MESA, Ariz. — When rookie pitchers Caleb Kilian, Javier Assad and Hayden Wesneski made their debuts last year, the Cubs didn’t know exactly how each of them would handle the jump. Now, they’re part of the team’s improved starting depth.
Assad and Wesneski are competing for the fifth-starter spot. And Kilian, who held the Reds to one run through three innings Wednesday, is expected to serve as an option to be called up from Triple-A.
“The confidence has continued to build,” manager David Ross said of Kilian, referencing his bullpens and a game on the backfields. “I thought his command really looked good, . . . the way he’s manipulating the baseball. The changeup has really come in to be a real weapon as a secondary pitch. And still working on a breaking ball that’s going to get a little bit more swing-and-miss. But fastball location and the changeup has really stood out.”
Kilian struggled in his three major-league starts last year, allowing 13 earned runs in 11⅓ innings. He since has realized that tendonitis in his left knee likely affected his mechanics last year. He started opening up with his stride, subconsciously protecting the injury.
“I don’t want to blame it or anything,” Kilian said. “I worked on getting my mechanics back to where they were before this whole offseason, and it’s feeling so much better.”
The Cubs called up Kilian, and a series of other minor-league pitchers, during a rolling series of injuries to starters that exposed the club’s lack of pitching depth. By the end of the year, they’d stabilized in that department, with Assad and Wesneski making smooth transitions during the next wave of rotation injuries. But they were already far out of the playoff race.
“The strong players, the guys that have really long careers, hit the adversity at some point — whether that’s in the minor leagues or in the big leagues,” Ross said. “And being able to bounce back from that is really what establishes their fortitude to continue to trust themselves, believe in themselves and put the work in. He’s a worker. To put in that work to come out on the other side of that is really, really powerful.”
Left on left
Ross joked that Mike Tauchman, a left-handed hitter, has faced so many lefties “he’s almost our lefty-lefty specialist.” Over the course of his career, Tauchman has recorded a better batting average against lefties (.257), compared to righties (.223).
He faced another lefty on Tuesday, Rockies reliever Brent Suter. Tauchman stepped up to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning. He battled, fouling three back into the netting, before drawing a run-scoring walk on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.
“It was a really good at-bat,” Ross said Wednesday, adding that Tauchman talked after the game about the slider he fouled off in a 2-2 count. “He wanted that one back. He felt like he put a really good swing on that, was just a little bit out in front. But the poise, the calmness, the balance within the swing, within the at-bat really stands out every time it gets in the box. It’s a professional at-bat, and he’s done a really nice job this spring of being consistent with that.”
Tauchman entered Wednesday with a .444 on-base percentage this spring.
Rain, rain go away
Rain washed away Jameson Taillon’s scheduled simulated game Wednesday morning. The Cubs will move his start to Thursday, “probably” in a minor-league game, Ross said.
Cubs 2, Reds 1*
*Unofficial
• Right-hander Caleb Kilian only needed four pitches to retire the side in the first inning. Then, in the second he made one of the Cubs’ best defensive plays all spring, diving to catch a popup bunt. He allowed a run in the third but worked out of a bases-loaded jam to limit the damage.
• The Cubs got a look at utility player Zach McKinstry in left field. McKinstry primarily has played third and second base. He singled in his first two at-bats, scored the Cubs’ first run and drove in their second.
• Reds star Joey Votto recorded his first hit of the spring. The hit, a game-tying RBI single, came off Kilian in the third inning.
• The game ended with two outs in the bottom of the fourth as rain intensified.
• On deck: Diamondbacks at Cubs, 3:05 p.m. Thursday, Mesa, Marquee, TBD vs. Drew Smyly.
