The Chicago Cubs' 2025 campaign faced an early obstacle when ace Justin Steele went down with an elbow injury that required season-ending surgery, but the lefty continues to work his way back and should be ready to go some time after the start of the upcoming year. Steele gave an update on his progress during Saturday's spring training game against the Texas Rangers.

“I’m feeling really good. Bullpens have been progressing really well lately,” Steele said on the Cubs' Marquee Sports Network broadcast.

Steele has already been ruled out for an Opening Day return, but the hope is he'll be able to be back during the first half of the season. All seems to be going well on the rehab front, so it's just a matter of him working his way back up to speed.

The 30-year-old Steele blossomed into one of MLB's best pitchers in the 2023 season, going 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA while earning All-Star honors and finishing fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting. While 2024 wasn't as prolific with just 24 starts compared to the 30 he made in 2023, he still posted a stellar 3.07 ERA.

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Steele made just four starts in 2025 before the elbow injury ended his season. Chicago still made the playoffs without him but lost to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS.

Cubs bolster rotation as they await Justin Steele's return

While the Cubs know Steele's return will boost their starting rotation, they also knew they still needed to upgrade the pitching staff. That's why they went out and acquired Edward Cabrera in a trade with the Miami Marlins. Chicago also has Rookie of the Year runner-up Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon in the fold.

The Cubs have World Series expectations after trading for Cabrera and signing Alex Bregman this offseason. Getting Steele back to anything close to his former self would only help those efforts more.