Cubs Ace Placed on 15-Day Injured List With Elbow Issue Following Spectacular Start

The Chicago Cubs delivered some brutal injury news on Wednesday morning.

Michael Brauner | Apr 9, 2025

Apr 7, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele (35) delivers against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Wrigley Field. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

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Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are absolutely on fire right now having won eight of their last 10 games, but they are now going to be faced with a major challenge.

As first reported by Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, the team is placing left-handed pitcher Justin Steele on the 15-day injured list with tendonitis in his pitching elbow. In a corresponding move, they have recalled Ethan Roberts -- who made 21 solid bullpen appearances in 2024 but struggled this spring -- from Triple-A.

To add insult to injury, Steele is coming off a sensational performance in a 7-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday where he tossed seven scoreless innings and gave up just three hits while striking out eight.

The severity of the injury is not known, so this could be something that holds him out for the next two weeks to give Steele a chance to rest. However, dealing with an elbow issue just four starts into the season is far from ideal.

The first three starts of the year were not exactly pretty for the left-hander.

He entered Monday sporting an ERA of 6.89 after giving up 12 earned runs combined to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Athletics.

This makes it all the more frustrating for the 29-year-old to hit the IL right after he seemingly turned a corner in the early portion of the season.

Given the fact that Steele was not pulled early from the start and performed well, there isn't much reason to think the injury is anything major.

Hopefully, the Cubs are simply being cautious with their important ace.

If the lefty is out for any significant amount of time, however, it's going to be very difficult for an already thin Chicago pitching staff to keep things rolling throughout the season.

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