SAN DIEGO \u2014 The Chicago Cubs expected to get a boost sometime in the next few weeks with the return of left-hander Justin Steele.<\/p>\n
However, a setback during the build-up process has significantly pushed Steele\u2019s original timeline for his comeback from last April\u2019s left elbow surgery. Steele has been diagnosed with a flexor strain and will be re-evaluated in one month, manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Steele is now unlikely to rejoin the Cubs\u2019 rotation until after the July All-Star break, Counsell estimated.<\/p>\n
Steeled planned to go back to Dr. Keith Meister for a final check-up to continue with the rehab process for his elbow, but he didn\u2019t feel great throwing a bullpen over the weekend. That prompted an MRI on Tuesday morning, which revealed a flexor strain. The imaging encouragingly showed no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). Steele will be shut down from throwing until he is asymptomatic.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than anything, for Justin it\u2019s just frustrating,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cDuring the course of these rehabs, there are always good days and bad days that you navigate through it. But when you start getting back to where Justin was and getting fairly close to kind of getting back into competition, you think you\u2019ve kind of crossed some of those. And unfortunately, we\u2019ve just hit another speed bump here, and it\u2019s going to take longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rehab process is long and monotonous at times and when you\u2019re close to the end and you get told, \u2018No, we\u2019re back into rehab mode,\u2019 that\u2019s tough. \u2026 We\u2019re going to get less of him this year, but still plenty of time to get back for this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cubs anticipated Steele\u2019s rehab wouldn\u2019t go perfectly smoothly, given the nature of the surgery he was coming back from. But this new injury prevents Steele from returning in late May or early June. Steele had been facing hitters in live batting practice since March and was getting close to starting his minor-league rehab assignment.<\/p>\n
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Steele, 30, hasn\u2019t pitched in a big-league game since April 7, 2025. He is currently one of 11 Cubs on the injured list, including 10 pitchers. Lefty reliever Riley Martin is also dealing with a flexor strain, which will keep him out about two months. The Cubs have also lost right-handers Cade Horton and Porter Hodge to Tommy John surgery this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a lot of injuries, of course we try to examine everything we\u2019re doing \u2014 I think that you should,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re having success, struggles, the same injury, absolutely you try to make sure your processes are good and you\u2019re not doing anything that would, I don\u2019t want to say create injuries, but make players more exposed to injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SAN DIEGO \u2014 The Chicago Cubs expected to get a boost sometime in the next few weeks with the return of left-hander Justin Steele. However, a setback… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":181540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n