A scary situation unfolded during the Chicago Cubs' 7-3 Spring Training loss to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. At the top of the second inning, starting pitcher Justin Steele had to exit the game early after a line drive from Giants centerfielder Luis Matos hit the Cubs starter squarely on the left knee, knocking him to the ground in pain.
be okay justin steele 🙏pic.twitter.com/Pluoa5LuDk
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 22, 2024
It took Steele a while to get his bearings back, as the impact of the baseball clearly left a mark on the Cubs starter. He was eventually helped out of the game and replaced by Jose Romero. Now, Cubs fans are holding their breath, as entering Opening Day without their ace isn't exactly an ideal scenario to be in.
Nevertheless, Justin Steele reassured the Cubs fanbase that he's not particularly in too much pain after sustaining what looked like a serious injury at first glance — even taking a shot at his busted March Madness bracket in the process.
“I’m okay.. my bracket is not,” Steele wrote.
Before exiting, Steele allowed just one hit (an infield single on the at-bat where he was hit by the comebacker) in one inning of work. In 10 innings of Spring Training work, the Cubs ace has allowed a 5.40 ERA on 13 strikeouts and two walks.
Can Justin Steele replicate his stellar 2023 campaign?
It took Justin Steele quite some time to break into the big leagues. Drafted as an 18-year old in 2014, Steele did not make his Cubs debut until 2021, when he shuffled between the rotation and the bullpen. However, Steele has now become a full-fledged ace for the Cubs after he put up an incredible 4.9 WAR in 173.1 innings of work across 30 starts last season.
The Cubs have been crying out for an ace, and Steele's emergence has been huge for their bid to return to the winning ways they were on in the middle of the 2010s. Last season, Steele put up a 3.06 ERA with strong peripherals to back that up after he cut his walk rate nearly in half (176 strikeouts against just 36 walks). His improved command allowed him to remain rock-solid even though both his home run and ground ball rate got worse.
The hope for the Cubs is that Steele will be healthy enough to front the rotation the way he did last season and that the comebacker that hit him on the knee won't prevent him from suiting up during their Opening Day clash against the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers.
Cubs' 2024 starting rotation outlook
Behind Justin Steele, the Cubs have a few quality starting pitchers to round out the rotation. If Steele is unable to go for Opening Day, it stands to reason that either Shota Imanaga, the Japanese international they signed to a four-year, $53 million deal, or Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs veteran, will start against the Rangers.
Imanaga has been blowing away opponents with his stuff in Spring Training, so he represents a higher-upside option than Hendricks. Projections love the 30-year old Japanese international, although it remains to be seen if he could translate that into consistent big league production.
Meanwhile, after Shota Imanaga and Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs will be relying on Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad to round out the rotation behind Steele. Once Jameson Taillon recovers from injury, however, Taillon should re-assume a spot on the team's starting corps.
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