Jameson Taillon’s disastrous Cubs return has the fanbase panicking big-time

Jameson Taillon hadn't exactly been sharp in his two Cactus League starts prior to leaving to join Team Canada for the World Baseball Classic. In six innings pitched, he allowed a staggering 13 earned runs on 13 hits - including six home runs.

But then he looked solid enough in the WBC and we all sort of breathed a sigh of relief. After all, we've seen plenty of guys who were rocky in the spring and went on to have perfectly fine regular seasons. His first start back with the Cubs on Sunday quickly reinvigorated those fears, though, when the Los Angeles Dodgers torched him for 10 earned runs on eight hits in just 3 1/3 innings of work.

That brings his spring ERA to an unsightly 22.18 in four starts - and with his velocity also down, at this point, it's worth wondering if there's cause for concern when it comes to the 34-year-old right-hander.

Cubs' rotation depth gives team a potential Jameson Taillon parachute

We're all aware of the rotation depth Craig Counsell and the Cubs enjoy heading into the season. Taillon is joined by the likes of Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga and Edward Cabrera as the projected Opening Day staff. That doesn't even take into account the likes of Colin Rea, Javier Assad and Ben Brown, the latter of whom has been brilliant this spring with a revamped arsenal.

Taillon wasn't all that sharp last spring (6.75 ERA in three starts) - but he's never had a spring anything close to this in his MLB career. I'm sure the Cubs are digging in on both his mechanics and health, and we'll see if we get any sort of update or if his rocky string of starts is chalked up to it still being spring training.

Entering his final year of team control, the hope is that Taillon brings the same level of consistency he's delivered his first three seasons with the team. But his spring struggles can't be completely overlooked; the good news is the sheer volume of arms waiting in the wings as potential reinforcements at least offers some concrete internal backup plans.