SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With October baseball likely in their future, the Cubs are taking a cautious approach with their pitching rotation as the regular season winds down.
The Cubs placed right-handed starter Jameson Taillon on the 15-day injured list Wednesday because of a left groin injury. The 33-year-old had made just two starts since returning from a right calf strain that landed him on the IL in late June.
But Cubs manager Craig Counsell doesn’t believe this latest injury will keep Taillon down for long.
The move is retroactive to Monday, a day after Taillon exited having thrown just 62 pitches over five innings for the win against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. He was throwing a bullpen session Wednesday at Oracle Park in San Francisco and was only 12-14 pitches in when he didn’t feel quite right, Counsell said.
“It went pretty well, but I think we’re in a position where we’re going to be safe here, and to skip a start will probably be a good thing,” Counsell said. “I think it’s just smart. He’s got a little something going on an and we don’t want to push it.
“There’s a little something there that we think will resolve itself in five to seven days.”
Taillon is 9-6 with a 4.15 ERA over 19 starts this year spanning 106 1/3 innings.
Right-hander Javier Assad, himself sideline for much of the season with an oblique injury, was recalled from Triple-A Iowa and is set to start Saturday at Colorado.
This is the latest blow for what’s been a beat-up Cubs rotation.
Chicago also remains hopeful that right-hander Michael Soroka will make an impact during the September playoff push, with the club chasing the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.
Soroka, acquired from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline, made just one start for the Cubs — tossing two innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 4 — before straining his pitching shoulder. He threw off a mound in San Francisco on Tuesday as he works his way back.
The Cubs have still somehow hung in there despite all the pitching injuries. They remained a 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers entering Thursday’s series finale against the Giants in San Francisco, but they still lead the NL Wild Card field and have a high probability of making the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 2018.
“Look, we’ve pitched well,” Counsell said. “We’ve pitched very well out of the starting rotation, no question about it. Everybody’s responsible for that. Five guys have taken a pretty equal turn in that, and it’s made us a consistent baseball team.”