Cubs' Steele Likely Done for Year, Smyly to Make One More Start

Pitcher Justin Steele hasn't appeared in a game since exiting the Chicago Cubs' August 26 game in Milwaukee in the sixth inning with a lower back strain.

Steele threw a bullpen session Tuesday and is due to have one more high-intensity bullpen session before the conclusion of the regular season, according to Cubs manager David Ross, Meghan Montemurro reports.

Justin Steele’s bullpen went well yesterday and he is expected to throw one more high-intensity bullpen. It sounds like that will be the end of Steele’s season and he won’t pitch in another game.

Ross: “It just makes sense to me to just go ahead and send him off on a high note.”
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) September 28, 2022

It appears that Steele's final bullpen session will be his last activity of the season, and he will not appear in another game until 2023.

"It just makes sense to me to just go ahead and send him off on a high note," Ross said.

Steele, 27, excelled in 2022, his first season as a full-time member of the Cubs' pitching rotation, posting a 3.18 ERA and 130 ERA+ over 24 starts and 119 innings. Steele made his big league debut in 2021, pitching primarily out of the bullpen.

Ross also shared that pitcher Drew Smyly will be making one more start before season's end. Smyly has been dealing with lingering left shoulder fatigue since his last start, September 14, in the Cubs' 6-3 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Drew Smyly (left shoulder fatigue) will make one for start for the Cubs this season, per Ross.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) September 28, 2022

Smyly signed a one-year, $4.25 million contract with the Cubs in March. Through 21 starts this season, he has a 3.48 ERA, 1.190 WHIP and 118 ERA+ over 103.1 innings pitched.

Smyly will be able to test the free agent market once again this winter, and would be a nice addition to the backend of a team's pitching rotation, if the Cubs do not resign him.