CHICAGO — All along, the Chicago Cubs expected to add more pitching by the July 31 trade deadline and reinforce their first-place team for a playoff run. However, now that Jameson Taillon is sidelined with a strained right calf muscle, a flexible plan is even more imperative.

Taillon will miss a “significant amount of time,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Friday morning at Wrigley Field. “More than a month.” That marks the latest setback for a rotation that absorbed Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow surgery and Shota Imanaga’s nearly two-month absence due to a hamstring injury, and still compensated for those two All-Stars.

The Cubs reached the Fourth of July with a firm lead in the National League Central and the biggest run differential in the majors. Even when Taillon was healthy, the Cubs were planning to inquire about virtually every major-league pitcher who might get traded this month.

Jed Hoyer’s front office is in a strong position to buy at the trade deadline, largely through an explosive offense, an elite defense and a revamped bullpen that has highlighted the club’s creativity.

“These things happen,” Counsell said. “You have to, as an organization, be prepared for the next step, the next solution. That’s where we’ll be.”

Counsell will take the pragmatic approach. The Cubs will make it a bullpen game on Saturday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals. Matthew Boyd, a possible All-Star selection, is lined up for “Sunday Night Baseball” at the Friendly Confines. After this weekend, the Cubs will only have to cover six more games before the four-day All-Star break.

“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said. “We’ll use that to our advantage and go from there.”

Until a recent blip, Taillon had been one of the team’s most reliable pitchers (4.44 ERA in 17 starts). Counsell said Taillon “felt a grab” while running after Thursday’s bullpen session. The Cubs recalled Jordan Wicks from Triple-A Iowa to take Taillon’s spot on the active roster, but the left-handed pitcher will not slot into the rotation.

Chris Flexen, who threw 160 innings for the Chicago White Sox last year, is a candidate to be stretched out as a starter. Signed to a minor-league deal during spring training, Flexen has gone 5-0 with a 0.62 ERA in 16 appearances out of the bullpen.

Javier Assad, who was once projected to be part of the Opening Day rotation, remains on the 60-day injured list with a strained oblique muscle. Barring any more setbacks, the Cubs hope Assad will continue his throwing program and be ready for major-league action at some point in August.

(Photo: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)