Chicago Cubs starter now ranks as the worst pitcher in MLB

The Chicago Cubs are in a really bad place right now. Unfortunately, this current funk of theirs seems to be of the “when it rains, it pours” variety.

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There are many focuses for blame at the moment. Actually, just about everything is going wrong. But the cold, hard truth is that the team has lost ten of its last twelve and is in freefall down the NL Central Division standings, tumbling from first place to third.

The offense has flatlined. Their elite defense has even broken down at times. And, of course, there’s the pitching, which has been stressed and strained due to injury, but isn’t doing very well right now, regardless of health status.

“Worst pitcher in MLB?”

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To put a face to the general fail, starter Jameson Taillon—after yesterday’s four-earned run, 4.2 inning performance against the Astros—has now earned the dubious distinction of being the worst pitcher in all of baseball.

Cole Bair of Bleacher Nation pointed this out on Saturday’s roundup of Cubs news and notes:

“Meanwhile, Jameson Taillon remains embroiled in his funk. Look no further than his fWAR dropping to -0.7 after yesterday’s start — good for last among qualified MLB pitchers.”

The fWAR measurement is a tool created by Fangraphs to measure a pitcher’s value independent of the defense behind him, measuring stats the pitcher controls directly, such as home runs, walks, and strikeouts. It’s generally considered the truest barometer of a pitcher’s actual ability.

Jameson Taillon is in a bad place

The 34-year-old Taillon, who’s in the last year of his 4-year, $68 million contract with the Cubs, is definitely a glass-half-full kind of guy, though. Maybe to the point of delusion.

“I thought I made a lot of good pitches today and I thought some of the things I worked on are trending, but not completing even five innings is disappointing,” the right-hander told reporters after Friday’s loss. “The game’s a little hard right now for a lot of us…When the game punches you a little bit you gotta punch back and find a way. That’s kind of where I’m at…I need to punch back. I can say I thought I made good pitches all I want, but it comes down to results and it wasn’t good enough today.”

Not good enough is an understatement.

Back in spring training, there were legit concerns over a sudden loss in velocity and some rough outings that came from that. Those concerns have become blaring alarm sirens just ten starts into the year as he carries a 5.20 ERA. In his last two starts, he’s allowed 12 earned runs in 9.2 innings pitched.

The rough part for the Cubs is that they pretty much have no choice but to keep putting him out there every fifth day. Injuries to Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd, as well as the rehab setback of Justin Steele and what may be a lingering blister issue with Edward Cabrera, make Taillon a “must use” starter.

He’ll just have to figure things out or go down with the Cubs ship.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-jameson-taillon-worst-pitcher-fwar/