Chicago Cubs 2026

#1,251      
Warren Carter Fanclub
It is the job of the starting pitcher to keep your team in the game. Jameson Taillon did not even remotely do anything like that.
He is giving up HR's at a record pace.
I thought the same as the previous posters: There is NOTHING to convince me that Taillon should start before Assad. I guess the size of your contract determines who should be in the rotation.
 
#1,252      
Second place is 1st loser
Illiniaaron said:
I give the Cubs credit for how they kept at it today after being down 7-1. Since they had the 7-22 stretch to fall to 34-34, they have gone 25-12, which is a really nice bounce back. Swanson has had a great July, good for him. Ramirez has really looked good.
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I felt bad for Taillon after the game. Counsell was unusually harsh about his future in the rotation and Taillon's comments after the game were hard to hear. He threw himself right under the bus. Feel for him. Great guy, cancer survivor, does a ton of community work and by all accounts a great teammate. Unfortunately, his outings haven't been remotely close to acceptable.
 
#1,253      
EyeoftheIllini
It was Taillon’s first coming back from IL, so I’ll cut him a little slack. That said if he’s in rotation after trade deadline, something is wrong.
 
#1,254      
Illiniaaron
Second place is 1st loser said:
I felt bad for Taillon after the game. Counsell was unusually harsh about his future in the rotation and Taillon's comments after the game were hard to hear. He threw himself right under the bus. Feel for him. Great guy, cancer survivor, does a ton of community work and by all accounts a great teammate. Unfortunately, his outings haven't been remotely close to acceptable.
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Unless things change, he’s probably a guy you can’t have on the playoff roster.
 
#1,255      
Warren Carter Fanclub
EyeoftheIllini said:
It was Taillon’s first coming back from IL, so I’ll cut him a little slack. That said if he’s in rotation after trade deadline, something is wrong.
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It was his second start. His first was last Monday. 4 innings. 4 earned. 2 HR's.
He has given up 25 HR's in 76 innings. 1 HR every 3 innings.
Nice guy but, my God.
I sense a phantom IL trip in his future.
 
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#1,256      
DeonThomas
Yeah, we gotta get two guys this week who can start and win some Aug-Sept games. One of those two needs to be a guy who can become at least our #2 or #3 starter in the playoffs. 1. Boyd 2. Imanaga 3. New guy 4. Cabrera 5. Assad/Brown (Then hoping we can have Steele out of the bullpen late Sept and into October. Peterson and Rae are two wild cards we cannot count on to start games).
 
#1,257      
Illiniaaron
DeonThomas said:
Yeah, we gotta get two guys this week who can start and win some Aug-Sept games. One of those two needs to be a guy who can become at least our #2 or #3 starter in the playoffs. 1. Boyd 2. Imanaga 3. New guy 4. Cabrera 5. Assad/Brown (Then hoping we can have Steele out of the bullpen late Sept and into October. Peterson and Rae are two wild cards we cannot count on to start games).
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Is Brown even gonna pitch again this season?
 
#1,259      
EyeoftheIllini
Illiniaaron said:
He’s not going to bring you much in a trade anyway. Counsell clearly doesn’t trust him to do much based on how he was used when he’s been up.
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Agree Counsel doesn’t trust him, but then again he doesn’t trust anyone without at least 5 years MLB experience it seems. Other than Shaw (and it took awhile) and Moises to some degree this year for awhile, what young position players has he trusted. Ramirez ha had the “good fortune” to be brought up when the entire infield was slumping, and with Shaw out Counsel almost had to play him to shake things up. To his credit though, he has performed and is earning Craig’s trust.

I disagree somewhat on that Alcantara won’t bring back much. Not so sure with the year he’s had at AAA that the luster has dimmed as much as you think with other teams. He alone isn’t likely to bring back an A caliber player, but I think he could still headline a package to bring in a quality player.

Two guys I’m hopeful are included in deals are BJ Murray and Brett Bateman. Both are having very nice years at AAA, but are unlikely to see any real time in Chicago anytime soon. Not sure if either will ever have any more trade value (not saying it is huge), so give them a shot elsewhere and get something back.
 
#1,260      
Illinirog70
EyeoftheIllini said:
It was Taillon’s first coming back from IL, so I’ll cut him a little slack. That said if he’s in rotation after trade deadline, something is wrong.
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Amazing support for terrible pitching performances!

Jame-0 has lost his radar. His stuff has never been great; he needed pinpoint control to avoid the fat part of the bat. As a result of extremely poor location, he's allowed 25 homeruns in 75 innings, which puts his team so far down that the Cubs can't make it back. No offense or great defense can overcome that.

