Cubs Insider Hints It's Time to Worry About Justin Steele

The Chicago Cubs may be in some trouble. We'll find out later today, but it sounds like the news on Justin Steele's elbow injury isn't good. The left-handed pitcher was placed on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with left elbow tendinitis. Steele was scheduled for an MRI on Thursday and those results will ultimately determine the severity of the elbow injury.

Steele has dealt with arm issues in each of the last three seasons including this one. Cubs insider Jesse Rogers was ESPN 1000 Friday morning and although he didn't report anything concrete on Steele's status he also hinted at Steele missing much more time than first anticipated.

Jesse Rogers on ESPN 1000 today says his sense is that, after the Justin Steele imaging, the news today might be not good. He wasn't reporting anything for sure, but doesn't have a feeling that it'll be a minimum stay on the IL.

— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 11, 2025

Steele missed two weeks last September with the same issue in his elbow. The lefty returned, but was limited to a pair of short starts to end the 2024 season.

The Cubs began the 2025 regular season with Ben Brown as the No. 5 starter after Javier Assad suffered an oblique injury early in spring training. Now, if Steele does miss an extended period of time the Cubs will have to rely on their depth in the minors. It appears as though left-hander Jordan Wicks will get the first crack at filling in for Steele in the rotation.

Jordan Wicks, who was originally scheduled to start after Cade Horton in the @IowaCubs pitching probables, is no longer listed as the next starter.

Do with that information as you will.

— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) April 10, 2025

(Previous Update)

The Chicago Cubs have had pretty good luck with health throughout the first two weeks of the regular season, but now an injury has hit the top of the starting rotation. Justin Steele has been placed on the 15-day injured list because of left elbow tendinitis, following his best start of the year.

Steele pitched seven shutout innings against the Texas Rangers on Monday, when the Cubs won the series opener 7-0. The lefty struck out eight batters and only allowed three hits and a pair of walks on 91 pitches. Steele will now be out for the next two weeks.

The Cubs pitcher said he believes he'll be back no later than the 15-day stint.

Cubs starter Justin Steele felt elbow discomfort in the middle of his last start. He pitched a couple more scoreless innings but still felt it the next day. He’s on the IL for what he thinks will be a minimum stay.

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) April 9, 2025

On Wednesday, Steele said he felt something tighten up in the middle of his start against the Rangers. The good news is that Steele has gone through this type of injury before and he's rebounded in the minimum amount of time on the IL.

“Arm was starting to tighten up on me a little bit. It was the 4th of 5th inning … They just made the decision to go ahead and put me on the IL.”

Justin Steele on being moved to the 15-day IL. pic.twitter.com/JKAgucKQST

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 9, 2025

The 29-year-old pitcher just surpassed the 500-inning mark in his MLB career after Monday's game. Steele has a 3.30 ERA in 102 career appearances with the Cubs. That includes three straight seasons of making at least 24 starts and posting a sub-3.20 ERA from 2022-24.

In 2024, Steele missed time on the injured list because of a hamstring strain in the beginning of the year and then had elbow tendinitis in September.

For now, the Cubs decided to get an extra arm in the bullpen and have called up right-handed pitcher Ethan Roberts from Triple-A. Roberts, 27, pitched in 21 games with the Cubs last season and recorded a 3.71 ERA in 26.2 innings.

Looking ahead, the Cubs will either call up Jordan Wicks to fill in for Steele in the starting rotation or veteran starter Colin Rea will make a spot start during the team's upcoming West Coast road trip.