 3 Cactus League starts, the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder has pitched 9.2 innings and allowed 5 earned runs on 10 hits (2 home runs) to go with 19 strikeouts and 2 walks.
Last season, Imanaga was 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 22 starts for the Yokohama BayStars.
With Taillon sidelined, the fourth and fifth spots in the Cubs' rotation are still up for grabs.
Based on spring success, lefty Jordan Wicks is looking like a strong bet to win a job. In 5 exhibition games (4 starts), he's allowed 5 runs in 17.1 innings while striking out 12 and issuing 2 walks.
Veteran left-hander Drew Smyly has starting experience, but he's had a rough spring and struggled with the Cubs last season (11-11, 5.00 ERA).
Right-handers Javier Assad and Hayden Wesneski are also options for the rotation.
Down on the farm, the Cubs have two promising starting candidates in Cade Horton and Ben Brown.
“How you start is definitely not going to be how you finish,” Hottovy said. “When you know you’ve got movable pieces and guys that can pitch in different scenarios, it gives you a lot of flexibility to do a lot of different things.”