Cubs Not Concerned About Troubling Outing From High-Priced Starting Pitcher

Despite the rough first outing of the year, the Chicago Cubs aren't worried about their veteran starter.

Mar 28, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon (50) throws in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have been greatly affected by their trip to Japan.

Not only was their spring abbreviated, but traveling to Asia and back for a quick two-game set ahead of domestic Opening Day showdown on the road has already put mileage on the team that others in Major League Baseball don't have.

Because of that, there should be some grace given to the Cubs.

They won their first game of the season on Thursday when they smashed the Arizona Diamondbacks, but they followed that up by getting destroyed themselves on Friday.

Much of the damage done was against starting pitcher Jameson Taillon.

The veteran right-hander gave up six earned runs on nine hits across his 4.1 innings of work, striking out just one batter compared to allowing two homers to Eugenio Suarez alone.

It's an alarming start to the year for Taillon, who has had an up-and-down tenure since arriving in Chicago ahead of the 2023 campaign, but it's not something anyone is worried about.

"Yeah, he's a true pro. He's going to build off it and take the things he didn't do very well and go back to throw in a bullpen and work on those," catcher Carson Kelly said, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. "He's going to bounce back and be perfectly fine."

If this took place last season, then that might not be the feeling.

Taillon, after signing a four-year, $68 million deal, struggled during his first campaign with the Cubs, posting a 4.84 ERA and ERA+ of 88 that did not live up to the contract.

However, he turned things around last season, producing a 3.27 ERA and ERA+ that was 22 points above the league average of 100 that more closely resembled the type of starter Chicago believed they were getting.

Taillon was affected by the abbreviated spring, making just two starts in the month of March with an exhibition game appearance in Japan.

He's not blaming his performance on that fact, but he is excited to get back to a normal routine and address some of the things that happened in his first start of the year.

"It's the beauty of being back into the routine of the season. There's going to be things that you need to make adjustments on and address. Unfortunately, mine's after day one. But I'm confident we'll do it," Taillon said, per Andy Martinez of Marquee Sports Network.

Hopefully that will allow him to produce like a top-end starter for the Cubs again.

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