by Team Del Genio
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2025Jameson Taillon completed his sixth start of the season last Sunday at home against the Philadelphia Phillies for Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. He went into that start with a 1-1 record with a 4.73 era and a 1.20 whip in his previous five starts.
The right-hander got hit hard in his opening start of the season at Arizona in March when he gave up six runs in 4 1/3 innings. In his four starts since, he has posted a 3.23 era and a 1.03 whip.
What was perhaps most encouraging is that opposing hitters are only producing a hard-hit rate of the batted balls in play against him in 27.2% of their batted balls which is a career-low for Taillon. He had a 12-8 record last season with the Cubs with a 3.27 era and a 1.13 whip, and his recent four starts are right in line with those numbers.
We backed Taillon and the Chicago Cubs in our National League Game of the Month against the Phillies’ Aaron Nola. The Cubs lost the game although it is difficult to place much of the blame on Taillon. The 33-year-old gave up only one earned run in seven innings of work. He only struck out two batters yet he scattered just five base hits and did not walk a batter. He left the game with the score tied at 1-1 before the game went to extra innings. Philadelphia scored twice in the top of the tenth inning and won the game by a 3-1 score.
Taillon ends the month with a 1-1 record with a 4.01 era and a 1.10 whip. Take away that subpar opening effort in March against the Diamondbacks and Taillon has a 2.76 era and a 0.96 whip in his previous five starts. The hard-hit rate for the balls put into play against him dropped to 26.0% after the start against the Phillies. In his three starts at home at Wrigley Field, Taillon has a 2.50 era and a 0.89 whip.
Looking forward, the lack of strikeouts from Taillon in that start warrants further attention, although he has never been a dynamic strikeout pitcher. His best year for strikeout rate was in 2021 with the New York Yankees when he struck out 23.2% of opposing hitters. After striking out 18.5% of opposing hitters last year pitching for the Cubs, that clip has risen to 19.0% this year.
Another noteworthy aspect of that game was that Aaron Nola had his best outing of the season. He only allowed one run and three hits in seven innings of work. That was an encouraging way to end April after perhaps the worst start of his career given his 0-5 record with a 6.43 era and a 1.61 whip in his first five starts before then. One of the problems he was experiencing was that his fastball was down a mile or two from his miles-per-hour average last year. His command is off as well. He was walking 8.7% of the batters he has faced and averaging 3.54 bases-on-balls per nine innings which are both the second-worst marks in his eleven-year career. He walked only one Cubs batter last Sunday, and Nola said this about his command going into that effort: “I have to focus on the small things that I usually do, which is to get the leadoff hitter out, first-pitch strikes, and walks,” he continued. “I had two [walks] the other night, but the past two games before that, I had four each game, which is kind of unacceptable for me. I’m not a guy who usually walks a lot of guys in my career. That’s not really me.” Nola may have righted the ship regarding his command.
Good luck - TDG.
The right-hander got hit hard in his opening start of the season at Arizona in March when he gave up six runs in 4 1/3 innings. In his four starts since, he has posted a 3.23 era and a 1.03 whip.
What was perhaps most encouraging is that opposing hitters are only producing a hard-hit rate of the batted balls in play against him in 27.2% of their batted balls which is a career-low for Taillon. He had a 12-8 record last season with the Cubs with a 3.27 era and a 1.13 whip, and his recent four starts are right in line with those numbers.
We backed Taillon and the Chicago Cubs in our National League Game of the Month against the Phillies’ Aaron Nola. The Cubs lost the game although it is difficult to place much of the blame on Taillon. The 33-year-old gave up only one earned run in seven innings of work. He only struck out two batters yet he scattered just five base hits and did not walk a batter. He left the game with the score tied at 1-1 before the game went to extra innings. Philadelphia scored twice in the top of the tenth inning and won the game by a 3-1 score.
Taillon ends the month with a 1-1 record with a 4.01 era and a 1.10 whip. Take away that subpar opening effort in March against the Diamondbacks and Taillon has a 2.76 era and a 0.96 whip in his previous five starts. The hard-hit rate for the balls put into play against him dropped to 26.0% after the start against the Phillies. In his three starts at home at Wrigley Field, Taillon has a 2.50 era and a 0.89 whip.
Looking forward, the lack of strikeouts from Taillon in that start warrants further attention, although he has never been a dynamic strikeout pitcher. His best year for strikeout rate was in 2021 with the New York Yankees when he struck out 23.2% of opposing hitters. After striking out 18.5% of opposing hitters last year pitching for the Cubs, that clip has risen to 19.0% this year.
Another noteworthy aspect of that game was that Aaron Nola had his best outing of the season. He only allowed one run and three hits in seven innings of work. That was an encouraging way to end April after perhaps the worst start of his career given his 0-5 record with a 6.43 era and a 1.61 whip in his first five starts before then. One of the problems he was experiencing was that his fastball was down a mile or two from his miles-per-hour average last year. His command is off as well. He was walking 8.7% of the batters he has faced and averaging 3.54 bases-on-balls per nine innings which are both the second-worst marks in his eleven-year career. He walked only one Cubs batter last Sunday, and Nola said this about his command going into that effort: “I have to focus on the small things that I usually do, which is to get the leadoff hitter out, first-pitch strikes, and walks,” he continued. “I had two [walks] the other night, but the past two games before that, I had four each game, which is kind of unacceptable for me. I’m not a guy who usually walks a lot of guys in my career. That’s not really me.” Nola may have righted the ship regarding his command.
Good luck - TDG.
