TORONTO -- Throughout the month of July, the Cubs were playing under the pressure of the looming Trade Deadline. Each win the players produced put the front office one step closer to having faith in what was on the field rather than hitting the reset button with the future in mind.

The Cubs pulled themselves up the standings and back into the postseason picture, and there is a belief in the clubhouse that going through that experience can pay dividends later this fall. Lefty Justin Steele -- who will notch a career-high in innings with every frame logged from here on out -- echoed that belief after a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Saturday at Rogers Centre.

“You want to pitch in the [big] moments,” Steele said. “There's a lot of pressure in the World Series. And that's exactly what we're all shooting for. Knowing that you've done it before, you've pitched in high-pressure situations and stuff, it definitely helps going forward.”

Steele is a crucial part of everything “going forward” for the North Siders.

The Cubs have rattled off 19 wins in their last 25 games, and they are now five games over the .500 mark for the first time since April 21. If the playoffs started right now, Chicago would punch its ticket as a National League Wild Card entrant, but the club is also within striking distance of the NL Central-leading Brewers.

Steele has been a key part of getting the Cubs to this point, turning in a 2.79 ERA through 22 starts and making his first All-Star team.

“He's a bulldog,” said reliever Julian Merryweather, whose clean eighth inning helped set up Saturday’s win. “The bullpen just rallies behind him. We love watching him pitch. He goes out there and eats up innings for us. I mean, the year he's had has been insane.”

Steele’s 126 innings are already the most of his career, following the 119 innings he worked in an injury-shortened 2022. The Cubs have to weigh those types of factors with six weeks, plus the potential of a playoff run, to go.

“It's nice to have him in your rotation,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “He's going to be the same guy every single day, right? I have no worries about that. And we monitor everything around here. So, we're on top of it. He's throwing well. He's gonna continue to throw well. He wants the ball.”

Against the Blue Jays, Steele worked five innings -- finishing with seven strikeouts, six hits, no walks and three runs allowed -- and was lifted after 84 pitches. With off-days coming up on Monday and Thursday, the Cubs have the ability to shift some rotation pieces around, giving them flexibility to push Steele’s next start back a few days, if that fits their strategy.

Ross pointed out that Steele featured good depth on his slider against Toronto, while also displaying a slight uptick in fastball velocity. Steele reached 95.4 mph at his peak and logged an average of 92.5 mph (0.8 above his season average) with his fastball, per Statcast. Those are all good signs for a pitcher entering uncharted workload territory.

“I definitely learned a lot from last season and even the season before,” Steele said. “And I put a lot of work into this offseason and preparing my body to go 162 and hopefully more. I feel like I'm in a good spot right now.”

As Steele navigates that road for the first time, he has plenty of playoff-tested veterans in the Cubs’ clubhouse to lean on for advice.

“Me and a few other guys in here have been in it ‘til the end a few times and understand what it takes,” said Cody Bellinger, who hit a leadoff double and scored the winning run in the ninth. “Overall, the group of guys in here are really intelligent, really smart baseball players. They really know how to take care of the body.

“And even if they haven't been there before, we trust the guys that they're going to be able to handle it.”

That trust only grew as the Cubs stacked up wins at a furious pace in July, convincing the front office not to pull the plug on this season.

“I feel like we're pretty well-equipped for whatever the next month and a half, two months has [in store],” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “Just [because] of what we experienced with the Deadline, I feel like. Having some games that felt like they were a little turned up as far as urgency and intensity.

“I think that'll be a really good experience in the long run for our group.”