Cubs Need to Make Decision on Jameson Taillon, Who Knows He’s Hurting Team

Remember back in 2015, when you just knew the Cubs were going to win every game Jake Arrieta started because he was going to strike out a bunch of batters and allow maybe two hits? Well, it’s basically been the opposite with Jameson Taillon this season. Hyperbolic and harsh though that may be, the Cubs have now lost six of the last seven games Taillon has started.

The big righty has allowed multiple home runs in eight of his 15 starts, and his 25 dingers surrendered are more than anyone in MLB other than Jeffrey Springs of the A’s. Thing is, the 27 homers against Springs have come in 104 innings over 21 starts. Taillon has tossed only 76 innings, fewer than any other pitcher with at least 16 longballs on their ledger. None of the other 371 MLB pitchers with at least 30 innings logged this year can claim an HR/9 mark higher than the 2.96 Taillon has posted.

He didn’t need nine innings to give up three blasts on Sunday afternoon, and making it even four innings into the game was just a function of the Cubs playing their third of 17 straight games without a day off. It’s not the first time Taillon has been forced to wear it after digging an early hole, but it might be the last. With the trade deadline a week away and the front office seeking pitching help for a postseason push, the Cubs can’t afford to waste games.

“I think we’ve got to discuss it, yeah,” Craig Counsell said after the loss. “We’ve got days to figure that out, but we have to discuss what’s best for the staff in general.”

Though there have been flashes of the old Taillon, like the 20.9% strikeout rate that is identical to his career average, he doesn’t have enough to overcome his other issues. In fact, the strikeouts might be a serendipitous consequence of the shaky command that has led to a career-high 8.3% walk rate and shockingly elevated 15.7% barrel rate that rests in the first percentile among his peers. Whether it’s age, health, or some other mitigating factor, Taillon simply can’t be trusted right now.

And he is well aware of that reality.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that I’m hurting the team and have been for a little while now,” Taillon told reporters. “So I’m not naive to that at all.”

This is reminiscent of late-stage Kyle Hendricks, just without nearly as much accumulated goodwill to make the decision a difficult one. Not for the fans, anyway, many of whom have tried to designate Taillon for assignment after each of his last several starts. But it may not be as simple for the front office as it would be with a reliever they picked up to eat a mop-up inning or three. Taillon is a well-respected veteran whose clubhouse presence is still valued, even if his pitching is not.

While the Cubs can’t exactly bank on his being a good dude to win them games, their obvious depth issues give them precious little leeway. If anything, Taillon’s track record and the team’s schedule might buy him one last shot. Then it’s a matter of whether moving him to the bullpen is even worth considering. Spotting an opponent early runs isn’t good, but at least the offense has more time to chip away. The Cubs almost managed to climb out of their 7-1 hole on Sunday, and they’ve overcome some other Taillon-induced deficits this season.

With the way he’s pitching, the only times Counsell could feel comfortable going to him in relief would be in a game that’s gotten lopsided one way or the other. He can’t really be deployed situationally because he’s never pitched to significant platoon splits and certainly isn’t doing so this season, so taking up a bullpen spot that will only get more valuable as the season goes out is out of the question.

Looking at this from a purely human perspective, I’d love to see Taillon be able to finish out the four-year contract that expires at the end of this season. Then I’d love for him to get a one-year deal somewhere else to reach 10 years of service time (he’s at 9.11 as of this writing). But when it comes to what is best for the Cubs right now, I can’t see how they’re better with him as a member of the active roster.

As much as that sucks on a personal level, Jed Hoyer and Craig Counsell are being paid a whole lot of money to win baseball games. With that as the primary goal, Taillon’s time as a Cub is drawing nigh.