Last week, when Cubs starter Jameson Taillon made a rehab start for Triple-A Iowa, the results were not exactly sterling. In the game, Taillon went 3.0 innings, allowing seven hits (two homers), seven runs and two hit batsmen, to minor-league competition. Cubs fans desperate to see the rotation add some depth were concerned, naturally.
But Taillon did not sound worried. Just being on the mound, throwing, was his major concern.
âBeing healthy and getting a pitch count in, going through the routine and getting the workload in, all that, I thought it was productive,â Taillon said. â⦠Weâll just see how the next one goes. Hopefully itâs better than this.â
Good prediction. Taillon was excellent on Friday in his second rehab outing, going 4.2 innings and allowing one run with six strikeouts, yielding just three hits. Now, Taillon, who was  was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 95.1 innings in 17 starts this year when he suffered a calf injury in June, is just about ready to return to the big leagues.
“Good,” manager Craig Counsell said when asked about Taillon’s start. “I think he felt like he definitely made progress. He was happy with everything and felt a little better about it, so, all good.”
Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad Good in Rehab Starts
The Cubs are in the same boat with Javier Assad, who could be ready to come back to the rotation sooner than Taillon.
Assad was 7-6 with a 3.73 ERA last season, but was lost in spring training when he suffered a mild oblique injury that became more serious when he re-injured it during an April rehab start at Triple-A Iowa.
After making a Single-A start, Assad returned to Iowa and went 3.2 innings, allowing four hits, a walk and one earned run. He backed that up by allowing one run in 4.1 innings for Iowa in another start last week.
Cubs Planning on Rotation Boost
Now, the question is when, exactly, will the Cubs be getting the pair back in the rotation?
They’re essentially running with four starters, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea and Cade Horton, with Ben Brown filling in.
Counsell was noncommittal on that but left open the possibility that they could return this week, as the Cubs begin a stretch of 14 games in 13 days.
“I think weâre going to wait till after tomorrow to figure out plans for the week,” Counsell said on Taillon.
He was asked about Assad plans for this week: “Same with Javy, yeah.”
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