PHOENIX -- No one is going to read too much into one outing, especially not the first appearance of a long, six-month baseball season. Even with that being the case, if there is one pitcher on the Cubs¡¯ staff who will dive into the finer details of a start gone awry, it is veteran Jameson Taillon.
On Friday night, Taillon endured a rough season debut against the D-backs, allowing a pair of towering two-run homers to Eugenio Su¨¢rez en route to an 8-1 loss at Chase Field. This is not exactly a back-to-the-drawing-board moment, but rather a chance for Taillon to quickly identify the underlying issue.
"It¡¯s the beauty of being back into the routine of the season, you know?¡± Taillon said. ¡°There¡¯s going to be things that you need to make adjustments on and address. Unfortunately, mine¡¯s after Day 1. But I¡¯m confident that we¡¯ll do it.¡±
In his tenure with the North Siders, Taillon has shown that ability.
Last season, the 33-year-old Taillon dealt with diminished velocity, but still pieced together one of the more complete campaigns of his career. He logged a 3.27 ERA over 165 1/3 innings, proving to be a reliable cog in Chicago¡¯s rotation and giving him increased confidence to step up as a clubhouse leader both by example and in his words.
In his debut season with the Cubs in ¡®23, Taillon turned in a 3.38 ERA across his final 16 outings for the Cubs. That followed a tough 14-start stretch to begin the year that included a 6.93 ERA. Taillon was facing the pressure of a new four-year contract, but went to work, found mechanical flaws to address and made an impressive course correction.
This small-sample setback will be no different.
"Yeah, he¡¯s a true pro,¡± Cubs catcher Carson Kelly said. ¡°He¡¯s going to build off it and take the things he didn¡¯t do very well and go back to throw in a bullpen and work on those.¡±
It certainly did not help Taillon¡¯s cause that the disjointed nature of the past few weeks for the Cubs disrupted his Spring Training routine. The right-hander made three Cactus League starts, but Chicago¡¯s trip to Japan in the middle of this month for the Tokyo Series threw a wrench into the throwing programs of multiple pitches (Taillon included).
Taillon worked 4 1/3 innings in an exhibition start against the Yomiuri Giants on March 16 and then logged 4 2/3 frames in his final spring outing against the Rockies on Saturday. It would be easy to cite the staggered nature of this Spring Training for some delivery or location troubles on Friday night, but Taillon brushed off that suggestion.
"I don¡¯t really want to blame that,¡± said Taillon, who lasted 4 1/3 innings against Arizona on Friday. ¡°I still feel really good. I would just say it¡¯s probably a little more about timing and stuff like that, and less about flying and all that. We¡¯ve had plenty of time to get that out, I feel like.¡±
The real problem for Taillon was Su¨¢rez.
In the second inning, following a single by Pavin Smith, Taillon started Su¨¢rez off with a cutter that found the heart of the zone. The D-backs' third baseman launched the pitch into the left-field stands. In the fourth, following a double from Smith, Taillon slipped into a 3-1 count against Su¨¢rez. The righty fired a sweeper that also hung over the middle of the plate, which again found its way into the left-field seats.
Su¨¢rez¡¯s 34 home runs and 88 RBIs against the Cubs are his highest career totals for each category against a single opponent.
"Those were just middle pitches that a good home run hitter did what he does really well,¡± Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. ¡°Those were mistakes, and he made us pay for them.¡±
Taillon was asked where he wanted to land those two pitches to Su¨¢rez.
"Anywhere but there,¡± Taillon said. ¡°Away. Obviously, he hits mistakes, but he also has good coverage, I feel like, on breaking balls middle and down. Just, outer edge. Get him to roll it over or something.
¡°Both of them just kind of backed up and really didn¡¯t have the shape I wanted, either. It¡¯s hard to get your lines right when your pitches aren¡¯t really doing what you want them to.¡±
Taillon will try to get to the bottom of that problem in the coming days.
¡°He¡¯s going to bounce back and be perfectly fine,¡± Kelly said.