CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs line up as one of the prospective buyers, especially for pitching, as baseball’s July 31 trade deadline approaches.
In the meantime, Chicago — which entered Friday at 60-42 and a game behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central — is inching closer to having some injured pitchers return.
On Friday before a game against the White Sox at Rate Field, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said starter Jameson Taillon, out since July 1 with a right calf strain, is expected begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa next week.
The big right-hander threw a 47-pitch bullpen session Friday. Taillon is set to toss to live hitters in Milwaukee early next week and then report to the Cubs’ top affiliate.
Taillon is 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA and was mainstay in the Chicago’s rotation despite some ups and downs in his ninth major league season. The 33-year-old lost his final three straight games, with a 10.66 ERA in that span, after winning five in a row.
Taillon’s injury opened a second gap in a Chicago rotation that already was thinned when ace left-hander Justin Steele’s made only four starts before needing season-ending elbow surgery.
Right-hander Javier Assad also is expected to join Iowa next week. Assad has not pitched this season due to a left oblique strain, but was 7-6 with a 3.73 ERA in 29 starts last season.
Righty Porter Hodge, out since July 8 with right shoulder impingement, is scheduled to pitch for Iowa on Saturday. Hodge is 2-1 with a 6.85 ERA in 26 relief appearances this season.
Catcher Miguel Amaya, recovering from a left oblique strain, also is expected to join Iowa next week. He’s batting .280 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 29 games this season, but hasn’t played since May 24.
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