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After a convincing 10-6 win in the desert on Thursday night, right-hander Jameson Taillon gets the ball for the second game of the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Taillon will be making his season debut as the Chicago Cubs look to get back to a .500 record.
After a shaky debut season for the Cubs in 2023, Taillon bounced back in 2024 for arguably his best season to date, putting forward a 12-8 record with a 3.27 ERA, establishing himself as a consistent member of the Cubs’ rotation. His 165 1/3 innings pitched ranked second only behind Shota Imanaga, who placed in the top five in both Cy Young and Rookie of the Year Award voting in the National League.
His success on the mound resulted in his name being thrown around more than a few times in trade rumors, however it looks like the veteran right-hander will be sticking around Chicago for at least one more season.
What does this mean for Jameson Taillon and the Cubs in 2025?
Taillon did not have the greatest of Spring Trainings, giving up eight runs on 13 hits in 10.2 innings pitched. While he did strike out 12 batters, his five home runs given up were less than ideal.
FanGraphs projects a 10-10 record for Taillon, with an ERA of 4.32 in 165 innings. Baseball Reference is a bit more generous with theirs, giving him a 10-8 record with a 3.93 ERA in 158 innings.
At the moment, Taillon slots into the number three slot in the rotation behind Imanaga and Justin Steele, the latter going a second straight game without his best stuff. Behind him are Matthew Boyd and Ben Brown, both of whom are looking to establish/re-establish themselves as meaningful members of a big-league rotation.
Looking at the back end of the rotation, Taillon does not have much room for error. The Cubs will be relying on the right-hander to outperform his projections and be an above-average middle-of-the-rotation guy if they want any chance of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.