The Chicago Cubs have been without their ace for more than a month, but guess what they’re 18-11, leading the NL Central and Justin Steele is about come back to the starting rotation.
Steele went down on Opening Day, straining his left hamstring in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers while fielding a bunt attempt. You never want to see your ace go down in the first game of the season, but in terms of injuries, the Cubs were obviously thankful that it wasn’t Steele’s pitching arm and the hamstring injury wasn’t severe.
Now, Steele is preparing to make a rehab start with the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A on Wednesday and the 2023 All-Star is eyeing a return to the big leagues soon after.
Via Meghan Montemurro.
As Justin Steele prepares to make a rehab start Wednesday at Triple-A Iowa, Counsell says they’ll see where he’s at, but it’s possible he returns to Cubs rotation after that outing.
Steele’s absence in the starting rotation was a huge hit to the team early on as Craig Counsell was trying to maneuver through a period when the rest of the starters weren’t going deep in games and the bullpen was being overused.
Through the first 15 games of the season, the Cubs only had two games when a starter completed six innings and that came in back-to-back games against the Colorado Rockies in April 1 and 2. However, the rotation is getting stronger and in the past 14 games, starters have gone six innings five times.
That may not seem like a big deal, but so far in 2024, just getting one out in the sixth inning by the starting pitcher has led to a Cubs win. Jameson Taillon only allowed one run in 7.1 innings Monday night against the New York Mets, which gave the Cubs offense an opening to come back late and win 3-1.
The Cubs are now 11-0 when a starting pitcher tosses at least 5.1 innings.
While the rotation looked like a weak spot early in April, the Cubs are getting healthier and now that Kyle Hendricks is out of the picture, it has the potential to become a real strength. Even with the latest injury to Jordan Wicks, the Cubs are thriving and will get better with Steele’s return.
Cubs Top Starting Pitchers
Shōta Imanaga: 27.2 IP, 0.98 ERA (5 Starts)
Javier Assad: 27 IP, 2.00 ERA (5 Starts)
Jameson Taillon: 18 IP, 1.50 ERA (3 Starts)
Rookie Ben Brown has been filling in this month and even with his clunker against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, the right-hander has a 4.30 ERA in 23 innings.
The Cubs are hoping that Wicks isn’t going to be out for too long after landing on the 15-day injured list with a forearm strain and despite his overall 4.70 ERA in five starts, that’s mainly because of one bad start against the Seattle Mariners. Sure, you would have liked more innings from the rookie lefty, but he’s at least given the Cubs quality innings so far.
That brings me back to Steele and well the overall picture for the Cubs starting rotation. Through the first month of the season 4/5 of the rotation has been or is still on the injured list and despite that the Cubs have the 12th best starter ERA at 3.71 in MLB.
Imanaga has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year. Taillon’s stretch of good baseball goes back to last July and Assad has one of the lowest ERAs among pitchers with 100+ innings since last June.
Soon, the Cubs are going to be adding their ace back and the rotation should be lethal under Counsell’s watch.
(Previous Update)
Well, as if Opening Day couldn’t get worse, Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters that left-handed pitcher Justin Steele is expected to go on the injured list after leaving Thursday night’s game against the Texas Rangers with a hamstring injury.
Steele got hurt when he fielded a bunt attempt in the fifth inning and although some fans held out hope that it was only a cramp or a minor injury after seeing Steele walk off the field without any help, he is now going to be sidelined for at least a couple weeks. Counsell said Steele will get an MRI.
Cubs may already be feeling the aftereffects of not pursuing any of the top two free agent starting pitchers that signed relatively low-risk deals late in spring training. Those two pitchers are of course Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, who both signed two-year deals with the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively.
The Cubs lost 4-3 to the Rangers on Opening Day, blowing a one-run lead three separate times throughout the game.
(Previous Update)
What the fuck man! Justin Steele just exited his Opening Day start after fielding a bunt in the bottom of the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers. The Cubs’ ace made the play, but in doing so Steele appeared to injure his left leg. He was grabbing the back of his leg.
The only good news and who knows at this point, is that Steele was able to walk off under his own power after getting checked out by the team trainer.
Here’s the play.
The Cubs are already beginning the season testing their pitching depth as veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon is currently on the 15-day injured list because of a back strain. Taillon didn’t pitch a single inning during spring training, first missing time with a calf issue and then he suffered a back strain in the middle of March.
Young lefty Jordan Wicks and third-year pitcher Javier Assad are already in the starting rotation and if Steele has to miss extended time, then we might see 24-year-old right-hander Ben Brown come up to fill in. Brown was stellar in spring training and would be at the top of the list for the Cubs to call on after Steele’s Opening Day injury.
It’s a tale of two pitching staffs. As mentioned in this article, the starting pitching looks pretty lethal. I suppose we will get a better idea of how true that is when the Brewers come to town this weekend. They won’t have to face Imanaga who pitches against the Mets, and the Cubs won’t have Steele back. Once the Cubs have all four of their starting pitchers in place, and the potentially have Horton or Wesneski, or Wickes as the fifth starter, there won’t be anywhere for other teams to hide in regards to the starters. And then there’s the… Read more »