Jameson Taillon falters while Ben Brown shines, sparking debate over a rotation shake-up. Who deserves the mound in the regular season?
The Chicago Cubs have two pitchers trending in opposite directions as the start of the regular season nears.
One has really struggled throughout his four appearances this spring, while the other has shown some positive growth on the mound. Those two pitchers are Jameson Taillon and Ben Brown.
To put it nicely, Taillon has looked awful in his four Spring Training appearances with the Cubs. He has allowed 23 earned runs on 21 hits with seven walks across 9 ⅓ innings pitched. Those numbers are poor across the board.
There really aren’t many positives to take away from these four starts this spring. He has a 54.8% hard-hit rate, a 21.5% barrel rate, a 10.9% strikeout rate, a 19% whiff rate, a 91.8% zone-contact rate, and a 94.1 mph average exit velocity.
The biggest concern about Taillon has been his velocity. His velocity has been down in all four of his spring starts, and his spin rate on all six of his pitches is also down. In Sunday’s start against the Dodgers, the veteran averaged just 91.4 mph on his four-seam fastball.
On the other hand, Brown has made a strong impression this spring. He has allowed just four runs across 10 ⅔ innings (3.38 ERA) and is coming off his best appearance this spring on Saturday against the Rockies.
The right-hander allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts across four dominant innings. He induced eight whiffs in this start, and his newly developed sinker was a big weapon for him against right-handed batters. He totaled five whiffs + called strikes on that sinker in that start.
Given the way Taillon and Brown have pitched this spring, there are some Cubs fans who believe that Brown should take Taillon’s spot in the rotation to begin the year.
However, that should not be the case.
While Taillon has had his struggles this spring, his spot in the rotation is guaranteed. He has been one of the most consistent pitchers on the team in recent years, and the Cubs aren't going to make a drastic change based on a few Spring Training starts.
Now, if Taillon’s struggles continue into the regular season, there will likely be more discussion around him potentially losing his spot. The Cubs can’t afford these types of performances in the regular season when games matter.
But for now, Taillon will begin the season in the Cubs rotation. He’s definitely earned that after finishing with a sub-3.70 ERA in back-to-back campaigns.
