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Pitcher Taillon set to miss ‘more than a month’; Cubs call up Wicks

The Cubs will lose pitcher Jameson Taillon for “more than a month” with a right calf strain, manager Craig Counsell confirmed before Friday's game against St. Louis.

“He was running and felt a grab yesterday after his bullpen,” Counsell said. “He's going to miss a pretty significant amount of time here, more than a month. He's got a muscle strain in his calf.”

Left-hander Jordan Wicks was called up to fill the roster vacancy but won't necessarily take over Taillon's spot in the rotation. Counsell mentioned Chris Flexen, a starter for the White Sox last season, as a candidate to be stretched out to become a starter. Flexen pitched a scoreless 10th inning in Thursday's win over Cleveland.

“(Saturday's) going to be a bullpen game, so we won't have a starter until sometimes postgame (Friday),” Counsell said. “He's there to pitch in the bullpen, we'll go from there.”

Wicks pitched in two games for the Cubs earlier this season and gave up 3 runs and 6 hits in 2 innings for a 13.50 ERA. Back at Triple-A Iowa, he seems to have found a groove, posting a 1.64 ERA in his last three starts. His longest outing at any level this season is 5 innings.

“We've got him healthy and he's pitching well,” Counsell said of Wicks. “He's just got to come up here and attack the strike zone and get himself in favorable counts. I think (that) is really important for him to let the off-speed stuff be effective.”

The timing could be worse. The Cubs just got Shota Imanaga back after he missed nearly two months with a hamstring strain, and the all-star break is coming up after the next road trip.

“It's just what it is. These things happen,” Counsell said. “You have to, as an organization, be prepared for the next step, the next solution. We're at a place where we're kind of thinking about the all-star break in here as well, in terms of what that means to try to rest some guys, and how we can navigate through losing a guy in the rotation and how best to approach that.

“There's a little room for us to be flexible right now. We'll use that to our advantage and go from there.”

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jordan Wicks throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell) AP
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