Steele in sterling company as Cubs shut out Padres
Justin Verlander. Shohei Ohtani. Max Fried. Justin Steele.
Those are the only four starters with ERAs of 2.00 or better since June 27 of last year (minimum 15 starts).
Verlander is a three-time Cy Young Award winner with 244 career victories. Ohtani is one of MLB's biggest stars, a two-way threat who has ripped 85 home runs over the past two-plus years. Fried has won almost 73% of his starts for the Braves since 2019.
Then there's Steele, the soft-spoken 27-year-old who only made his Cubs debut in 2021.
Blessed with a sneaky fastball that hitters have a difficult time picking up and a slider that snaps chaotically across the zone, Steele has turned into one intimidating hurler.
"When he's locating the arm-side half of the plate, he's as dominant as there is in baseball," said manager David Ross. "You just start to expect that type of performance every time out."
The Cubs (13-9) got another gem from Steele on Tuesday in a 6-0 victory over San Diego at Wrigley Field, with the lefty throwing 5⅓ shutout innings. He allowed 3 hits, walked a pair and struck out five.
Catcher Yan Gomes (4-for-4) drove in the Cubs' first 3 runs, somehow belting a 2-run homer against a bone-chilling 13-mph wind in the second inning and producing an RBI single in the eighth. Gomes has home runs in back-to-back games and is 15-for-34 (.441) in his last eight contests.
"What a great game for him," Ross said. "There's real thump in that bat."
Nico Hoerner completed the scoring with a bases-clearing triple. Hoerner has reached base in 20 straight games, the third-longest streak in the majors.
Steele (4-0) ran into trouble in the third inning, issuing back-to-back walks with one out, but he struck out Juan Soto looking on a 93-mph fastball that barely nipped the strike zone low and away. Steele then got Manny Machado to pop out to second baseman Ian Happ.
"We're starting to see him really maturing and growing as a pitcher," Gomes said. "He's taken that next step of confidence and learning himself. It's exciting."
Steele's demeanor in the locker room is very much what you'd expect from a young man from Mississippi. He's super chill, speaks with a slow, southern drawl and is as polite as can be.
But make no mistake - although we don't often see much emotion on the mound - there's a fire burning inside.
"We have a couple of those guys," said Ross, pointing to Drew Smyly and Kyle Hendricks. "Justin has some of that.
"But then when he's out there competing and you hear him talking and you see him get out of a big moment, there is that ... internal fire that's in there. I love emotion, but when my pitcher doesn't show (it) and you know how they're wired, it's even greater - because the other team doesn't see a wave of emotion that can sometimes be a detriment. ...
"He's done a really nice job of ... controlling the body language and controlling the frustrations and continuing to execute the next pitch, no matter whether he's getting dinked to death or giving up some soft contact or a run here or there. ... His first little bit here, I don't know if I can say that."
The numbers back that up.
After going 4-4 with a 4.26 ERA in 20 appearances (9 starts) as a rookie, Steele began last season going 2-5 with a 4.59 ERA in 14 starts.
But something seemed to click in late June and he's been one tough SOB ever since. In his last 15 starts, Steele has allowed 63 hits in 84.66 innings with 31 walks and 94 strikeouts.
His ERA? Try 1.38.
Only Verlander (1.26) is better over that time.
"Even dating back to last year in the first half I felt like there were adjustments I was making," Steele said. "I (wasn't) one thing away from figuring it out or anything like that.
"But I feel like I was putting the right pieces together, I was learning from each and every start and I feel like the run I've been on is just a product of that."
The Cubs improved to 13-9 while the Padres fell to 12-13. The teams continue their three-game series Wednesday with the Cubs' Drew Smyly (2-1, 3.13 ERA) facing Michael Wacha (2-1, 7.08).