Jameson Taillon Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Cubs May Be Nearing Panic Button With Jameson Taillon

Originally posted on Chicago Cubs on SI
By Michael Brauner | Last updated Mar 16, 2026 10:12 AM ET

The Chicago Cubs are sitting about a week and a half away from Opening Day for a season that has more promise than this organization has seen in at least a decade.

Last year was the team's first taste of playoff success in a long time, and now the hope and expectation is that they will be taking the next step for hopefully a division title and an even deeper run this October.

In order to make that happen, though, the pitching staff will have to be a little bit less of a roller coaster, both in terms of depth and production. Unfortunately, however, one of their most reliable arms from the stretch run of 2025 has had an absolutely dreadful spring and looks far from midseason form.

Spring training stats are meant to be taken with a grain of salt, but Chicago veteran Jameson Taillon's numbers are too poor to ignore right now with the season so close.

Jameson Taillon putting up staggeringly poor numbers for Cubs

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Taillon is tied for the most starts on the team so far this spring, with four of them, and the numbers are so poor that they are almost not even worth mentioning. In 9.1 innings, it's a 22.18 ERA and 3.00 WHIP for the right-hander with 21 hits and 23 earned runs allowed.

His latest outing over the weekend saw him give up two home runs and 10 earned runs over 3.1 innings. Though he was solid in his one start for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic, Taillon looks to be struggling with velocity, command, hard hit balls and everything in between.

After it was his stretch run and playoff performance that largely carried Chicago last September and October, seeing this version of Taillon is not something this team expected. The question now becomes whether or not he can get this fixed before his first regular season start.

How concerned should the Cubs be about Taillon?

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Taillon did not have a particularly strong spring a year ago with a 6.75 ERA across three starts prior to what ended up being a strong year, but these numbers are particularly troubling. He may have one more start remaining to work some things out, but Taillon has not done anything this spring to inspire confidence for the start of the year.

Historically, the veteran has tended to get off to slow starts in a season, so it would not be shocking to see him take some time to get going. With that being said, if regular-season results are anything like the spring has been, there could be a stint on the injured list in his future.

Taillon needs to get it together and do it quickly if he's going to avoid being a complete liability for the first month of the season. Time will tell if he can do just that, or if Chicago needs to go in another direction when it comes to replacing that important spot in the starting rotation this year.

This article first appeared on Chicago Cubs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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