Cubs ace Justin Steele faces another lengthy absence after a flexor strain derails his recovery, pushing his season debut further down the calendar.
The Chicago Cubs have had the worst injury luck in the early going.
Cade Horton is out for the season with an elbow injury, Porter Hodge underwent season-ending elbow surgery last week, and key bullpen arms like Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar, and Hunter Harvey all find themselves on the 15-day injured list.
Even standout reliever Riley Martin is expected to miss the next eight weeks after recently being diagnosed with a left flexor strain. Martin is the ninth Cubs pitcher currently on the injured list.
The Cubs have had to battle through many different injuries to start the season. Their top starting pitcher is out for the year, and three of their best bullpen arms are nursing different injuries right now.
And just when it seemed things couldn’t get worse, they have.
Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported on Tuesday afternoon that starting pitcher Justin Steele has suffered a setback in his recovery. Steele is being “shut down” for the time being, and the team is trying to figure out the next steps.
The left-hander underwent season-ending elbow surgery last April to repair his UCL. He was supposedly making good progress in his recovery recently and was medically cleared by Dr. Keith Meister in late February. Steele also recently advanced to facing live hitters in batting practice.
Given that progress, Steele was reportedly on pace to return sometime around late May/early June. His activation in the next five to seven weeks was going to be a big boost for the Cubs' rotation.
Now, that return date won’t happen, as this setback will delay his season debut.
Manager Craig Counsell went on Spiegel and Holmes this afternoon to talk about Steele’s latest setback. Counsell said the left-hander suffered a flexor strain in his ramp-up and will be reevaluated in one month.
“It’s a setback, and there’s no question about it, and it’s going to lengthen his return to play,” Counsell said.
This latest setback is the worst possible news for the Cubs. He won’t be reevaluated for at least another month, and then he will have to build back up once he is fully healthy. For a pitcher coming off elbow surgery, that is not great news.
It’s going to be a while until Steele is back on the mound for the North Siders. Even if everything checks out well when the team reevaluates him toward the end of May, we’re probably looking at July as the earliest possible return date for Steele.
But as we know, flexor strains could keep pitchers sidelined for longer than a month. Martin’s recently diagnosed flexor strain will keep him out for the next eight weeks.
Steele's latest setback is just all-around bad news.