CHICAGO -- The Cubs’ season was not even five innings old when the team’s rotation was dealt a major blow. Opening Day starter Justin Steele dropped to the ground in Texas with a hamstring setback, removing one of last season’s Cy Young contenders from the mix for at least the rest of April.

The Cubs spent the spring talking up their improved pitching depth, but the old adage that a team can never have enough pitching was put to the test shortly off the starting blocks. Chicago is still navigating how exactly to fill the gap. When Steele’s slot arrived on Wednesday, the Cubs used an opener and utilized seven arms en route to a 9-8 win over the Rockies.

“We're going to have to fill that collectively as a group,” Cubs rookie lefty Jordan Wicks said over the weekend in Texas. “Not any one person is going to be able to come in and just immediately replicate what he does. So, we've got to all do it together.”

There were a few factors that played into how Cubs manager Craig Counsell handled Wednesday’s pitching plan.

First, the consecutive six-inning starts from lefty Shota Imanaga and righty Javier Assad in the first two games of the series against Colorado gave the Cubs a relatively “fresh bullpen,” said Counsell. The looming off-day on Thursday helped, too. Beyond that, the Rockies’ consistent lineup -- featuring two lefty bats within the first three hitters -- made hard-throwing lefty Luke Little an intriguing option as an opener.

Behind Little, Counsell planned on getting multiple innings out of rookie Ben Brown (Pipeline’s No. 10-ranked Cubs prospect). Brown was summoned from Triple-A Iowa after Steele landed on the injured list and experienced a rocky MLB debut against the Rangers. With the debut jitters behind him, Brown could settle in more against the Rockies.

“That first time you're in the big leagues, it's just different,” Counsell said. “Those [feelings] are gone. And then you just realize, I think every player understands, ‘There are better players here. This is a better league. I've got to be just a little bit better.’”

In the second outing of his career, Brown was much better.

The 24-year-old Brown went four-plus innings in relief of Little, striking out five and walking one in his 52-pitch effort. The lone run charged to Brown’s line came after his exit in the sixth inning. The rookie averaged 95.7 mph on his heater, while generating six whiffs on 10 swings against a curveball that averaged 86.1 mph.

“I just really honed in on not changing too much,” Brown said. “Kind of sticking to what I do best. One blip in the road isn’t going to change my routine and my repertoire. I think that’s the big difference between what I was last year. There was so much tweaking and second-guessing myself. I’ve felt a little more confident this year, like, ‘OK, I had a rough one. Where can I improve on?’”

Brown will remain an option to help fill Steele’s spot when it comes around again, but Counsell is not one to lock anything into place until necessary. The Cubs are also moving ahead knowing that veteran righty Jameson Taillon – working his way back from a back issue that flared in the spring – is potentially on the horizon.

Counsell noted that Taillon’s latest live batting practice workout in Arizona went well on Tuesday, setting the righty up for a Minor League rehab start (likely with Double-A Tennessee) on Sunday. The goal would be to have Taillon build up to four or five innings, and Counsell said the righty was likely to have at least two rehab outings before potentially rejoining the Cubs’ rotation.

Steele, who won 16 games last season and finished fifth in National League Cy Young voting, is looking at a return some time in May.

“As a group, we've just got to stay together,” Cubs reliever Adbert Alzolay said. “He’s down. It’s a big loss for us in general, because he's just a big part of this group. But I truly believe we have the guys and the depth to just cover him for the month that he's gonna be out.

“Hopefully he can come back in exactly a month, and everything goes back to normal.”

One thing Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer pointed out was how calm and pragmatic Counsell remained in the immediate wake of Steele’s injury.

“He's probably even better than most emotionally,” Hoyer said. “I think that’s part of what I think makes him a really successful manager. In a good way, he is a flat-liner on stuff like that: ‘OK, what's the solution? Let's figure this out.’

“We knew we we're going to need a lot of starting pitching to get through the year and now we're faced with it right away.”