CALL THEM THE PORT SIDERS
Cubs might find themselves in an unusual position with four left-handers in rotation
MESA, Ariz. — Cubs lefty Drew Smyly paused, and a bemused smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. He wasn’t quite sure what to say when presented with the possibility of his team beginning the season with four left-handers in the five-man rotation.
“If it was four righties, I don’t think it would even be a conversation,” he said. “But four lefties, it’s weird, right?”
He was right, no one would bat an eye at a righty-heavy rotation. But the novelty of an almost exclusively left-handed group of starters to begin the season became a real possibility when low back tightness sidelined right-hander Jameson Taillon last week.
Taillon played catch at 120 feet Saturday, and the team hopes that he’ll begin throwing off a mound early next week, according to pitching coach Tommy Hottovy.
“He’s feeling better every single day,” Hottovy said. “I want to make sure he’s completely symptom-free, there’s no activities that are going to cause him to have any feeling that there might be tightness in the low back or anything like that.”
The Cubs already had determined that Taillon likely would begin the season on the injured list. Building up to a starter’s workload before Opening Day, in less than two weeks, would be a tall task. So, there’s no clock ticking over his recovery.
“When it comes to things like that, something that came up right when he was warming up for a game, I really want to make sure that he doesn’t have any issues in catch play, that the mechanics look good, before jumping on the mound,” Hottovy said.
As the rotation situation stands, lefthander Justin Steele is set to take the ball on Opening Day. Right-hander Kyle Hendricks and lefty Shota Imanaga are the other rotation locks. The Cubs can get to four lefties if Smyly and rookie southpaw Jordan Wicks claim the last two spots.
“With how right-handed we’ve been in the past, it’s amazing for us to even be thinking or talking about having four lefties in the rotation,” Hottovy said. “So it’s just so unique.”
It’s far from a sure thing. Right-handers Javier Assad and Hayden Wesneski are also competing for Opening Day rotation spots. But the four-lefty conversation illustrates the point that manager Craig Counsell and Hottovy aren’t going to base rotation decisions on handedness, especially when it’s a temporary solution.
“Whenever you have a good mix of young and veteran players, you’re evaluating a lot of different things,” Hottovy said. “And right now we’re seeing young guys really take a step forward in what they’ve done this offseason and in the spring. You’ve seen some veteran guys that have also worked really hard to continue to improve and get better. So, it’s a fun problem to have when you have a lot of guys who you feel like are clicking at this time, getting ready for the season.”
Taillon’s injury isn’t expected to sideline him long term. If the Cubs backdate Taillon’s IL stint, he could be eligible to be activated when the Cubs are barely through two turns in the rotation.
“You can have these preconceived notions that, ‘Oh, four lefties is too many,’” pitching Hottovy said. “Well, who knows? Honestly, some of the best teams in this league have a lot of left-handed hitters.”
It’s not a rule, but left-handed pitchers tend to match up well against left-handed hitters.
“We all kind of get different looks,” said Smyly, who started against the Royals on Saturday. “I don’t think it matters. You’ve got to go get outs. You’ve got to be able to go give your team a chance to win.”