Cubs' rotation battle: Right-hander Javier Assad a 'true pitcher'

MESA, Ariz.— Cubs right-hander Javier Assad landed a curveball on the inside half of the plate against the Rangers’ Jared Walsh for a called third strike to end his outing Sunday.

Assad, who’s competing for a rotation spot to open the season, held Texas to one run in 3⅔ innings and recorded four strikeouts.

“He’s a true pitcher,” manager Craig Counsell said. “And when I say that, that means skilled at reading swings, and adjusting pitch to pitch, and making good choices within that space, which is just hard to do. And generally, something we assign to experience. At a young age, I think he does that really well.”

The Cubs have their four candidates for the last two spots in the rotation — right-handers Assad and Hayden Wesneski, and lefties Drew Smyly and Jordan Wicks — lined up so that any of them could slot into the open start days while remaining on a normal five- or six-day schedule.

Smyly is expected to make the Opening Day roster, in one role or another. The other three also have the option of beginning the season in Triple-A Iowa to stay stretched out as starting depth.

“We’re all great teammates,” Assad said through team interpreter Fredy Quevedo. “We’re all great pitchers, and I believe that each one of us in the group of those guys has the ability to be in that. So we’re there supporting each other.”

Assad has found success both as a starter and multi-inning reliever. The Cubs will likely lean on that versatility again this year.

“We’re looking to get 27 outs,” Counsell said. “And it doesn’t really matter how we get them. And sometimes, to complement each other, we have to do it in different ways, to take advantage of each other’s strengths. Javy puts himself in a place to be able to do that. That’s going to make him more valuable to everybody else and to the group.”

Taillon gives context

Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon still isn’t sure the exact root of the low-back tightness that will likely land him on the injured list to begin the season. He said he has hurt his back twice before, deadlifting in 2019 and landing a squat jump awkwardly in 2022.

This time, he woke up with a stiff back the morning of his first scheduled Cactus League start about a week ago. He felt good to begin his pregame routine, but part way into his warmup on the mound, he felt something “tweak.”

“Why did I wake up sore that day?” he said Sunday, his first time addressing the media since his injury. “Could be lower-body stuff like that [calf soreness I experienced earlier in camp]. I also was throwing plyo balls the day before and slipped and fell. So maybe that put me in a compromised spot. Not 100% sure. But we’re attacking as a total thing, not just treating the back. We’re doing a lot of different things to try to prevent it from happening again.”

Taillon is targeting Tuesday or Wednesday for his first bullpen session since the injury. He hopes he’ll only need about a minimum 15-day IL stint to build up to a starter’s workload.

“I told them, ideally, I’d be ready for a couple innings on Opening Day,” he said. “I’m in their ear about it. But I need to build up to 100 pitches. So, yeah, I’m targeting the minimum amount of time, and if something crazy happens, I told them, I’ll be taking care of business, and I’ll be ready if they need me.”

Camp cuts

The Cubs trimmed their spring-training roster to 42 players. They optioned two players to Triple-A Iowa (right-hander Keegan Thompson and first baseman Matt Mervis) and assigned three non-roster invitees to minor-league camp (right-hander Cam Sanders, catcher Bryce Windham and infielder Chase Strumpf.)

Cubs 8, Rangers 6

Cubs outfielder Ian Happ made his first Cactus League appearance since Feb. 29. A strained left hamstring had sidelined him for 2½ weeks. Happ went 1-for-3 with an RBI double as the designated hitter. He led off, with Seiya Suzuki, Cody Bellinger and Christopher Morel following him in a regular-season-like lineup. Manager Craig Counsell confirmed Happ could be a fit for the leadoff spot. “He’s a good hitter who gets on base a lot,” Counsell said.

— Corner infielder Patrick Wisdom was out of the lineup for a fourth straight day. He has been dealing with “a little bit of a stiff back,” Counsell said. But Wisdom is scheduled to get back into game action Tuesday. He also missed time this spring with tightness in his right quadriceps. Counsell said the two ailments are not related.

— Lefty Justin Steele threw five innings in a minor-league game Sunday, avoiding a matchup against the Rangers a week and a half before the Cubs (13-8-2) face them on Opening Day. Steele stretched out to 80 pitches.

— On deck: Day off Monday. Diamondbacks at Cubs, 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, Mesa, Marquee, 670-AM, TBD vs. Kyle Hendricks.