The Cubs roster could be gaining some reinforcements soon.
Manager Craig Counsell told reporters in St. Louis on Saturday that a trio of players are inching closer to a return, including one as soon as the next series.
Catcher Miguel Amaya and right-handers Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad are all on rehab assignments with Triple-A Iowa, and Amaya is on track to return to the big-league club when the team heads north to Toronto for their next series beginning on Tuesday. Assad and Taillon’s timelines aren’t as clear, but they may make their next appearances at the big-league level.
“He’s going to play tomorrow night [with Iowa] and then, assuming everything goes well, he’ll join us at some point in Toronto,” Counsell told reporters at Busch Stadium before the second game of a three-game set against the Cardinals. “I think we’re going to wait until after tomorrow to kind of figure out the [pitching] plans for the week.”
Amaya landed on the injured list with a left oblique strain in late May and has been out since. He’s on the 60-day IL and his return would require a 40-man roster move, since that is full.
The Cubs selected the contract of Reese McGuire to serve as the backup catcher to Carson Kelly, and he’s served well in that role, posting a .717 OPS with six home runs and 16 RBI in 26 games. It’s far from a certainty that the Cubs would carry three catchers.
Taillon started on Friday for the Iowa Cubs, tossing 4.2 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts and allowing just three hits. It’s his second rehab outing – he allowed seven runs and a pair of home runs in three innings of work on August 3.
“I think he definitely felt like he made progress, and he was happy with everything and felt a little better about it,” Counsell said. “All good.”
Assad threw 4.1 innings of one-run ball on Wednesday night in his third rehab outing.
Taillon and Assad’s impending returns are encouraging for a rotation desperate for a lift. The starting group has been crushed by injuries all year – Justin Steele underwent season-ending elbow surgery in April, Shota Imanaga missed more than a month with a hamstring injury, Taillon has been out since the start of July, and Assad has yet to pitch in the majors this season.
The Cubs are 13th in starting pitching ERA this season (3.92) and added right-hander Michael Soroka from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline to provide a boost. Soroka lasted just two innings before going down with a shoulder injury that landed him on the 15-day IL.
The Cubs’ rotation is currently Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea and Cade Horton. They used Thursday’s off day as an opportunity to skip Soroka’s turn in the rotation, with Imanaga starting Sunday’s finale in St. Louis. They could conceivably skip that spot one more turn through the rotation, but after Monday’s off day, they have a stretch of 14 games in 13 days, so having Assad and Taillon back would be massive.