Wesneski Tosses Gem, Makes Strong case to Stay In Chicago Cubs Rotation

Chicago Cubs starter Hayden Wesneski looks to be back on track after a stellar start against the Washington Nationals.

Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks could rejoin the Chicago Cubs rotation very soon.

Hayden Wesneski wants to make the decision difficult for manager David Ross.

On Tuesday, Wesneski gave up just one run in six innings on 78 pitches. The bullpen didn’t come through and the Cubs fell 4-1 to the Washington Nationals.

Wesneski didn’t walk a batter and retired 10 of the last 12 batters he faced.

The Cubs will have some tough choices soon with their starting rotation.

Wesneski proved that he should be in the mix.

“My work in between starts is getting a lot better,” Wesneski told reporters. “We are starting to figure out what my game plan is. All these starters that are at the top of their game, their weeks are planned out. And we're starting to get to a point now where I'm getting into the rhythm of, ‘Hey, we have to do this every week: this on the first day, this on the second day, third day.’ That kind of locks me in on certain things.”

After a slow start, Wesneski has given up six runs in 22 1/3 innings with a 13-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his past four starts.

“He threw a lot of early count changeups to keep those guys off-balance, stuff going away from those lefties,” Ross said. “That was important. He locked his slider in later in the game, backdoor to those lefties. We made some nice defensive plays behind him. He had some hard contact early but looked like he settled in.”

He sure did. In the next week or two, it will be interesting to see what happens with the rotation.