The Cubs have the greatest infield defense that I've seen in years. Ground balls, not flyballs (unless they're hit to center!) are the key to their success in run prevention. Taillon doesn't cut it.

We need the opposition to pound the ground.... and JT can't provide that.
 
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#1,261      
Illiniaaron
Just throwing this out there, and I haven't checked how he's doing in Iowa since he was sent down. Is there any chance Ballesteros is traded at the deadline for help?
 
#1,270      
Emerson Bigguns
bdutts said:
I’d say no. Who else needs a very back end of the rotation guy?
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It would be tough to blame him either way he goes, accept a minor league assignment or soft retire. He’s been in the majors for nearly a decade. Made more than enough money to do whatever he wants for the rest of his life. (Unless drugs and strippers are what he wants to do…)
Illinirog70 said:
Amazing support for terrible pitching performances!

Jame-0 has lost his radar. His stuff has never been great;
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Not in the majors, anyway. He could throw 99 in high school, and was a #2 draft pick. Tommy John in 2014, followed by a hernia in 2015, cancer in 2017, forearm surgery in 2019, elbow, again in 2020, back issues in Chicago…
He’s a tough SOB. it’s a wonder he was still out there at all.
 
#1,271      
Second place is 1st loser
Emerson Bigguns said:
It would be tough to blame him either way he goes, accept a minor league assignment or soft retire. He’s been in the majors for nearly a decade. Made more than enough money to do whatever he wants for the rest of his life. (Unless drugs and strippers are what he wants to do…)

Not in the majors, anyway. He could throw 99 in high school, and was a #2 draft pick. Tommy John in 2014, followed by a hernia in 2015, cancer in 2017, forearm surgery in 2019, elbow, again in 2020, back issues in Chicago…
He’s a tough SOB. it’s a wonder he was still out there at all.
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Tells me all I need to know about his character. Tough way to end. I thought that he should have gotten one more start after his IL stint(three total), but can't blame the Cubs for pulling the plug.
 
#1,272      
DRS
Listen, I was also on the Taillon ain't gonna cut it train, from spring training on something was off. Tons of meatballs this year and I am not sure why. But lets not act like this guy sucks or something. Even with this horrific season his ERA with us over 2 1/2 years(66 starts) is 3.95. He current career era is 3.99 and that is with a host of major and minor injuries. He is a pro.

Somebody asked who needs a a back of the rotation guy?? that is the entire league. Philly, NY the list is massive. But if he accepts an assignment from us, it would be great to have him go down to AAA for a spell, who the hell knows what is going to happen to the rotation the rest of the way with all the issues they've had this year.
 
#1,273      
EyeoftheIllini
DRS said:
Listen, I was also on the Taillon ain't gonna cut it train, from spring training on something was off. Tons of meatballs this year and I am not sure why. But lets not act like this guy sucks or something. Even with this horrific season his ERA with us over 2 1/2 years(66 starts) is 3.95. He current career era is 3.99 and that is with a host of major and minor injuries. He is a pro.

Somebody asked who needs a a back of the rotation guy?? that is the entire league. Philly, NY the list is massive. But if he accepts an assignment from us, it would be great to have him go down to AAA for a spell, who the hell knows what is going to happen to the rotation the rest of the way with all the issues they've had this year.
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Thanks for posting that. When I read someone saying his stuff has never been great, it made me smile. Sure injuries have chipped away at his arsenal and it depends exactly how you define great stuff, but he has had plenty of stretches of great effectiveness. So I’m not going to let this poor season distort things to the point I forget his 23-15 record with a 3.41 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over the two previous seasons. And if I’m not mistaken, the Cubs won both his starts in the playoffs last year.
 
#1,275      
champaignchris
EyeoftheIllini said:
Thanks for posting that. When I read someone saying his stuff has never been great, it made me smile. Sure injuries have chipped away at his arsenal and it depends exactly how you define great stuff, but he has had plenty of stretches of great effectiveness. So I’m not going to let this poor season distort things to the point I forget his 23-15 record with a 3.41 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over the two previous seasons. And if I’m not mistaken, the Cubs won both his starts in the playoffs last year.
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He’s one of those “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” guys. He was awful for the first half season right after he signed. He was quite good for his last 15 appearances in 23 and then put up very solid numbers each of the last two seasons, but a lot of Cubs fans never altered their opinion of him after those first 15ish starts.
 
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