The Chicago Cubs got some tough news on Justin Steele this week, even if nobody wanted to say it directly.
President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer talked to 104.3 The Score after Steele’s latest rehab start and basically laid out what most people probably already suspected. Steele is coming off elbow surgery from over a year ago. He hasn’t pitched in a big league game since April 7 of last season. And while the hope was that he’d return at some point this summer and give the Cubs a real boost, Hoyer is now saying that a full workload is essentially off the table.
“I think it’s probably unrealistic to think he’s gonna be fully stretched out at any point,” Hoyer said, via MLB.com. “So if he does help us, I think it’s gonna be in shorter bursts.”
That’s a honest but disappointing update for a fanbase that’s been waiting on Steele for over a year now.
The 30-year-old lefty was an All-Star in 2023 and looked like a legitimate frontline starter before the elbow issues started creeping in. He made only one start in 2025 before going down, and the recovery process has been a slow grind with setbacks along the way. Hoyer acknowledged that too.
“He’s had some setbacks, but I think the hope is that he can avoid setbacks and that he can sort of help us later in the season,” Hoyer said. “Not only the hope for this season, but also going into the offseason, it’d be nice to see him out there and pitching healthy just in terms of roster planning for next year.”
That last part matters. The Cubs are sitting at 40-37 right now, third in the NL Central, and they’re very much in the mix for a wild card spot. Having Steele back in any form would help, even if it’s just a reliever type role or a short opener situation. But Hoyer also made it clear that expecting Steele to start games this season is unrealistic, and even the word ‘optimism’ came with a warning label.
He said optimism about Steele’s return might be strong. Which is a nice way of saying they’re not counting on him for anything significant.
Still, there’s a silver lining here. If Steele can get back on the mound in any capacity, even for a few innings here and there, it gives the front office a better sense of what they have going into the winter. A healthy Steele in 2026 would be a huge asset. But for now, the Cubs have to keep grinding without him, and Hoyer knows that getting a “really good version” of Steele this year is a long shot.
At this point, any Steele sighting on the mound would be a win. Just don’t expect him to be the guy who throws seven innings every fifth day. Not this year.
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