Jameson Taillon Resumes an Audition for a Full-Fledged October Rotation Role, but Another Option Looms

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Cubs get Jameson Taillon back in their rotation Wednesday evening, as they wrap up a series in the wealthy White suburbs of Atlanta. Taillon will make his first start since August 24, and just his third for the big-league team since the end of June. Calf and groin injuries have sidelined him for much of the second half. 

Even when he's been available, Taillon has been underwhelming this year—not poor, but certainly not the stabilizing workhorse the rotation has craved. After a volatile first two seasons in Chicago, he's settled into the middle: he had a 4.84 ERA in 2023, then a 3.27 in 2024, and it's 4.15 in 2025. This summer's volatility has come in the form of those trips to the injured list. In the process, he's faded from (at times) second or third in the team's pecking order to a clear fourth. When the team uses the final week of the season to set their rotation for the Wild Card Series, it will be Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton whom they position to start, as long as all three stay healthy between now and then.

Taillon is still very much in the starting mix for Chicago, alongside Colin Rea, Javier Assad, Aaron Civale and Michael Soroka. He could end up starting Game 1 of the National League Division Series, should the Cubs advance that far but require all three games of the Wild Card Series to do so. However, there are a few things the team will try to suss out over the next few turns in the rotation, as they arrange their plans for that possible series and their roster for the Wild Card round.

Firstly, let's take notice of the coincidence of Soroka's first rehab appearance with Triple-A Iowa and Taillon's return to the Cubs. Soroka will work multiple innings tonight for Iowa, putting him in the same spot in a hypothetical rotation as Taillon now occupies in the current one. That speaks to one possible way the team might handle games not started by Imanaga, Boyd or Horton, come the postseason (and even how they might navigate the middle of those games, depending on hwo they unfold): piggybacking and other multi-inning bridge appearances, making use of the fact that they have so many usable guys who are accustomed to working in bulk roles.

Bullpen games in the playoffs are no scandalous notion anymore, and the Cubs would be especially well-positioned to run one, given their three left-handed relievers. If they want to, they can easily use Taylor Rogers and/or Drew Pomeranz to break up two bulk appearances by righties like Taillon, Soroka, Assad or Civale, slicing through a lefty-heavy pocket of the opposing order without stretching the staff too thin. They could also have one or more of those guys become a dedicated partner to Boyd or Imanaga down the stretch, soaking up innings while shortening the leash to keep those veteran lefties fresh for the playoffs—and flipping the platoon equation for the opposing lineup, along the way. This gallimaufry of swingmen has value over the final few weeks of the season, and that value will stretch into the postseason, for however long they play.

A somewhat more intriguing alternative, though, could be to move Taillon himself into a short relief role, helping backfill for the loss of Daniel Palencia. In his start with Iowa last week, Taillon's stuff was a bit diminished. He was only sitting at 91 mph with his fastball, which is a tick off his usual register and two ticks down from where he sits when he's at his best. His pitch shapes were also a bit off. Here's the relationship between his horizontal and vertical movement by pitch type for that outing. (I've connected the dots representing each of his offerings in that contest, using the red lines you see.)

He had good sweep on his slider, but his cutter didn't have the lift it sports when it's working. Nor did his sinker or changeup have the depth he tries to get from them (though, to be fair, he only threw one sinker in the game). Compare the above to the shapes Taillon had in his best game this year by Stuff+, against the Diamondbacks in April.

Taillon's heater might warm back up with a bit of adrenaline once he toes big-league rubber in front of bigger crowds and with bigger stakes. The surest way to get him throwing 93 (or better) again, though, might be to invite him not to pace himself—but rather, to cut it loose in appearances of 10-20 pitches. With his feel for spin, when he's throwing in the mid-90s, he has the capacity to dominate. He could get back into that range by moving to short relief, and since the Cubs have an apparent need in the back end of their bullpen, that's not an outlandish notion.

On balance, it's still less likely than leaving Taillon in the rotation and asking him to eat some innings. Soroka is a candidate to make the transition to the pen instead, and isn't as built up for starting as is Taillon. Other than (arguably) Assad, no one on the roster has as much upside as a fourth playoff starter as Taillon does. Either way, the Cubs need to see more sheer stuff from him than he's shown in his last few appearances (dating back, now, multiple months), but they've been cautious with him for exactly this reason. They need to play well to secure good position in the playoff bracket come the end of the regular season, and Taillon should contribute to that effort. After that, things could unfold in any number of ways.

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