Justin Steele was expected to be back on the mound for the Cubs by now. Those plans clearly shifted when a flexor-strain setback derailed the left-hander’s return from last season’s elbow surgery, adding to the growing list of problems for an injury-riddled Cubs pitching staff. But the 2023 All-Star is still hoping to make an impact this season.
“The objective’s still the same,” Steele said Tuesday. “I want to pitch in games this year. I want to pitch in meaningful games. I just want to pitch, honestly.”
Steele has plenty of company on the injured list, where righties Cade Horton and Jameson Taillon and lefty Matthew Boyd are all currently sidelined, putting more strain on the team’s pitching depth during its early-summer slide.
The next phase of Steele’s recovery is set to begin next week, and he’ll be around the team for the next few weeks so they can assess his progress firsthand and get a clearer read on whether he can still pitch this season. Still, it has been a long stretch since he ran into the setback in April.
There’s no question the Cubs could use Steele back as a boost. Their depth has been pushed hard by the injuries and hasn’t always held up; Cubs starters entered Wednesday with a 5.98 ERA since May 9, the second-worst mark in baseball over that stretch.
As the Cubs hope to get Boyd back soon — he’s scheduled for a minor league rehab start Saturday — and look toward Taillon’s return sometime…
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