The good news is that the Cubs get a member of the starting rotation back today. The bad news is that Kyle Hendricks has pitched to a 12.00 ERA over just 21 innings across his five starts so far. The other bad news is that Jameson Taillon was scratched from his scheduled start on Friday and will be out for a couple more days yet as he works through back stiffness that popped up in a recent bullpen.
“I definitely think I could pitch,” Taillon told reporters in Pittsburgh, “but it’s the right thing to do.”
Craig Counsell had initially planned to have Hendricks make another rehab start with Triple-A Iowa, but being cautious with Taillon and having Ben Brown throw nearly four innings on Friday changed the calculus.