Jameson Taillon's dazzling return gives Cubs hope and flexibility down the stretch

After a lifeless start to their big five-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs came roaring back on Tuesday with their most encouraging day of baseball in a long while. They took both games of the doubleheader, starting with a resurgent performance by the offense led by Owen Caissie in game one. In game two, however, the story, aside from even more offensive highlights, was a remarkable return for Jameson Taillon.

The right-hander's last start came on June 29, just days before a right calf strain would land him on the injured list. Despite nearly two months off, though, he managed to hold a red-hot Brewers team to just one run over six innings with four strikeouts. The outing was even better than it shows on paper, too. In the first inning, he was one pitch away from a very quick opening, until the batters battled back and forced him to 30 pitches with an earned run.

Regardless, it was a very encouraging performance at a time when the Cubs desperately needed it. Their 4-1 victory brought them back to within seven of the division title and handed the Brewers their first back-to-back losses in over three weeks. Taking the National League Central remains a long shot, but they've at least kept a glimmer of hope alive. More importantly, he helped them continue what's been a very strong stretch for the rotation, bringing their collective ERA down to 3.10 since the All-Star break — the best in MLB.

For Taillon, it was also a bit of a bounce back from his previous three starts before landing on the IL. Between Houston, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, he only threw 12 2/3 innings while giving up 15 runs. Perhaps the time taken to recover was also a chance for a bit of a reset to get back into the groove he was in before that stretch. In his 14 appearances prior, he racked up 82 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.48, though with a less stellar 4.64 FIP. For the entire season, he now holds a 4.26 ERA and 5.02 FIP.

Jameson Taillon's return gives the Cubs much-needed depth and upside

The Cubs need Taillon to continue pitching like he did on Monday to finish out the year strong. After their frustrating decision to leave the starting rotation largely unimproved at the deadline, save for the now-injured Mike Soroka, Jed Hoyer and company put a lot of weight on him and Javier Assad, providing much-needed reinforcements to a group with a lot of question marks. Assad, for his part, looked rusty in his first start back, and he's still somewhat limited after missing the entire season so far. Taillon also needs to work on curbing the home run problems he's struggled with this year, with 22 given up so far, even with the two months he spent on the shelf.

With both back, Craig Counsell can now pick and choose how he wants to deploy the rotation. For now, he's said he has no plans for a six-man group, but the possibility remains should he want to give his starters extra rest leading up to the postseason. That might be for the best for Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton specifically, considering this is the former's first full year since having Tommy John surgery and the latter is blowing past his career high in innings. It also provides some freedom to make interesting decisions, like sending Assad down to get reinforcements for the Brewers series.

The rotation now looks locked in with Boyd, Taillon, Horton, Shota Imanaga, and Colin Rea, alongside Ben Brown and Assad as depth. It still lacks the extra punch the deadline could've provided, but given the performances so far, the Cubs have a perfectly solid staff to pull from with a mix of upside and back-end depth. They should have enough now to make a postseason run, but will they be able to take down the class of the NL? That may depend on whether Taillon can remain on track as a top-three rotation arm and, more importantly, if everyone can just stay healthy.