Timeline revealed for Jameson Taillon's return to Chicago Cubs starting rotation

Jameson Taillon's return to the Chicago Cubs starting rotation gained a level of importance after Justin Steele went down with a hamstring injury on Thursday.

Steele was the one player on the Cubs' roster that could not be replaced. While the Cubs will need to try and tread water until he returns from his IL stint, Taillon's return to the Major League staff can not come soon enough.

Taillon pitched in a simulated game in Arizona on Friday with the expectation that he will begin a rehab assignment with the Iowa Cubs early next week. In providing an update on Taillon's recovery, Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (Subscription Required) mentions that the end of the team's 9-game West Coast trip may be the target date.

After three consecutive road series against the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cubs return to Wrigley Field on April 18 to begin a four-game series against the Miami Marlins. That is likely the series when Taillon will make his 2024 debut.

Jameson Taillon's return to the Chicago Cubs is still weeks away.

Prior to the injury to Steele, there was already pressure on Taillon to prove that the success he had during the second half of the 2023 season is what the Cubs will need immediately upon him making his return.

Taillon's 2023 season was a tale of two halves as the veteran struggled considerably during the first half of the season before posting a 3.70 ERA in his 82.2 innings pitched last season. It's not an ideal spot to be in for the Cubs to be reliant on a veteran starting pitcher dealing with a back injury after struggling in 2023, but this is the bed they made for themselves after passing on the chance to sign Jordan Montgomery.

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