MESA, Ariz. – Cubs lefty Justin Steele is expecting to make his next start, “no problem.”
The Cubs scratched him from his start Saturday, what would have been his first start of spring training, for what the team called general arm fatigue. Steele said he felt tired and “draggy” in his last bullpen.
“Sat with [pitching coach Tommy Hottovy], and we just discussed it,” Steele recounted Monday, “and it was just like, it doesn’t make sense to push it out there and make something worse than what it already is.”
Steele is scheduled to throw a bullpen Tuesday and then rejoin the rotation. He said he’s already built up to two or three innings. So, if everything goes to plan, his missed start shouldn’t put him behind schedule.
Did Steele do too much too early, resulting in injury? Or was starting early beneficial, giving him the leeway to recover?
“You could look at it both ways,” he said. “I definitely worked hard this offseason. I’ve done a lot to get to where I am today. So just made sense for us to not press the gas pedal because I’m already in a really good spot.”
Taillon makes Cubs spring debut
Right-hander Jameson Taillon took the Sloan Park mound in pinstripes for the first time Monday, in a game the Cubs would go on to lose 12-4 to the Guardians.
“It’s always exciting to get that first one,” Taillon said. “Just remember what the routine I go through is on a start day and the timing of everything, and the pregame bullpen and routine and everything. It felt good.”
Taillon retired the side in order in the first inning but gave up a pair of singles and a two-run home run in the next. He left the game when he reached his 40-pitch limit, with two outs in the second.
Taillon did debut his sweeper slider. The only one he threw was to Guardians catcher Mike Zunino, who fouled it off.
“Today we just wanted to be in the zone, fill it up, let the hitters tell us what they were seeing,” he said. “And then we can make adjustments from there. So the first one, nothing too crazy.”
This spring training will be paced much differently than last year, when the lockout shortened the preparation for the season. Taillon, coming back from ankle surgery, only got two spring training starts in 2022.
During Taillon’s post-start debriefing Monday, Hottovy reminded him, “The good news is, we’ve got time.”
Pitch clock confusion
When Cubs prospect Brennen Davis stepped into the batter’s box to lead off the third inning of the Cubs’ split squad game Monday in Scottsdale, the count was already 1-1.
The umpire called a double clock violation, one against Diamondbacks pitcher Joe Mantiply and one against Davis.
“He threw his warm-up pitches until the pitch clock expired,” Davis told a pool reporter. “I didn’t know I was supposed to enter the box even if that’s going on.”
Davis was familiar with the pitch clock after playing with it last year in Triple-A.
The delay seemed to stem from Arizona catcher Carson Kelly recording the last out the inning before. It took longer for him to put on his catcher’s gear and get behind the plate.