Justin Steele to undergo season-ending elbow surgery

Justin Steele to undergo season-ending elbow surgery

Chicago Cubs southpaw Justin Steele is undergoing season-ending surgery to repair his left elbow, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced Sunday, according to The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney.

Through four starts, Steele posted a 4.76 ERA with a 4.80 FIP across 22.2 innings with 21 strikeouts. Entering Sunday, he led baseball in home runs allowed (5) and batters faced (92).

We don’t know the specifics of the surgery yet, whether it’s Tommy John or an internal brace surgery–with the latter being not as popular, though one that Atlanta Braves Spencer Strider underwent last year.

The one-time All-Star was rock solid the last two seasons for Chicago. In 54 combined starts, he sported a 3.07 ERA, 3.11 FIP and a 135 ERA+ with 311 strikeouts in 308.0 innings. His struggles to begin 2025 was shadowed by an explosive Cubs offense that’s been one of the best in MLB to begin the new season.

Replacing him in the rotation will be a little bit more difficult. Ben Brown, Colin Rea and Jameson Taillon will have to pull their weight. Matthew Boyd has been a pleasant surprise through the first two-and-a-half weeks with Shota Imanaga leading the charge.

There’s no question that this is a big blow no matter how you slice the pie. I still think the Cubs are the favorite to make it out of the NL Central, but that can change in an instant. That’s also assuming their offense is 90 percent of what it is right now (125 wRC+, 2nd in NL), which isn’t sustainable over a full 162.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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