Chicago Cubs Ace Hits Important Mark During Recent Rehab Start

After his latest rehab outing, the Chicago Cubs could be getting closer to having their ace back in their rotation.

Mar 28, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele (35) / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

All things considered, what the Chicago Cubs have done so far this season has been remarkable.

Despite tons of injuries to their starting pitching staff and impact players throughout their lineup, they sit with an 18-12 record and became only the third team in franchise history to win 17 or more games in the month of April.

Just imagine what they could do if they had all their players.

That might be coming soon as their ace continues to work his way back from the hamstring injury he suffered on Opening Day.

The Cubs certainly are looking for another elite arm in their rotation to pair with Shota Imanaga, who has just been sensational in his rookie year. Because of the injury to Justin Steele and then Kyle Hendricks, they've had to rely on many of their young arms.

It's worked out so far as they have the 10th-best ERA in the league entering Wednesday (3.65).

But, they'd love to get Steele back to stabilize this rotation.

The ace was in action during a rehab assignment with their Triple-A affiliate on Wednesday, and according to the play-by-play broadcaster for the Iowa Cubs, Alex Cohen, he had a solid outing.

Final line for Justin Steele today with the @IowaCubs - 3.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 1 BB.

63 pitches, 41 strikes, 22 balls.

Of the six hits he gave up, only one had an exit velocity over 100 mph.

Also got nine swings and misses.

— Alex Cohen (@voiceofcohen2) May 1, 2024

The three earned runs over just 3 1/3 innings of work might not look like he's ready to face big league hitting, but that's not the important number that stands out.

Steele had 63 pitches and threw 41 of them for strikes.

Hitting the 60-pitch mark is normally what organizations are looking for to see if injured pitchers have built up their arm strength enough to where they can return to their Major League roster.

The left-hander accomplished that on Monday.

Whether or not Chicago feels like he is now ready to return is unknown at this moment, but this is a good sign that he is working his way back and could be returning to the Cubs' rotation soon.