The Chicago Cubs are off to a great start this spring, having a 3-0 record so far. The Cubs recently beat their crosstown rival, the Chicago White Sox by a score of 7-3 on Saturday. So far, the White Sox have scored 26 runs combined this spring to their opponent’s 10 runs.
The Cubs come into camp determined to make the postseason after a five-year hiatus. The Northsiders have been building a roster suitable to take on the better teams in the National League.
The Cubs have a few players on their roster who look to have a breakout season and help the Cubs accomplish their goal of getting back in the playoffs. Cubs lefty Justin Steele looks to help achieve that goal and has set high expectations for himself this season.
Chicago Cubs left-hander has lofty expectations for himself
Steele enters his fifth season in both Major League Baseball and has a stellar career so far. In his four seasons, Steele has a career record of 29-21, with an ERA of 3.24 in 484.0 career innings pitched. The 29-year-olds best season to date came in 2023, when he had a 16-5 record, with a 3.06 ERA, and tallied 176 strikeouts in 173.1 innings.
Steele also led the league in HR9 at 0.7. For his efforts, Steele finished fifth in the Cy Young voting and was named to his first All-Star team.
In a recent interview with Marquee Sports Network, Steele laid out some expectations for himself for the season. They include hitting two important pitching milestones, making 30 starts on the season, and throwing 180.0 innings.
Both would be accomplishments for Steele, with Steele hitting the 30-start plateau once in his career (2023) and having not surpassed the 180.0 innings mark yet. According to Steele, he and manager Craig Counsell are on the “same page” for these feats.
“We’re definitely on the same page as far as getting 30-plus starts, 180-plus innings,” Steele said. “We both kind of have the same goals and mindset going into the season.”
Entering his 5th big league season, Justin Steele wants to reach new limits 😤
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 23, 2025
Steele can certainly accomplish both feats but may have an uphill battle in reaching them, with the Cubs possibly implementing a six-man rotation for this season. FanGraphs projects the 6-2 left-hander to make 26 starts and record a record of 8-5 with a 3.34 ERA in 145.3 innings pitched.
An impressive first showing for Steele
The Georgia County High School product, in his first start of the spring, was impressive, pitching in 2.0 inning, where he allowed two hits and struck out five.
Justin Steele was dealing in 2 innings of work 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/IRKNx8YkJm
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 22, 2025
Steele, based on this first outing has all the potential to be a front-runner for the Cy Young Award once again. The 205-lb lefty enters this spring looking to add more velocity to his fastball to become more of a strikeout pitcher.
Steele also looks to have a better mix between his curveball and changeup to stay ahead of hitters. Last season, Steele was primarily a two-pitch pitcher, mainly using a four-seamer (59.6%) and a slider (29.7%). Adding in more pitches will help give hitters more to think about and help Steele become more of a strikeout pitcher.
The potential Cy Young Award winner for 2025
Given how great Steele says he feels coming into this season, having these expectations should allow Steele to be an early front-runner for the Cy Young.
If Steele’s first outing shows anything, Steele is ready to take a major step forward this season.
Steele will get his first chance to show his worth when he starts game two of the Tokyo Series. The Cubs take on the reigning World Series Champions the Los Angeles Dodgers in that series on March 18.
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