Cubs’ Craig Counsell Sends Strong Message to Likely Opening Day Starter

Getty Cubs (likely) ace Justin Steele

It would be a major surprise if the Cubs took the field on Opening Day at the end of the month and it was anybody except lefty Justin Steele on the mound. Steele was one of the drivers of the Cubs’ success last year, posting a 16-5 record with a 3.06 ERA and earning an All-Star spot after showing some promise in the latter half of the 2022 season.

Marcus Stroman is gone. Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks are back, but neither is ace material. The job surely is Steele’s, right?

Not so fast, manager Craig Counsell said. His message on Steele was pretty clear—he is not going to simply hand Steele the Opening Day assignment, not until he sees how the rest of this MLB  Spring Training plays out.

“I think it’s earned,” Counsell said, per the Marquee Sports Network. “I really look at it that way as much as anything — I think it’s earned.”

And, speaking to reporters this week, Steele said the ace designation is not his focus.

“If it happens, it happens,” Steele said, per The Athletic. “It’s not something I put too much focus on.”

Justin Steele: ‘It’s Time to Do it Again’

Steele is probably the lynchpin for the Cubs this season, and putting together something of a repeat of what he accomplished last year, when he was fifth in the N.L. Cy Young voting, will be vital to keeping the team near the top of the National League Central.

He made his Spring Training debut on Friday, and allowed two hits and two runs, with a walk and two strikeouts.  Steele threw 32 of his 46 pitches for strikes.

“I really appreciate everything that happened last year,” Steele said after the game. “It was really cool to do it and prove it to myself that I could do it. And now it’s kind of like no one cares anymore. It’s time to do it again.”

There are some things that should come easier for Steele this time around, thanks to the benefit of experience. While he is starting with a clean slate, he is also coming in with a raised confidence level.

“I would say I’m a little more comfortable than I was a year ago,” he said. “That just comes with anybody having the experience and everything that goes with it. I’m a little more comfortable and confident.”

Cubs Rotation Looks Strong Entering the Year

The Cubs essentially are replacing Stroman with 30-year-old lefty Shota Imanaga, who went 74-55 with a 2.96 ERA in eight seasons in Japan. Chicago brought him in on a four-year, $53 million contract in January. Another lefty, rookie Jordan Wicks, could bolster the rotation, as well, though the team figures to be cautious in working him into the staff.

If Wicks does not latch on to start the year, the quartet of Steele, Imanaga, Hendricks and Taillon will likely be filled out with some combination back-end starters  Javier Assad, Drew Smyly and/or Hayden Wesneski.

But it all starts with Steele, who is hoping to expand his repertoire beyond his four-seam fastball and his slider. Counsell, though, said that even the two pitches Steele uses are enough.

“He just throws a baseball in a way and it just does a little something different each time and that is hard for hitters,” Counsell said, per Marquee. “Hitters don’t like what they don’t see very often and they’re used to calibrating to a movement on a pitch and then when it moves differently the next time and they’re never really sure what to expect, that’s what makes it hard for them to square up the baseball on him.

“So that’s what he’s good at. It’s unique. I think that’s what makes you say, ‘why can’t we hit him?’ Because it’s unique. But it’s certainly what he’s good at.”