MESA, Ariz. — Justin Steele stepped off the back of the mound at Sloan Park, gathered himself with a deep breath and exhaled.

The sequence provided Steele a moment to reset amid the adrenaline of facing hitters again.

Teammates Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Gavin Hollowell and Jordan Wicks, along with front-office personnel, sat in the stands Thursday to watch Steele face hitters for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery in April. The left-hander threw 19 pitches against Michael Busch and Jonathon Long, recording three strikeouts and generating some ugly swings.

“Another box to check,” Steele said afterward. “Felt good today, that’s the main thing — I was throwing strikes, putting the fastball where I wanted to for the most part. Just excited about it.”

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Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy described Thursday as a big milestone step in Steele’s comeback journey. Hottovy was looking for repeatability in Steele’s delivery to make sure his mechanics remain sound. Steele’s fastball showed both the cut and life on the pitch the Cubs are used to seeing from Steele, which was an encouraging sign.

“I think it went as well as he could have wanted it and hoped for it to go,” Hottovy said. “Now it’s just continuing to build off every outing, every live BP and making sure we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”

Steele didn’t feel any anxiety in the buildup to facing hitters like he had during his return from his first Tommy John surgery in 2017. He appreciated teammates and coaches showing up to the stadium to watch his live BP. Busch congratulated him after they finished for getting to this point in his recovery.

“With this one, it’s kind of been smooth sailing as far as the rehab process has been going,” Steele said. “As soon as I started throwing bullpens, however long ago it was, I was kind of like, ‘I feel like I could face hitters right now.’ It was a very similar feeling as to what it was before surgery, so there wasn’t really an adjustment period for it.”

For as good as Steele’s stuff felt Thursday, he’s not looking too far ahead. The Cubs are going to be deliberate in his buildup knowing he will have some form of an innings limit this season. Both sides want to make sure he’s available for playoff baseball and potentially a deep run in October.

Going forward, Steele will for the most part remain on a typical five-day starter schedule as he continues ramping up. There might be opportunities for Steele to get additional work in the pitching lab or spend time working on stuff in a bullpen session, but otherwise the Cubs are moving forward with Steele getting into his normal routine.

“We’re obviously very excited with where I’m at and how I’m feeling,” Steele said. “We’re doing a really good job of keeping a level head throughout this process.”