Steele's throwing progress is encouraging, but Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirms he won't be ready for Opening Day.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele appears to be making good progress in his recovery from elbow surgery.
On Monday, Steele posted a few videos of himself throwing at the Cubs’ Spring Training Complex in Arizona. He threw four-seam fastballs and sinkers only during his session and appeared to be playing long-toss as well.
Steele underwent an internal brace procedure in the middle of April to repair his flex tendon and ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). Opting for the internal brace procedure over Tommy John surgery meant his timeline to recover wasn’t as long.
It’s a good sign to see Steele making steady progress as we head toward the middle of December. He is almost eight months removed from surgery, and the southpaw said he is maxing out at around 80 mph in his current build-up.
With Steele continuing to do more work in his recovery, all Cubs fans are interested to know if the 30-year-old will be ready for Opening Day. He would be 11 full months removed from elbow surgery by Opening Day.
Unfortunately, Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirmed that won’t be the case at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida.
“Nothing has changed,” Counsell said. “It’s not going to be Opening Day. "I really don’t want to speculate until we get to Spring Training and see where he’s at. I think we’ll know in Spring Training a target area of dates. It’s not going to be Opening Day, but I think it’ll be in the first half of the season.”
It’s not a total surprise that Steele will not be ready for Opening Day. The Cubs were always going to be super cautious with a pitcher coming off a significant elbow injury. The recovery timeline from an internal brace procedure is usually nine to 12 months.
Therefore, Steele still appears on track to make his 2026 season debut at some point in the first half. While not having him on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster could hurt the rotation a bit, it is encouraging that he is on track to pitch sometime early in the season.
When he is eventually healthy enough to return, the left-hander will be a massive boost to Chicago’s rotation. Steele has finished with a sub-3.20 ERA in each of his last three full years in the Majors (2022 to 2024).
In 2024, Steele provided the Cubs’ rotation with consistency on the mound. He had a 3.07 ERA and 135 strikeouts across 134 ⅔ innings pitched. Fans should expect him to pick up where he left off in his last full Major League campaign.
The 30-year-old has the 10th-lowest ERA in baseball among all pitchers with at least 400 innings pitched since the start of the 2022 season (3.18). That’s how good Steele is when healthy.