Cubs’ Steele suffers setback in injury rehab

SAN DIEGO — While the Cubs continue to deal with a cluster of pitching injuries, the anticipated return of Justin Steele, a one-time All-Star, remains increasingly unclear.

Steele has been diagnosed with a flexor strain in his left elbow, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday, following a visit with Dr. Keith Meister in Texas. Last April, Meister handled the season-ending surgery on Steele’s elbow.

Until recently, the Cubs had been targeting late May or early June for Steele’s return to a rotation already missing Cade Horton, who recently underwent season-ending surgery on his right elbow. Steele will be reevaluated in another month.

“It’s a setback,” Counsell said on The Score, the team’s flagship radio station. “There’s no question about it.”

Steele, now 30, previously underwent Tommy John surgery while he was a young prospect in Chicago’s farm system. He gradually developed into a frontline starting pitcher, finishing fifth in the National League’s 2023 Cy Young Award voting. But he last pitched in the majors on April 7, 2025, and the Cubs don’t know when he will do so again.

“This is a place that’s hard because there’s not much you can say to make a person feel better in this situation,” Counsell said. “The grind of a rehab, unfortunately, can do this to you. You don’t have a choice but to kind of take it in and try to go have a good day tomorrow. Today was obviously not a good day for Justin. But I think that’s the attitude he’s going to take. It’s your only choice, really, in this thing.”

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