Chicago Cubs 2026

#1,251      
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      
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.
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      
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      
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.
Unless things change, he’s probably a guy you can’t have on the playoff roster.
 
#1,255      
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.
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      
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      
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).
Is Brown even gonna pitch again this season?
 
#1,259      
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.
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      
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.
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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