Steele's return a silver lining as Cubs' postseason hopes fade

CHICAGO -- In an ideal world, Justin Steele would have been stepping into the final push of a true playoff race when he came off the injured list on Wednesday afternoon. What the lefty walked into instead was the opportunity to gain more peace of mind that he is healthy as the end of the season inches closer.

Following a bout with tendinitis in his throwing elbow, Steele was activated from the 15-day IL to start against the A’s and looked like himself as he worked into the third inning. His abbreviated return was the silver lining within a 5-3 loss -- a defeat that helped the Brewers clinch the National League Central crown.

“We would obviously love to be winning the division or leading the Wild Card,” Steele said. “We’ve kind of put ourselves in this position. But I feel like there’s some people in the locker room that have some good things to hang their hats on. At this point, it’s all about building off what you’ve done.”

With 10 games left on their schedule, the Cubs have slipped to seven games back of the NL’s third Wild Card spot. Chicago dropped two of the three games against Oakland, giving the Cubs five defeats in their past seven games. And the North Siders have gone 6-9 since the 8-1 road trip that pulled them within three games of a Wild Card spot on Sept. 1.

Steele was scratched with elbow soreness on Sept. 3 and subsequently landed on the IL. The hope was that the Cubs would remain hot and keep chipping away at the Wild Card deficit while the lefty recovered and returned for the last push.

The focus now is simply on the fact that Steele is pain-free as his offseason approaches. The left-hander gave the Cubs 2 2/3 innings, ending with one strikeout, three walks and two hits in a 57-pitch effort. Steele exited with the bases loaded in the third, but reliever Ethan Roberts escaped that jam unscathed.

“We were pleased. He was pleased with how he felt,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of Steele’s return. “The third inning got a little long -- maybe he got a little tired in the third inning. But everything went well in terms of how he felt.”

It is fair to wonder how a full season of production from Steele could have tilted things more in the Cubs’ favor.

On Opening Day, Steele worked into the fifth inning against the Rangers before a fluke hamstring injury while fielding a grounder cost the leader of the Cubs’ staff all of April. The arm injury flaring at the outset of September cost Chicago another handful of starts at a critical point for the team’s dwindling playoff hopes.

Between those setbacks, Steele posted numbers that were right in line with his breakout 2023 showing, when he was an All-Star and finished fifth in balloting for the NL Cy Young Award.

Innings: 130 2/3 in '24, 173 1/3 in '23
ERA: 3.03 in '24, 3.06 in '23
Strikeout rate: 24.5% in '24, 24.6% in '23
Walk rate: 6.9% in '24, 5% in '23
FIP: 3.19 in '24, 3.02 in '23
WHIP: 1.10 in '24, 1.17 in '23
AVG: .218 in '24, .251 in '23
HR/9: 0.76 in '24, 0.73 in '23

“He’s been Justin Steele,” Counsell said. “He’s been the guy he was last year. He’s established a track record of very good performance that we’ll certainly need moving forward.”

Steele got off to a rocky start after initially returning from the hamstring injury in May, posting a 6.53 ERA in his first four outings. Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said the action of Steele’s fastball was featuring more carry than cut movement, forcing some adjustments.

In the 17 games that followed that four-game sample -- leading up to his second trip to the IL earlier this month -- Steele spun a 2.45 ERA with 108 strikeouts and 28 walks in 102 2/3 innings. During that period, Hottovy said the lefty started to regain more cut to his fastball, while finding spots to mix in more changeups and sinkers.

“For him to be in position to finish with very similar numbers as last year,” Hottovy said, “is a testament to the work he’s put in.”

No matter the circumstances, Steele was thrilled to get back on the mound.

“I just wanted to pitch,” he said. “I’ve said it a few times, just the peace of mind and the clarity, and just going out there not thinking about anything else other than executing pitches, is good.”