Boyd may need a rest, but Taillon goes back on injured list
After Tuesday's loss in San Francisco, it was worth asking if Cubs starter Matthew Boyd could use a rest.
Instead, Jameson Taillon will get another break. He went on the injured list Wednesday with a left groin strain. Taillon said he felt something while warming up for the fifth inning in Anaheim on Sunday, and was able to record three outs before leaving the game.
He threw off the mound Wednesday and could still feel the muscle pain. So Javier Assad was recalled from Triple-A Iowa and will start in Taillon's place on Saturday in Colorado.
“He threw about 12 or 14 pitches, and it went pretty well,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters before Wednesday's game. “But I think we're in a position where we're going to be safe here. If we can skip a start, we'd probably be in good shape and expect this to be a minimum (stay). He's got a little something going on and we don't want to risk it.”
Taillon just got back from the injured list. He missed seven weeks with a calf strain, and in his two starts since returning, he's pitched well, allowing 2 earned runs over a combined 11 innings.
“There's a little something there that we think will resolve itself within the next five to seven days, but there's a start in three days,” Counsell said. “If we have him go out there and pitch under that condition, then I think we're putting Jamo at risk.”
Assad also pitched well against the Angels last weekend, allowing just 2 hits in 6 innings on Friday. Assad, Taillon and Shota Imanaga have all missed large chunks of the season with injuries.
Boyd, meanwhile, has been reliable, and leads the Cubs in both starts (26) and innings pitched (153.1). That's a positive development, except that Boyd was coming off Tommy John surgery last year and pitched just 50 innings total in 2024, including the playoffs. He hasn't thrown 150 innings in a season since 2019.
So it's possible Boyd is starting to run out of gas, so to speak. He hasn't been terrible lately, just not as sharp as he was in the beginning of the season. He allowed 5 runs and 2 homers in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Giants.
Since the all-star break, Boyd has been the worst of the Cubs starters with a 4.10 ERA. In the first half, he might have been the Cubs MVP with a 2.34 ERA.
His velocity Tuesday was right where it's been all season, with the four-seam fastball averaging 93.4 miles per hour. His walk rate has risen, but not much — from 1.85 per 9 innings before the break to 2.81 after.
Assad replacing Boyd in a turn through the rotation is a strategy for the Cubs to consider, but that will have to wait until Taillon is healthy.
Nico Hoerner lifted the Cubs to an early lead with a 3-run homer in the second inning. But starting pitcher Colin Rea couldn’t hold the advantage, and twice in the first five innings, the Cubs loaded the bases with one out and hit into double plays.
San Francisco won 12-3, and led 7-3 when Rea left the mound in the fifth.
The two Giants home runs on Tuesday, to Wilmer Flores and Matt Chapman, were both pretty good pitches. Boyd hit the inside corner with Flores and the top of the zone to Chapman.
“The things that really stand out to me, I missed on a few pitches,” Boyd said after the game. “I didn't execute on the changeup to (Heliot) Ramos, that led to a run. The fastball to Chapman, he was able to get on top of it.
“Probably would have liked it maybe a few inches higher. But he was on it, so hat's off to him. Unfortunately, that was the difference in the game there. He's a pro hitter and kind of hit my mistake there.”
The Cubs led 2-1 in the middle of the fifth. Then with two outs and a runner on second, Ramos ripped a Boyd change-up into the corner for a game-tying double. A single by Rafael Devers scored Ramos to make it 3-2. Chapman added a 2-run home in the sixth after a walk and the Cubs couldn't generate any offense late in the game.
“I threw it down and in, I was trying to throw to down and away,” Boyd said of his pitch to Ramos. “With the way he swings, if I put that on the outer half, it's probably a little weaker. When it's down and in, it gives him a chance to do what exactly he did, hook it down the line.”
With Giants left-hander Carson Whisenhunt on the mound Wednesday, Ian Happ and Michael Busch were not in the Cubs starting lineup.