Chicago Cubs Ace Not Satisfied After Cy Young Caliber Season
The Chicago Cubs added Shota Imanaga, pairing him with another top left-handed pitcher, Justin Steele. The 28-year-old left-hander was sneakily one of the best pitchers in baseball last season, posting a 3.06 ERA in his third big league season.
Steele was named an All-Star for the first time in his career and finished fifth in the National League Cy Young voting. It was the second straight season that proved he had a legitimate chance to be the ace that the Cubs desperately needed.
While impressive, Steele understands that there's more he can bring to the table. He wants to prove that he can do it again and will have a chance to do so in 2024 with the lights brighter than they've ever been.
Steele had the following to say about his performance last season and how he's approaching this season, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic:
“It’s cool that it happened. Now go do it again. That’s kind of where my mind is.”
The mindset from Steele has been clear since he made his debut in Chicago. He expects the most out of himself and will continue to do whatever he can to accomplish that.
Imanaga will be a great help to the rotation and take off some of the stress on Steele. After losing Marcus Stroman, the hope is that Imanaga can fill that void and possibly pitch better than Stroman did. That might be difficult as the now New York Yankees pitcher was one of the best in baseball during the first half of 2023.
It's an exciting time for the Cubs and with a chance of adding offensive firepower, Steele and the rest of the staff have to be excited about what's brewing.
