CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs line up as one of the prospective buyers, especially for pitching, as baseball’s July 31 trade deadline approaches.
In the meantime, Chicago — which entered Friday at 60-42 and a game behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central — is inching closer to having some injured pitchers return.
On Friday before a game against the White Sox at Rate Field, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said starter Jameson Taillon, out since July 1 with a right calf strain, is expected begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa next week.
The big right-hander threw a 47-pitch bullpen session Friday. Taillon is set to toss to live hitters in Milwaukee early next week and then report to the Cubs’ top affiliate.
Taillon is 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA and was mainstay in the Chicago’s rotation despite some ups and downs in his ninth major league season. The 33-year-old lost his final three straight games, with a 10.66 ERA in that span, after winning five in a row.
Taillon’s injury opened a second gap in a Chicago rotation that already was thinned when ace left-hander Justin Steele’s made only four starts before needing season-ending elbow surgery.