As the MLB trade deadline neared, the Chicago Cubs were already in need of starting pitchers, a situation that worsened when Jameson Tallion was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a strained right calf. The 33-year-old could potentially miss more than the designated 15 days, with Cubs manager Craig Counsel expressing hopes that Tallion would be sidelined for over a month following his injury sustained after a bullpen session on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Tallion has made 17 starts this season, sharing the team lead with Matthew Boyd. He holds a 4.44 ERA with 75 strikeouts across 95 1\/3 innings pitched. However, he has allowed 22 home runs, ranking second among MLB starting pitchers in this category.<\/p>\n
To fill Tallion’s spot on the roster, the Cubs called up Jordan Wicks from Triple-A Iowa. Wicks has appeared 12 times this season (starting 11 games), posting a 4.06 ERA and recording 46 strikeouts in 44 1\/3 innings. He has been impressive recently, with a 1.65 ERA over his last five starts, but Cubs manager Counsel indicated Wicks will be used out of the bullpen during this period.<\/p>\n
Wicks, 25, had previously pitched for the Cubs earlier this season, making two relief appearances where he gave up three runs over two innings, resulting in a 13.50 ERA. Tallion’s next scheduled start was set for Saturday, but the Cubs plan to use a bullpen game with an opener instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese things happen,\u201d Counsel told reporters Friday. \u201cAs an organization, you have to prepare for the next step, the next solution. And that’s where we are.\u201d He added, \u201cNow there’s a small space for us to be flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Cubs aim to acquire a starting pitcher before the July 31 MLB trade deadline, Counsel may need to find a short-term solution. One option could be to extend reliever Chris Flex, who has mostly pitched as a starter over his eight-year career. \u201cHe’s certainly a stretchable candidate,\u201d Counsel said to the Chicago Sun-Times. \u201cHe’s ready to do a little more at this point… he pitched 160 innings last year as a major league starter.\u201d<\/p>\n
On June 27th, Flex pitched four innings in relief during a 7-4 loss to the Houston Astros, throwing 50 pitches in that outing.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Fan Take: This development is crucial for Cubs fans and baseball enthusiasts alike as it highlights the ongoing challenges teams face with injuries and roster adjustments during a critical part of the season. How the Cubs manage their pitching staff could impact their competitiveness and provide insight into team strategies as the trade deadline approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the MLB trade deadline neared, the Chicago Cubs were already in need of starting pitchers, a situation that worsened when Jameson Tallion was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a strained right calf. The 33-year-old could potentially miss more than the designated 15 days, with Cubs manager Craig Counsel expressing hopes that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[16],"class_list":{"0":"post-11000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}