ICYMI, Jameson Taillon was scratched from his scheduled Saturday start against the Rockies at Sloan Park, and left his bullpen warmup with some sort of back issue. The team hopes to know more about that sometime today.

If you look at the video I shot of his warmup Saturday at that link, it did not look good when Taillon walked very slowly off the bullpen mound.

So the question arises: If Taillon is out for a while, or doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, who will take his rotation spot?

Unlike many past years, the Cubs do have some alternatives. Here are some possible choices.

Drew Smyly

Smyly is scheduled to start Sunday’s game against the Rangers. His first 15 starts last year were quite good — he posted a 3.38 ERA and 1.222 WHIP. After that, though, yikes: He had a 9.35 ERA in his next four starts and got moved to the pen. He did well there, but in three subsequent starts he allowed 19 earned runs in 13⅓ innings and was moved back to relief work.

In 12 relief outings after that, Smyly posted a 1.53 ERA and 1.245 WHIP and allowed just one home run in 17⅔ innings. He seems better suited for that long relief role.

Javier Assad

Over the last two seasons, Assad has made 41 appearances for the Cubs, 18 of which were starts. He’s done well in both roles:

Starter: 2.99 ERA, 1.317 WHIP in 90⅓ innings, 13 HR allowed
Reliever: 3.18 ERA, 1.235 WHIP in 56⅔ innings, 4 HR allowed

Seems just a bit better out of the pen, especially keeping the ball in the ballpark.

Hayden Wesneski

Wesneski had a great spring in 2023 and won the fifth starter role. He proceeded to get lit up: Eight starts, 5.03 ERA, 1.322 WHIP, 10 HR in 39x innings, even though four of those eight starts were decent. (The other four, don’t look. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

He got sent to Triple-A Iowa after that and was up and down several times to Iowa, pitching mostly in relief when he returned to the majors. He had a decent September with a 3.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 15 innings over 11 outings.

One thing that has been noted by some (including me) about Wesneski is that he appears to think too much on the mound instead of pitch, especially with runners on base. He’s got talent and a good pitch mix, but sometimes I feel like he just needs to pitch more and think less.

Ben Brown

While Brown has been primarily a starter since being acquired by trade in 2022, I think the Cubs see him beginning his MLB career in the bullpen. He has allowed one run in six relief innings so far this spring. He’s got no MLB experience so I think the Cubs might rather go with one of the other three.

What do you think? My gut feeling says the Cubs would probably go with Smyly if Taillon is out for any length of time, but perhaps you have a different idea.

One last note: Some of you are likely to say, “Sign Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell.” I can tell you with almost 100 percent certainty that’s not going to happen.