Chicago Cubs To Be Without Key Pitcher For At Least One Month

The Chicago Cubs will be without veteran right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon for at least a month after it was revealed that the 33-year-old starter suffered a calf strain during a training session. Taillon had been one of the top arms on the pitching staff this season and missing him ahead of the MLB trade deadline could force the Chicago Cubs to act with more urgency in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the team has called up Jordan Wicks and hinted that Chris Flexen could be in line to get Taillon’s slot in the rotation until he’s ready to return.

Jameson Taillon Out with Calf Strain

The Chicago Cubs have been a relatively healthy team so far this season. None of their everyday players have missed significant time and their bullpen has remained remarkably healthy despite constant turnover. The starting rotation has been the one area that has seen a considerable amount of injuries. Early in the season, Justin Steele went down with an elbow injury that turned out to require season-ending surgery, and Javier Assad has yet to make his season debut after injuring his oblique in spring training.

Aside from those long-term injuries, the starting rotation has dealt with a short absence from Shota Imanaga but he has come back and looked a lot like himself in his outings since recovering from a hamstring injury. The Chicago Cubs are hoping that Taillon will follow suit when he comes back from his latest injury. The team announced that Taillon is going to be out at least a month with a calf injury.

So far in 2025, Taillon has been a quality arm for the Chicago Cubs. In 17 starts, he has a 7-6 record with a 4.44 ERA and 1.11 WHIP across 95.1 innings. Taillon started the season red hot, which they needed in the aftermath of the injury to Justin Steele. As the weather has gotten warmer though, Taillon has been the victim of the long ball. He is tied for second in all of baseball in HR allowed with 22. When he returns, he’s hoping to limit the home runs and get back to where he was earlier in the year and help the Chicago Cubs push for October.

What the Chicago Cubs Do Without Him

The injury to Taillon did not happen during a start, but rather during a training session in between outings. The unfortunate incident will cost Taillon at least month, with no definitive timetable set for his return after that. Taillon was placed on the 15-day IL retroactive to July 1 in the hopes that he will not need to be moved to the 60-day IL, but with the trade deadline approaching, the Chicago Cubs may need that roster flexibility. In a corresponding move the Chicago Cubs recalled Jordan Wicks from AAA Iowa.

Manager Craig Counsell talked to the media about the injury and how the team plans to navigate Taillon’s absence. “This was just unfortunately an injury during training. He was running, and felt the grab yesterday after his bullpen. He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time here.” When discussing Wicks’ role with the Chicago Cubs, Counsell said, “He’s there to pitch in the bullpen. We’ll go from there.”

To fill Taillon’s spot in the starting rotation, the Chicago Cubs will likely look to Flexen, who Counsell raved about later in the appearance. “Yeah, he is a candidate to be stretched out for sure. I think he is prepared at this point to do a little bit more. We’re up to four innings with him, we’re up to 60 pitches in a game, so he’s capable of doing [that], at least further along than most guys.”