5:30pm: Right-hander Jack Neely will be recalled as the corresponding move for Steele, per Montemurro on X.
4:35pm: The Cubs announced to reporters that left-hander Justin Steele will be placed on the 15-day injured list. His issue is left elbow flexor tendinitis, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times on X. The corresponding move has not been revealed yet.
Steele was supposed to start Monday’s game but was scratched due to some elbow soreness. The Cubs took a couple of days to evaluate things and have now seemingly decided that Steele will need some down time.
Manager Craig Counsell tells Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune (X link) that it’s possible Steele could be back after a minimum stint, depending on how things develop in the next ten days. “If we can get him back to normal he’s gonna pitch,” Counsell says. Presumably, Steele’s IL placement will be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could technically be back in 12 days if everything goes well.
Whether that’s a realistic expectation or not will be revealed in time. Either way, it’s a blow for the Cubs in the short term. The club is still clinging to contention here in September, currently sitting 4.5 games back of a playoff spot. The lefty has 477 1/3 innings under his belt at this point with a 3.24 earned run average. That includes 128 innings this year with a 3.09 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.
Losing that kind of performer will hurt a club with little room for error. Jordan Wicks was just reinstated from the injured list a few days ago, so the club can still have a five-man rotation without Steele, with Wicks slotting in next to Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, Javier Assad and Kyle Hendricks. It’s been a rough year for Hendricks, who currently sports a 6.60 ERA overall and was been bumped to the bullpen earlier in the season. Perhaps the return of Wicks would have sent him to a relief role again but that might not be possible now that Steele has been subtracted from the equation.
Oof, big blow there. Never like to see elbow stuff with pitchers, especially an ace like Steele. Sucks for the cubs’ playoff hopes.
There’s still time for the Cubs’ playoff plans don’t fret yet. Still 30 days or so- should be enough time for DirectTv and Disney to work out their grievances
How many losses do the Sox have? I quit counting at 100.
So did everybody else.
Cubs need to go about 20-8 to make post-season. I guess a really long shot is better than no shot at all, but it looks unlikely, with or without the Man of Steele.
Make that needing to go 17-6. Ouch.
Somebody might want to tell Jack Neely it’s a bad idea to go play catch in the bullpen in the 2nd inning of Shota’s start after the Cubs put their Ace and one of their better bull pen guys on the IL earlier in the day. Might give somebody a heart attack. Might be me.
Seven no-hit innings. Probably third in rookie of the year race behind Skenes and Merrill.
And how about Hoerner rounding into form? The talk of Shaw playing 2B next year is over-done. Hoerner is a better asset than Paredes.
The question is whether Belli will opt out. I am guessing no, but I would not be surprised either way.
……and then on top of it Uncle, they never gave a shot of the dugout to see if Shota was in it. Explanation was simple after the game that Neely arrived at the park at first pitch and was doing “pregame” warm up stuff—but a little bit of follow up during the Cubs turn at bat would have calmed the ticker just a little bit.
Where I Beli (I’d do exactly what he does), I’d base my opt out decision strictly on whether I liked playing/living in Chicago and what hopes I have for them improving the club. He’s set for life financially, no matter what he decides.
Dammit Dave Roberts!
The effing elbow. Hopefully it’s just inflammation…
More thingy things!
Oh, Uh-Oh Spaghetti
They have been done for awhile now
Better than the cardinals.
injuries to pitchers are far more prevalent now than they were during my youth when pitchers like Marichal, Jenkins, Gibson and Drysdale were ruling the game
I think that back then guys were more likely to play hurt. A lot of dings that get a guy on IL today would just be played through because salaries were lower and players didn’t have the financial security to tell the coaches they couldn’t go. Yes they throw harder and the emphasis on spin puts pressure on the elbows but with MRIs and imaging every inflammation identified results in an IL stint.
I’m pretty surprised they wouldn’t just shut him down considering the injury. Their plans for next season are going to be very different if he ends up needing TJ.
I hope it’s just inflammation but if it’s the dreaded TJ, Steele would be a really big loss to the 2025 Cubs…
INJURED ???
Clearly Justin is not made of STEELE !!
By the way nice call on Parades being so much better than Morel at 3B. The guy reminds me of Brooks Robinson. If he would have had Polio that is.
Paredes forgot to hit once he joined the Cubs. Morel was doing horribly though, so he wasn’t getting the job done either. But knowing the Rays, they usually win trades, watch Morel become a great hitter and become a decent 3B player lol
So far Paredes two most notable AB’s were somehow fouling a ball between HIS OWN LEGS and drilling Seiya in the on deck circle and almost killing a camera guy in the Cubs dugout who actually sits to the right of where Counsell stands in the dugout which is as far right in the dugout as you can get. So he’s almost injured too guys from swinging so early that I can’t even believe he hit the ball at all.
If Paredes is the answer at 3B come next spring, Cubs are already behind once again at the hot corner. As mediocre to bad as Isaac has been however, he’s been better than Morel.
Steele has already had 1 maybe 2 Tj surgery’s. I hope he is not seriously injured. Looks like heck of a teammate!
I think they’re out of it now. Shut him down and get a look at young pitching