Chicago Cubs: Justin Steele throws off Wrigley mound as Horton awaits imaging on forearm

The Chicago Cubs got a bit of good pitching news on Saturday, to slightly counter some concerning pitching news from the day before. Ace Justin Steele pitched off the Wrigley Field mound and, apparently, looked pretty darn solid throwing live BP.

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On Friday, emerging pitching star Cade Horton was pulled from his start in Cleveland after just one full inning with “forearm discomfort” and was subsequently placed on the 15-day IL while he’s being assessed.

So, even the slightest hint of Steele—the Cubs’ most efficient and effective starting pitcher over the last several years—looking rotation-ready is a much bigger deal than it would’ve been, even last week.

Justin Steele’s rehab advances

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The lefty Steele went down with an elbow injury last year, just four starts into the season. Subsequent elbow surgery (ulnar collateral ligament revision repair) put him on the shelf for the rest of the year.

Hopes were high, however, that he would make a full recovery and be a big part of a 2026 squad targeting a deep postseason run. On March 1, Steele told reporters that his doctor had cleared him to resume full baseball activities and that he hoped to be back in the Cubs’ rotation in May or June.

“As far as doctor’s orders, he’s cleared me. Full-go as far as baseball activities, no restrictions,” he told reporters.

Not long after that, the 30-year-old would face live hitters (Michael Busch and Jonathon Long) for the first time since his injury.

“Looks like Justin,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told reporters after the session, with a smile. “There’s days where he has really good cut to the fastball and gets weak contact. And there’s days where it has a little more carry, where you get more swing and miss. I thought today, you kind of saw a little bit of both.”

“I think it went as well as he could have wanted it and hoped for it to go,” Hottovy added. “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.”

In the meantime…

With Horton’s status still up in the air, the Cubs will be looking to urgently fill a spot near the top of the rotation. And while it appears that veteran Colin Rea will be taking the young arm’s spot for now, the team will definitely need a more established starter to help carry them to a postseason berth. Over 82 starts and four years as a Cubs rotation piece, Steele has posted a 3.18 ERA.

Until Steele can make his way to active duty, Chicago will have a solid reserve crew to tap for starts, including Rea, Ben Brown, and Javier Assad, who is currently at Triple-A Iowa.

This is all assuming, of course, that the 24-year-old Horton will miss time beyond his 15-day IL stint. However, given that Horton has had his season shut down due to injury two years in a row, chances of a prolonged absence are disturbingly high.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-justin-steele-recovery-cade-horton-injury/