A large concern heading into MLB Opening Day was Justin Steele's status. The Chicago Cubs cleared him to play against the Texas Rangers and it looked to be paying off during the early innings of the game. However, it looks like things just went south for Craig Counsell's squad.
Justin Steele headed to the clubhouse after stumbling down in their MLB Opening Day game against the Rangers, per Bleacher Report. There is still no certainty about whether or not Craig Counsell's Cubs are going to call him back into the matchup. For now, it looks like he will undergo evaluation.
This injury left Cubs fans gasping for air when it happened right in front of them. It is largely because the Cubs pitcher had already undergone a tough injury just days before this matchup. The team did make the tough choice of letting him play eventually. But, the previous injury was not at all a joke.
Cubs pitcher goes down again
Steele's left knee was stuck by Luis Matos. He then went down during this game against the San Francisco Giants. But, that was an ailment that he was able to fix mid-game. The Cubs pitcher even outlined how he felt about the injury's delayed effects, via Jordan Bastian of the MLB.
“I went to put weight on my leg and it just wasn’t really working. So I just kind of fell down and rolled into it. For probably 15 seconds, it just kind of seemed like from the knee down my leg was kind of stove up… Other than that, once we got back in the dugout and got in the tunnel and started moving around, got some blood flowing to it, and it started coming back. I’d just say it’s sore right now, a little bruised up, but nothing to worry about, really,” he declared.
The Cubs might have to give him more time to rest and recover this time around. Hopefully, Steele is able to return. After all, the end goal is to help the Counsell's squad make a push towards being one of the better teams in the NL Central division.
Craig Counsell delivers grim outlook for Steele
After the game, Counsell sheds light on Steele's injury and provided a discouraging outlook on the pitcher's outlook (via Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic).
“Craig Counsell called Justin Steele's injury a left hamstring ‘strain' and says it's a likely IL stint for the Cubs lefty. Going for an MRI tomorrow but their pitching depth will be tested immediately.”
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