Cubs still waiting to determine Taillon’s status, lose to Giants
The Cubs were still uncertain if they had another pitching injury to worry about ahead of Tuesday's 5-2 loss in San Francisco.
Jameson Taillon left Sunday's start in Anaheim after 5 innings and just 62 pitches due to left groin tightness. After the game, Taillon said he was curious how he'd feel the day after.
“I pitched that whole fifth inning feeling a little something,” he said. “If it was really bad, I wouldn't have been able to do that.”
Before Tuesday's game, manager Craig Counsell was still playing the waiting game with Taillon's status.
“I think where we're at right now is we'll give him another day and see what he looks like, maybe (throw) off the mound a little bit (Wednesday) and see what that looks like and then kind of make a decision from there,” Counsell told reporters in San Francisco. “So some level of concern still. Not a go for sure yet. We'll give ourselves more days to figure it out.”
The good news is the Cubs have the perfect replacement ready if Taillon can't make his next start. Javier Assad had a nice outing Friday against the Angels, allowing 1 run and 2 hits in 6 innings. The next day, Assad was optioned to Triple-A Iowa.
Assad is essentially the Cubs' sixth starter right now, and Counsell has said he does not plan to use a six-man rotation, though he did try that when he managed Milwaukee.
Taillon just came off the injured list, missing seven weeks due to a calf strain. His two starts since coming back from that injury have been good, with a pair of victories and 2 earned runs over 11 innings.
“We just want to make sure (Taillon) feels good throwing a ball off the mound,” Counsell said. “Whatever it was, if it resolves itself in a couple of days, which is certainly possible, then we should be good.”
The Cubs pitching staff has produced the best ERA in MLB during the month of August at 2.79. Boston is a distant second at 3.32.
The recent star of the pitching staff has been rookie Cade Horton, with an incredible 0.49 ERA in seven starts since the all-star break. Horton is now the betting favorite for National League Rookie of the Year on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Remember, Horton made his MLB debut on May 10.
Cubs batters faced 42-year-old Giants right-hander Justin Verlander on Tuesday. Heading into the game, Verlander had a 1-10 record and 4.64 ERA.
Verlander notched the win as the Giants beat the Cubs 5-2. The Cubs took a 2-1 lead on RBI singles by Matt Shaw and Carson Kelly, but the Giants tallied twice in the fifth against Cubs starter Matthew Boyd and added two more runs in the sixth.
Next schedule released
Major League Baseball released 2026 schedules on Tuesday. The Cubs will open next season at home against Washington on Thursday, March 26. The three-game series against the Nationals will be followed by three home games against the Angels. The first road trip will be all-AL, in Cleveland and Tampa Bay.
The ending is unusual. The Cubs will spend the final weekend of the regular season in Fenway Park against the Red Sox. There will be two three-game city series against the White Sox. They'll play at Rate Field the weekend of May 15-17, while the three at Wrigley will be on weekdays, Aug. 17-19.