Cubs<\/a> manager Craig Counsell said Friday morning at Wrigley Field. \u201cMore than a month.\u201d That marks the latest setback for a rotation that absorbed Justin Steele\u2019s season-ending elbow surgery and Shota Imanaga\u2019s nearly two-month absence due to a hamstring injury, and still compensated for those two All-Stars.<\/p>\nThe 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.<\/p>\n
Jed Hoyer\u2019s 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\u2019s creativity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese things happen,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cYou have to, as an organization, be prepared for the next step, the next solution. That\u2019s where we\u2019ll be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Counsell\u00a0will 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 \u201cSunday Night Baseball\u201d at the Friendly Confines. After this weekend, the Cubs will only have to cover six more games before the four-day All-Star break.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a little room for us to be flexible right now,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cWe\u2019ll use that to our advantage and go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until a recent blip, Taillon had been one of the team\u2019s most reliable pitchers (4.44 ERA in 17 starts). Counsell said Taillon \u201cfelt a grab\u201d while running after Thursday\u2019s bullpen session. The Cubs recalled Jordan Wicks from Triple-A Iowa to take Taillon\u2019s spot on the active roster, but the left-handed pitcher will not slot into the rotation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
(Photo: Duane Burleson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 All along, the Chicago Cubs expected to add more pitching by the July 31 trade deadline…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":42705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1271,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-42704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-chicago-cubs","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114804888986671441","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}