After shaking off early rust in a promising minor league rehab outing, the veteran right-hander eyes a return to Chicago’s rotation following a month-long hamstring injury recovery.
The Chicago Cubs should be getting back one of their starters very soon.
Jameson Taillon has been on the 15-day injured list since June 9 after leaving his start early on June 7 against the San Francisco Giants. He spent four weeks recovering from a left hamstring strain and is now on the cusp of a return.
The Cubs sent Taillon on a rehab assignment with the High-A South Bend Cubs on Sunday. This marked his first start since suffering that hamstring strain.
The veteran took the mound on Sunday afternoon against the Beloit Sky Carp and looked solid in his first start back. He allowed one run across 3 ⅓ innings pitched with four hits and two strikeouts in this contest.
Taillon had to shake off some rust early, as he loaded the bases with one out in the first inning. After striking out the first batter of the game, the Cubs right-hander then proceeded to allow three straight singles.
However, Taillon got out of it fairly unscathed. He got a flyout that brought in a run and induced a weak pop up to the shortstop to end the bottom of the first inning.
After that traffic-filled first inning, Taillon really settled down over the next few innings. The veteran set down seven of the next eight batters he faced before departing with one out in the top of the fourth inning.
Overall, this was a nice first start back for Taillon. He returned to the mound after a month-long absence, and most importantly, came out of Sunday’s rehab outing fully healthy.
It remains to be seen what the Cubs plan to do with Taillon following this start. They could activate him from the injured list this week to make an abbreviated start, or send him on another rehab start down in the minors.
Taillon only built up to 45 pitches in his first rehab outing with the South Bend Cubs, so the right-hander would only go about four innings if the Cubs want his next start to be in the big leagues.
Therefore, it could make more sense for the 34-year-old to start another game in the minors as he builds up his pitch count. The team could move his rehab assignment to Triple-A and have him be fully ready to go when the second half of the season begins on July 17.
Taillon's 2026 season hasn’t gone according to plan. He has spent the last few weeks on the injured list with that hamstring strain and has a 5.19 ERA across 67 ⅔ innings pitched this season.
Getting him back, though, does put less stress on the other pitchers in this Cubs rotation.
