SAN FRANCISCO — Jameson Taillon’s status for his next turn in the Chicago Cubs’ rotation remains unclear.
Taillon exited Sunday’s start in Anaheim prematurely after 62 pitches because of left groin discomfort, only his second start back from missing seven weeks with a right calf strain. Manager Craig Counsell anticipates Taillon throwing off a mound Wednesday at Oracle Park so the Cubs can gauge how the veteran starter feels and then make a decision about his next start.
“Some level of concern still, definitely not a go for sure yet,” Counsell said Tuesday. “So we’ll give ourselves some more days to figure it out. … If it resolves itself in a couple days, which is certainly possible, then we should be good.”
Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy wants to see how Taillon looks off the mound before he feels comfortable sending the right-hander out for his next start. Hottovy also wants to make sure that something minor with his groin doesn’t cause something to pop up elsewhere, which the Cubs have seen happen in the past with Taillon.
“We need to really make sure that the groin is not causing any other issues or making him overcompensate or do something like that, so we really need to see him throw off the mound,” Hottovy said Tuesday. “For us, having (Javier Assad) as insurance is crazy valuable. We just kind of kind of wait and see how these next couple days go throwing, and then we make a decision.”
Michael Soroka takes a step forward in progression
Chicago Cubs starter Michael Soroka delivers a pitch during the first inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Michael Soroka threw his first bullpen on Tuesday since suffering a right shoulder strain in his Cubs debut on Aug. 4.
Soroka got in roughly 20 pitches at Oracle Park, an encouraging step for the 28-year-old. Given the remaining schedule, he likely won’t build up to a starter workload before the end of the season.
“He’s feeling better every single day, starting to progress to where he wants to be,” Hottovy said of Soroka. “So I think we’ve kind of turned the corner on the throwing side. Now it’s just making sure the build-up over this week is where we want it to be, but he looked good for the first one of really getting on it.”
Top pitching prospect back in game action
The Cubs do not solely rely on innings when evaluating a pitcher’s workload.
Just as they are keeping an eye on rookie Cade Horton’s workload as he pitches more innings than any season of his baseball career, the same approach has been applied to top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins. The 23-year-old was twice shut down for roughly one month each time, making one start for Double-A Knoxville in that span. He had been named to the Futures Game roster during the July All-Star break but was replaced.
Wiggins returned to game action Sunday, tossing three shutout innings while walking two and striking out two on 59 pitches for Knoxville. He is expected to pitch on a regular rotation schedule going forward and start to build up his innings again.
“We look at how their deliveries change over time, how their below changes over time,” assistant general manager Jared Banner said earlier this month. “We talk to them about how they feel. It’s less about innings limits now and more about the things we can measure and how they’re changing in one direction.
“There were some things we saw that we wanted to work on, giving him some time away from game activity. Development is not always happening in games, so just a part of his plan.”
When the Cubs selected Wiggins in the second round of the 2023 draft, they did so knowing it would take time for the right-hander to make his professional debut after undergoing Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss his final season at Arkansas.
“He’s had an amazing season after facing the injury adversity that he did,” Banner said. “He’s put a lot of work in terms of his delivery, in terms of his execution, and both of those things have really improved this season, so we’re really excited about him. We expect him to ultimately pitch up here in a Cubs uniform.”
Among their top 20 prospects, according to MLB.com, only five are pitchers: Wiggins (No. 4), right-hander Brandon Birdsell (No. 9), right-handers Kaleb Wing (No. 13) and Dominick Reid (No. 18), who were both drafted this year, and right-hander Grant Kipp (No. 19).
Birdsell, 25, made eight total starts this year after missing most of the spring and the first two months of the minor-league season due to a right lat strain he sustained in February. He has been sidelined since early August with a right elbow issue that requires season-ending surgery by Dr. Keith Meister. A surgery date has not yet been set. How long Birdsell will be out won’t be known until after the operation.
The Cubs have gotten important contributions from younger players whose development this year has played a big role in the major-league team’s success, led by 23-year-old center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, 24-year-old Horton, 23-year-old third baseman Matt Shaw and 25-year-old closer Daniel Palencia.
“To be a healthy organization, you need to have young players ready to step up and contribute,” Banner said. “So it’s a sign of our organizational health, and I think it’s a sign of a player development group that’s doing a really good job getting guys ready.”