Jameson Taillon has seen a lot in this game.

The 32-year-old veteran carries a unique perspective as former No. 2 overall pick who beat cancer, recovered from a pair of Tommy John surgeries and has played in both a small market (Pirates) and with two of the most storied franchises in baseball history (Yankees, Cubs).

As Taillon sat at the podium in the interview room beneath Wrigley Field Friday afternoon, he delivered a passionate take on the state of the Cubs and where he believes they need to go in the future.

The Cubs won Friday behind Taillon’s strong start, but they could be eliminated from playoff contention as soon as Saturday in a year that began with so much hope and high expectations.

“I do feel like we underperformed this year,” Taillon said. “I do feel like we’re better than what our record shows – and that doesn’t matter, because your record’s your record.

“But I do feel like this group’s capable of a lot more. And whatever [the front office and coaching staff] diagnose and want to do to get better, I’m all ears and ready to see what they have in store.”

Taillon began his career with the Pirates, spending 4 years pitching in Pittsburgh from 2016-2019 – at the height of the Cubs’ success.

“I played against those Cubs teams back in the day and it felt like when you’re in the National League Central, we were kind of the little guys coming in here and they were playing bully ball against us, a little bit like star power,” Taillon said. “It was scary to come to Wrigley and play. You didn’t want to catch them on a day where they’re swinging it hot.

“I think going forward, that should be our expectation – teams shouldn’t want to come in here and play the Cubs. Wrigley shouldn’t be a fun road trip. Chicago shouldn’t be a fun road trip for other teams. They should come in here and say, ‘we’re going to get worked for 3 days or they’re going to give us a heck of an effort.’

“I think as players, that’s something we should strive for. I know a lot of players on other teams love coming to Wrigley and it’s like, I don’t want that. I want people to see Wrigley on their schedule and be like, ‘shoot, I don’t want a part of that.’

“I mean, we’re the Chicago Cubs. We should strive to be a 90-win – at least – organization.”

[WATCH: Jameson Taillon’s passionate take on the Cubs’ season and where the organization can improve moving forward]

That last sentiment echoes what Craig Counsell said Thursday when he delivered an honest assessment of his team and explained how 90-win seasons should be the expectation moving forward.

Counsell’s former team, the Milwaukee Brewers, just clinched the NL Central title on Wednesday – despite trading away perennial Cy Young candidate Corbin Burnes and losing co-ace Brandon Woodruff to injury before the season while also watching former MVP Christian Yelich land on the IL with a season-ending back injury in the middle of the year.

“We’ve had a lot of things not go our way but you look at Milwaukee, they’ve had a lot of injuries,” Taillon said. “They traded Corbin Burnes, they’ve had a lot of things maybe not go their way and they just find a way.”

Second baseman Nico Hoerner told Cubs.com this week that he felt like the team didn’t “win winning moments” this season – a point Taillon wholeheartedly agrees with.

“When we play the Brewers, it seems like they always do win the big moments,” Taillon said. “I can just recall personally, I gave up a grand slam there in a big spot. … It’s like they seem to sometimes have the edge on those moments over us right now and it’s on us to flip the script.”

“It’s a team effort; it’s an organizational effort. But I’m happy Craig’s on our side because I have full faith in him and the front office and the coaches and us as players finding a way to identify that and get better. Because we do have an excellent group of guys and this organization’s got a lot of very bright people so I don’t expect this year to be the norm going forward.”

As for the big moments, it has seemed like the Brewers have been able to come out on top in clutch situations against the Cubs more often than not over the last few seasons.

Taillon and the Cubs want to flip that script in 2025 – but how?

“I think it’s different for every person,” the veteran right-hander said. “I know, for myself, I’ve had experience of failing in big moments and I think being able to just diagnose what went wrong and what I could do better has helped me. And now, as I’ve gotten older, just being able to recognize when a big moment’s happening.

“Like, ‘shoot, I got the bases loaded here and 2 outs. It might be early in the game, but this could be the game right here.’ And just like being able to assess the situation on the fly a little bit, not let it get out of hand, not find myself later in the day being like, ‘man, that one moment in the 2nd inning ruined my day.’

“So I think just experience. As a group, I think experience together in big moments is big and then just assessing when you’re in the moment like, this could be the game right here.”