-
Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was positioned on the injured checklist on Friday with a proper calf pressure, the workforce introduced earlier than its sport towards the St. Louis Cardinals. He is anticipated to overlook “greater than a month,” in accordance with supervisor Craig Counsell.
Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his final wind dash after a bullpen session on Thursday.
“He will miss a fairly vital period of time,” Counsell mentioned.
Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 begins for the Cubs this season who simply obtained lefty Shota Imanaga again from a hamstring damage. Now they’re going to must navigate at the very least the remainder of this month with out one in all their different key starters.
“There’s a little bit room for us to be versatile proper now,” Counsell mentioned citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our benefit and we’ll go from there.”
The workforce recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, although he will not go immediately into the rotation. As a substitute, the Cubs will throw a bullpen sport on Saturday towards the Cardinals and “go from there,” in accordance with Counsell.
Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 begins) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his previous 5 begins relationship to Could 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, in comparison with simply three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting common.
The workforce may also contemplate a much bigger function for righty Chris Flexen who has been improbable for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 video games, together with a 4 inning stint late final month.
“He is a candidate to be stretched out for positive,” Counsell mentioned. “He is ready to perform a little bit extra.”
Cubs brass have already acknowledged they’re searching for beginning pitching earlier than the commerce deadline later this month. Counsell was requested if Taillon’s damage will increase that want. He did not take the bait.
“The commerce deadline is not till July 31,” he mentioned. “I am centered on the following week or 10 video games earlier than the All-Star break.”