Cardinals (Mikolas) vs Cubs (Rea): 7/4/25, 1:20pm

[Brandon Glick]

July 4th versus the Cardinals??? I am going to have to hold my tongue for the entire day...

[BKHoo]

Let’s hit this guy. 

[cubfansince77]

More bad news on the injury front as some of you have heard by now. Taillon to the IL with a right calf strain, Wicks recalled from Iowa. Counsell said it'll be a month or so but at least it's not an arm issue. Really need a starter or two now at the trade deadline. 

Edited July 4, 2025 by cubfansince77
left out a few facts

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, cubfansince77 said:

More bad news on the injury front as some of you have heard by now. Taillon to the IL with a right calf strain, Wicks recalled from Iowa. No word on how long he'll be out but at least it's not an arm issue. Really need a starter or two now at the trade deadline. 

Obviously I don’t want to see Tailon go down with an injury. But I do like the idea of Wicks starting against the Cardinals. They are also not good against lefties. However, before anyone starts panicking, assuming Wicks does get the start tomorrow, it could be another windy day with the wind blowing out. Going to be very hot. With that normally comes wind blowing out. 

[Cubs206]

Less Taillon is actually good news. Brown and him were wildly inconsistent a first place team in a tough division does not have time for letting kids figure things out. 

[Geographyhater8888]

I hope the Cardinals offense that showed up vs Pittsburgh is the one we see and not the that hit 5+ homers vs Taillon and Brown with the wind blowing out with Rae on the bump.

[Eeyore]

The Taillon news prompted me to look for an Assad update. They're saying August/September.

[UMFan83]

13 minutes ago, cubfansince77 said:

More bad news on the injury front as some of you have heard by now. Taillon to the IL with a right calf strain, Wicks recalled from Iowa. Counsell said it'll be a month or so but at least it's not an arm issue. Really need a starter or two now at the trade deadline. 

Craig says he’ll miss a significant amount of time

 

[cubfansince77]

4 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

The Taillon news promp.ted me to look for an Assad update. They're saying August/September.

So we should get back Assad in early August and Taillon maybe by mid Aug. hopefully. Gotta tread water until then I guess, although this obviously makes a move for a starter even more urgent now. We've got Shota/Boyd/Horton anchoring T.O.R. right now which is solid actually. Rae is 4th for better or worse and Wicks is 5th and people more knowledgeable than me on here have said Wicks has looked good in Iowa, especially lately. 

There are PLENTY of teams pretty much out of the race right now that Hoyer can deal with.  Doubt we can afford to wait until the deadline. Might pay more of a premium but so be it I guess

[Outshined_One]

19 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Obviously I don’t want to see Tailon go down with an injury. But I do like the idea of Wicks starting against the Cardinals. They are also not good against lefties. However, before anyone starts panicking, assuming Wicks does get the start tomorrow, it could be another windy day with the wind blowing out. Going to be very hot. With that normally comes wind blowing out. 

In fairness, Taillon with the wind blowing out isn't exactly a promising formula for success, either.

I have a feeling they'll hold steady to evaluate the staff and everyone's health up to the ASB, and then we'll probably see a move coming out of it.

[Jason Ross]

Assad isn't likely to really move any needles. There is enough history to suggest he is capable of out pacing his xFIP, but with a mostly missed year and injury, it's not perfect conditions for that. He is already a balancing act and doesn't have much room for a velocity drop, control drop, etc that could come with missing that much time and the injuries. 

I wouldn't expect much of anything from him in 2025 outside of a depth spot start, September roster fillout or long man duty 

[itisallpartoftheplan]

11 minutes ago, Cubs206 said:

Less Taillon is actually good news. Brown and him were wildly inconsistent a first place team in a tough division does not have time for letting kids figure things out. 

Recency bias..

Tailon has had 4 starts of allowing more than 3. His first start, one in early May, and then his 2nd and 3rd most recent.

Yes he was trending down and had to piece it together his last start. But he was Crawford boxes away from 5 shutout innings vs Houston.

Home Run ball has been a bug a boo.. but in most of his starts he’s given us a chance to win.

 

[Bull]

Who had Taillon, Shota and Steele all miss significant time on their “only the Cubs” bingo card?

amazing that this team is so good with everything that has gone wrong.

[Bull]

2 minutes ago, itisallpartoftheplan said:

Recency bias..

Tailon has had 4 starts of allowing more than 3. His first start, one in early May, and then his 2nd and 3rd most recent.

Yes he was trending down and had to piece it together his last start. But he was Crawford boxes away from 5 shutout innings vs Houston.

Home Run ball has been a bug a boo.. but in most of his starts he’s given us a chance to win.

 

Trending down may be a function of strained calf.

[Hot Sauce]

The Seth Lugo talks are about to pick up steam. 

[17 Seconds]

50 minutes ago, Cubs206 said:

Less Taillon is actually good news. Brown and him were wildly inconsistent a first place team in a tough division does not have time for letting kids figure things out. 

he's 33 

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, cubfansince77 said:

More bad news on the injury front as some of you have heard by now. Taillon to the IL with a right calf strain, Wicks recalled from Iowa. Counsell said it'll be a month or so but at least it's not an arm issue. Really need a starter or two now at the trade deadline. 

Good to see Wicks back, was hoping it would be for Rea today. 

 

[Derwood]

A month+ "strained calf" sounds kind of made up.

[chibears55]

56 minutes ago, Eeyore said:

The Taillon news prompted me to look for an Assad update. They're saying August/September.

Yea, I would assume Assad won't be back til September when rosters expand and as a reliever. I doubt they push him too much

[chibears55]

58 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Craig says he’ll miss a significant amount of time

 

Im sure they'll be in no rush of returning him to the mound, not wishing injury on anyone but could be a blessing that forces Hoyer to get active sooner rather then later and not get one but two starters. 

Rea definitely need to be replaced and not sure how deep into the season as far as innings goes with Horton and Wicks may be limited with how much they want to use him.

[BKHoo]

59 minutes ago, itisallpartoftheplan said:

Recency bias..

Tailon has had 4 starts of allowing more than 3. His first start, one in early May, and then his 2nd and 3rd most recent.

Yes he was trending down and had to piece it together his last start. But he was Crawford boxes away from 5 shutout innings vs Houston.

Home Run ball has been a bug a boo.. but in most of his starts he’s given us a chance to win.

 

He had a pretty dominant streak for a while there. And who knows? - Maybe he has not been 100 percent lately. 

Edited July 4, 2025 by BKHoo

[BKHoo]

Boyd and Horton don’t exactly have recent high inning years. We need 2 starters if you ask me. 

Who has confidence in Wicks?

Edited July 4, 2025 by BKHoo

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I have a feeling we get early season somehow actually pretty good Rea today. Feel free to dunk on this post later.

[Jason Ross]

11 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Boyd and Horton don’t exactly have recent high inning years. We need 2 starters if you ask me. 

Who has confidence in Wicks?

I have a decent amount. He is finally healthy, which he really hasnt been since about late April in 2023. He has a velocity uptick, he has been getting good whiff and chase. He is 1.5 years removed from being a backend top-100 type who had a strong debut. 

I wouldn't buy a Jordan Wicks shirsey but I think people are too hard on Wicks as well. He has a good tool chest and remains only 25 years old. 

[Derwood]

None of the pirate streams are loading the game. Stupid Apple TV