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3 likely candidates to start for the Chicago Cubs on Thursday
The Chicago Cubs are rolling with a four-man starting rotation right now with Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks still on the injured list. With no off days this week, the team will need to find a starting pitcher for Thursday's game against the Washington Nationals to keep everyone on regular rest. There are limited options right now since Adrian Sampson is on the Iowa Cubs' injured list and Javier Assad just pitched on Sunday so he would be on limited rest should he be called back up. With few options, here are the most likely candidates to get the ball on Thursday.
1. Caleb Kilian
Kilian made a spot start on Saturday against the Marlins, where he looked very out of sorts. It was his first start of the year at the major league level and he faced a Marlins lineup that is formidable, but not elite. However, Kilian went just 3.1 innings and gave up 10 hits and 7 earned runs. Kilian's command was most concerning as he hit two batters and threw several high and in pitches came close to making contact with hitters.
Despite these struggles, Kilian is one of the most likely candidates to start on Thursday as he is one of the only depth starters on the 40-man roster that is currently healthy. He would also be on six days of rest on Thursday and face a slightly less intimidating Washington Nationals lineup. But if the Cubs are not willing to give Kilian another chance so soon after his blowup game, they may decide to go another route.
2. Ryan Jensen
The Cubs may decide to look deeper into their system and pluck Ryan Jensen out of AA to make his major league debut. The 25-year-old right-hander currently ranks 28th on the Cubs' top 30 prospect list and the Cubs drafted him in the first round of the 2019 draft. Although his command is an issue (13 walks this season) he hurls a two-seam fastball that tops out at 98mph.
Jensen is the only player on the Tennessee Smokies roster that is also on the 40-man now that Ben Brown has been promoted to Iowa and catcher Miguel Amaya was called up to the active roster on Tuesday. Jensen has put up ok numbers this season, with a 4.00 ERA over 5 starts with 23 strikeouts in 18 innings. He would be on normal rest having made his last start on Saturday where he tossed 4 innings. The biggest thing Jensen has going for him is that Miguel Amaya, the main catcher for the Smokies this year, was just called up to the big leagues. However, the Amaya move was probably made because Yan Gomes is likely to enter concussion protocol after taking a bat to the head on Monday night.
3. Keegan Thompson (bullpen day)
Probably the most likely option would be to do a bullpen day, where Keegan Thompson would probably kick things off. Thompson made 17 starts last year he has gone multiple innings four times this year. Depending on how he pitches, the Cubs would look to get 3-4 innings out of Thompson before handing it over to the rest of the bullpen. Adbert Alzolay has also gone multiple innings, but not since April 11th.
With all the injuries to the starting depth, and Kilian struggling, a bullpen day will save the team from burning an option on either Kilian or Jensen. It will help if Marcus Stroman goes deep into Wednesday's game to save some arms for Thursday, which is likely considering how he has pitched recently (2.29 ERA in 6 starts).
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