Chicago Cubs Ace Firmly Believes He Will Return This Season

While the Chicago Cubs recently had to put their ace on the injured list, he believes he will be back this season.

Aug 22, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele (35) pitches during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Wrigley Field. / Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs received some tough news recently as their ace Justin Steele was placed on the injured list with elbow soreness. 

Anything related to the elbow is always a cause for concern for pitchers, as the dreaded Tommy John surgery is always in the back of people's minds when an elbow issue arises. However, the Cubs received some good news on Steele’s MRI, and it doesn’t appear like it is a major injury. 

This is a big sigh of relief for Chicago not only this year, but next year as well. Currently, the Cubs are in the middle of a tightly contested race in the NL Wild Card. While Steele being placed on the IL isn’t ideal, he believes he will be back this season. 

“Yeah, I do,” Steele said to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com when asked if he would return this season. 

The Cubs seemingly were trying to figure out what was best for Steele, as manager Craig Counsell considered him skipping a start initially. 

“We were kind of debating whether we thought [skipping one] start was a possibility,” Counsell said to Bastian. “After 24 additional hours, we just don’t think that’s a good idea. So, we put him on the IL and we’re hopeful -- and Justin’s hopeful -- that if he feels better rather quickly here, that we can make this be a minimal stay. That’s the hope right now, and the goal right now.”

While Steele missing a couple of starts isn’t great, his long-term health is important for the franchise, as the news could have been a lot worse.

“We got good news yesterday, I think,” Counsell said of Tuesday’s imaging to Bastian. “We’re going to miss him for a couple starts, for sure, but we got good news. We don’t think it’s anything serious, and we’ll treat it for a couple days and hope to begin throwing again.”

With every game being very important for Chicago, they have just lost a series to the Pittsburgh Pirates at home, which could be a big blow for their playoff hopes. 

While the schedule overall in September is favorable for Chicago, they do have arguably the toughest stretch coming up against the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Not having Steele in those series is unfortunate timing, as he would have given the Cubs a much better chance of winning. 

Even though Steele landing on the IL wasn’t what Chicago wanted to see happen, the good news is that it isn’t anything too series, and he believes he will be back this season.