Cubs Turn to Their Pitching Depth as Steele Hits Injured List
The Chicago Cubs are off to a great start in 2025, but they have hit their first bump in the road that they will have to overcome. Star pitcher Justin Steele was placed on the injured list on Friday with what was labeled as “elbow tendinitis.” This has now become a recurring injury that Steele has had to deal with, as he missed a month of last season with the same type of injury. As a result, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced that Steele will seek another medical opinion to see what the next steps toward recovery should be.
While the team awaits the verdict on how long Steele could potentially be out, the Cubs’ pitching staff is going to be put to the test early on in this season. The starting rotation has been solid through the first few weeks, including a few quality outings from Steele himself. However, they will likely have to turn to one of their bullpen options to fill the vacant rotation spot. The potential candidates to slot in could be Colin Rea, Nate Pearson, or Brad Keller. All three of them have starting pitching experience, but have been pitching out of the bullpen for Chicago. The other factor to consider here is the fact that the bullpen has been underwhelming for the Cubs. So, taking one of the impactful pieces out of the bullpen, like Pearson or Keller, could make the bullpen struggles even worse.
Given the struggles the pitching staff had near the end of the year last season, Chicago’s front office made pitching depth a priority over the winter, as seen by the signings of Rea and Keller. Now, if Steele ends up being sidelined for an extended period of time, the depth of the pitching staff is what is going to have to keep this team afloat. Luckily, the central division has proven to be winnable for any team, and the Cubs have put themselves at the top in the early going. However, if this team has aspirations of playing meaningful October baseball, they are going to have to see production throughout the pitching staff, and this injury has created an opportunity for some guys to step up in that role.
