CHICAGO – In his down time from rehabbing from left elbow surgery, Justin Steele and his family have been trying to schedule their days around the first-pitch time for each Cubs game at home in Arizona. Justin and his wife, Libby, make sure their young son, Beau, has plenty to keep him busy.
“I’d like to be out there playing, but it’s fun being a fan a little bit,” Steele said. “He’s got his toys in front of the TV ready to play. It’s been good. It’s been kind of fun to watch.”
The Steele family switched up that recent routine this week with the pitcher traveling to Chicago to spend a few days around his teammates and out of the rising Arizona heat. On Tuesday night, Steele took in the first career quality start for Cubs rookie Cade Horton and watched Matt Shaw deliver a walk-off single to right field to seal a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Rockies.
Steele, who underwent a season-ending ulnar collateral ligament revision repair on April 18, said he was still roughly five months away from picking up a baseball again. He has not started to think about his timetable beyond that important step. Right now, Steele is just focusing on “conquering each day” and finding moments to be back around the team.
“Look, it’s always hard when you have a surgery like that,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “A lot of the fun is just being around the team, so we want him to come around as much as he can and still get the appropriate attention in his rehab.”
Counsell noted that Steele will likely join the team once a month or so, giving him a chance to check in with the Major League medical team, while also being around his teammates.
“It was good to catch up with him,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “The rehab process is a physical thing, but it’s also a mental thing – trying to be optimistic, trying to find things to change the four walls that you're staring at all the time. For him, I think getting here … is important.”
For young pitchers like Horton or Ben Brown, Steele can also serve as another valuable resource, given his journey to being an All-Star and Opening Day starter for Chicago.
Against Colorado, Horton walked away with a no-decision after allowing two runs over six-plus frames. In his fourth career outing and third start for the Cubs, the righty struck out six and walked one. Horton was in position for a win, but then allowed a leadoff homer to Brenton Doyle that knotted the score, 2-2, in the seventh.
In his brief time with the Cubs, Horton has not allowed more than three runs in an outing and has a 3.98 ERA in his four appearances. The right-hander has registered 16 strikeouts against four walks in 20 1/3 innings to date.
“Just getting into the seventh inning is a big step,” Counsell said. “He threw a ton of strikes. I thought his stuff was excellent. I think he’s getting better every time out.”
And Counsell sees potential for Horton to feature a Steele-like edge on the mound.
“I’ve always complimented Justin on being a real clear-headed competitor,” Counsell said. “And I think Cade’s got a real chance to be in a similar boat there. You take the good and you take the bad and you move on. I think Cade’s done a really nice job of that.”
Horton appreciated Counsell’s comments.
“It’s really cool to hear that,” Horton said. “Steele is a great pitcher. I hated seeing him go down this year, but I know he works hard and he’s a competitor. So, he’s going to come back strong and I’m looking forward to watching his journey.”
Likewise, Steele has been enjoying seeing Horton seize his opportunity while the lefty and fellow starter Shota Imanaga have been on the injured list.
“Unfortunately, for things like that to happen, there’s usually injuries involved,” Steele said. “But it’s been awesome to watch him step up and make his debut and everything. It’s been really fun to watch. I sent him a text after he was done pitching – if he had any questions, I was always there.”
Horton said he has already taken Steele up on the offer, too.
“I have been picking his brain,” Horton said. “We have similar shapes on a lot of our [pitches], so just picking his brain on that. Yeah, he did text me. That was really cool of him to reach out to me. I’m really happy to have him here this week and just kind of talk to him.”