{"id":112204,"date":"2026-04-19T18:15:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/2026-cubs-heroes-and-goats-game-20\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T18:15:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:15:57","slug":"2026-cubs-heroes-and-goats-game-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/2026-cubs-heroes-and-goats-game-20\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 20"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Jameson Taillon did not look sharp early and then said as much during his postgame interview. But he got better as his start wore on. Just under half of Jameson\u2019s starts as a Cub have been quality starts. We all know that not all quality starts are created equal. Without any digging, there are some clunkers surely within that batch of games. But we also know that there are some good ones that didn\u2019t reach the minimum definition. In the modern game, there a lot of pretty good starts that don\u2019t reach six innings. He\u2019s now gone six innings three straight times. He\u2019s hanging around and giving the team a fighting chance. He\u2019s a good rotation piece for the marathon part of the process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Importantly, Jameson has stayed largely healthy throughout his Cub tenure. That\u2019s becoming a valuable skill. Any once perceived existence of depth has been decimated by a swath of early season pitching injuries. I\u2019ll admit to having blind spots for players on other rosters around the MLB. I put better than 90% of my baseball focus on the Cubs, so while I self-identify as a pretty knowledgeable Cub fan, I admit to being a casual baseball fan\u2019s knowledge of modern players. That is even worse when it comes to minor league players. Years ago, when the team was rebuilding, I woke up every day to read prospect stories (mostly written by Josh). But again, flying blind. At this point, I have to confess to being largely unaware of more than a third of the present Cub pitchers. I feel like I probably heard the names Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb somewhere in the past and feel like I was vaguely aware of Riley Martin. But I\u2019m going to need a scorecard sooner than later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s hard not to be at least a little distressed about the mounting injury toll. It\u2019s another display of the fickle nature of baseball that the injuries and the first sustained winning streak of the year are contemporaries of one another. You may have heard me say in the past that the road to the top isn\u2019t guaranteed and isn\u2019t a straight line. Ask the Toronto Blue Jays. They seemed to finally break through last year. They are off to a really rough start to 2026. Maybe they\u2019ll be able to draw on some past success to turn their early struggles around. But they certainly don\u2019t yet look like the team that got within a few inches of winning last year\u2019s World Series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After the Mets leave town, things are going to get a lot harder. The Phillies come to town for four, then the Cubs go west to face the Dodgers and Padres. All of that happens without a day off. Sunday\u2019s game against the reeling Mets is a big one. Get this sweep. It could be almost a month before the Cubs face a team with a losing record. Right now today, it looks like a month straight of games against teams that are over .500 and either in first or second place in their division. This is a brutal stretch of games. The Cubs are probably going to need even more from their offense that has come to life over the last week or so. And they\u2019ll likely doing it while facing better starting pitching and some of the more dominant relievers in the game today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Oh yeah, also I had the math wrong yesterday on the Cub win pace. Writing at the end of a long day can be challenging. Anyway, the up to date math has the Cubs on an 89-win pace. But hey, they are on a 162-win pace over their last four. Stats are all about framing and context.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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