Chicago Cubs ace Justin Steele will endure season-ending surgical procedure to restore the flexor tendon in his left elbow, dealing a big blow to the crew’s rotation.
It was unclear whether or not Steele, who underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in 2017, will want one other full ligament-replacement process or a Tommy John revision with an inner brace. The 29-year-old left-hander might be sidelined till 2026.
“On a day like this, you are feeling for Justin,” supervisor Craig Counsell stated earlier than Sunday’s sequence finale in opposition to the Los Angeles Dodgers. “It’s form of the lifetime of a significant league pitcher, these accidents that make you miss most of seasons.
“However I talked to him this morning, and he has a fantastic perspective about it, as he all the time does. He is aware of that it’s a part of the profession he’s chosen, and he’s going to take it a step at a time and do the very best he can to return again even higher.”
Steele, 3-1 with a 4.76 ERA in 4 begins, felt tightness in his elbow after throwing seven scoreless innings at house in opposition to the Texas Rangers final Monday, discomfort he attributed to the chilly climate at Wrigley Area.
Two days later, the Cubs positioned Steele on the 15-day injured listing. An MRI revealed that Steele was “coping with the identical harm” as final September, when he missed two begins due to tendinitis, Counsell stated Friday. A go to to a physician for a second opinion revealed a extra severe harm.
Steele had a 3.10 ERA in 78 begins from 2022-24 and completed fifth in Nationwide League Cy Younger Award voting in 2023, when he went 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA in 30 begins, placing out 176 and strolling 36 in 173 1/3 innings.
Counsell stated right-hander Colin Rea, who began in opposition to the Dodgers on Sunday, will fill Steele’s rotation spot for now and that right-hander Javier Assad, who will start a minor league rehabilitation task with Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday, might be a candidate to fill Steele’s spot when he returns from a left indirect pressure.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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