LOS ANGELES — The Chicago Cubs have to reassess what their team might potentially look like without All-Star pitcher Justin Steele, who is seeking another medical opinion after Thursday’s MRI evaluation of his left elbow. For an organization with postseason expectations, Steele’s injury immediately dims what has otherwise been a bright start.
Steele remains shut down indefinitely, a major setback for a homegrown starter who has demonstrated the ability to contend for a Cy Young Award.
The Cubs had just begun to feel a sense of momentum, posting a 9-6 record through their first 15 games, which featured a season-opening trip to Japan to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers. Chicago is currently on a West Coast swing to again face the Dodgers and Padres, the types of teams the Cubs envisioned Steele matching up against in October.
At this point, Cubs manager Craig Counsell declined to say whether Tommy John surgery is an option for Steele.
“There’s no decisions right now,” Counsell said Friday at Dodger Stadium. “Justin wants to get all the information. He wants to get another opinion. So until we do that, I think we got to wait for that and let him use all the information to decide what’s next.”
Steele’s diagnosis is expected to keep him on the injured list longer than the 15-day minimum that the Cubs hoped for this week when they framed that roster move as a precaution.
The initial injury designation — left elbow tendinitis — was the same one that Steele experienced last season when he was sidelined for nearly three weeks in September. He managed to return to make two more starts before spending almost the entire winter at the organization’s Arizona complex.
“We’re going to get some more opinions on it,” Counsell said. “We’re kind of dealing with the same thing we dealt with last year. For that reason, I think Justin wants to make sure — and we want to make sure — that we just get the right information moving forward.”
Over four starts and 22 2/3 innings, Justin Steele has posted a 4.76 ERA for a Cubs team looking to break into October. (Abigail Dean / Getty Images)
Ramping up for an early start to the 2025 campaign, Steele got the ball on March 19 during the Tokyo Series. Eight days later, he made his second start of the season for domestic Opening Day. He still didn’t look that sharp by his third outing (6.89 ERA), but his track record gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Making his fourth start of the season, Steele appeared to turn a corner in Monday’s win over the Rangers at Wrigley Field. Taking advantage of the 34-degree temperature and 17 mph winds, Steele went into attack mode, putting together seven scoreless innings. However, he felt something during the middle of the game, which left him unsure whether it was due to the cold weather or an elbow flare-up.
“We obviously want to make sure we know why it has happened again,” Counsell said, “so that Justin’s got all the information, and then we can go from there.”
The Cubs do not have a probable starter listed for Sunday at Dodger Stadium, though Jordan Wicks, a first-round pick who started this season at Triple-A Iowa, should be available. Javier Assad is also on the horizon, with expectations to make his next minor-league rehab start with Iowa after an oblique injury delayed his preseason program.
Depth is good to have, but the Cubs also need upside. Steele, a fifth-round draft pick out of high school in 2014, gradually progressed through Chicago’s farm system before undergoing his first Tommy John procedure in August 2017. Seven years after he had been drafted, Steele made his major-league debut as a reliever before blossoming into a top-of-the-rotation starter. In 2023, he earned his first National League All-Star selection, along with a fifth-place finish in that season’s NL Cy Young Award voting.
Steele, 29, has two additional years of club control remaining before he’s scheduled to become a free agent after the 2027 season. At the moment, however, that future appears to be cloudy.
(Top photo: Matt Dirksen / Chicago Cubs / Getty Images)