A season as strong as Steele |
With the Cubs officially eliminated from playoff contention with the Miami Marlins win over Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Cubs made some conservative roster moves, which included scratching Justin Steele from his scheduled start against the Brewers on Sunday to close out the regular season.
And with that, the book is closed on Justin Steele’s 2023 campaign. What a season it was. For most of the season, Steele’s name was firmly planted in the Cy Young conversation in the National League. A few tough starts down the stretch made the award Blake Snell’s to lose, but that should not take away from how strong the season was for the left-hander. Steele made some strong strides at the end of the 2022 season. His last seven starts were dazzling, as he turned in a 0.98 ERA in 7 starts — allowing just four earned runs in 36.2 innings and striking out 47. Many around the industry wanted Steele to put it together for an entire season or at least a bigger sample size. If there were any doubters remaining, Steele assuredly silenced them this season. Steele made 30 starts this season and won 16 of them. His 16-5 record was one of the best individual win percentages of any starter. His ERA shuffled between the high 1.00 and the low 2.00s for most of the season, and it settled at 3.06. The third-year pitcher also set new career highs in starts, innings (173.1), and strikeouts (176), both over 50 larger than the marks he set a season ago. Steele led all of MLB in home runs per 9 innings and owned the MLB lead in ERA and Wins for a variety of different chunks of the season. Not to mention, Steele was named to his first career All-Star game in July and delivered a scoreless frame. In front of the Cubs’ own eyes, they have watched Steele go from a long relief lefty option to the ACE of a pitching staff — and can feel confident in what they have in the 28-year-old. Steele took the ball in the Cubs' biggest spots and delivered. He finished the season with 11 straight outings, striking out five or more batters. He turned in seven scoreless outings, seven one-run outings, and six two-run outings — over 2/3 of his outings yielded less than two runs, and 22 of the 30 saw Steele pitch through the sixth inning or longer. No outing was more electric than his eight-inning, 12-strikeout shutout performance of the Giants in early September. That day, if it was not clear yet, cemented to the Cubs that they had an ACE on their hands and one who was attracted to the big moments, not shy. Cubs manager David Ross said, "He's turning into an ace” about Steele back in June. After that shut-down outing against San Francisco in September, he said: “Steele wants the ball in the biggest moments,” and gave a comparison to former Cubs lefty, World Champion, and potential Hall-of-Famer Jon Lester—high praise from anybody, but especially from his personal catcher. And Ross is on to something. Here are the numbers from Jon Lester’s last All-Star season with the Cubs in 2018: 18-6, 3.32 ERA, 181.2 innings, 174 hits, 64 walks, and 149 Ks. And Steele’s this year: 16-5, 3.06 ERA, 173.1 innings, 167 hits, 36 walks and 176 Ks. Pretty similar. He was reliable, he was effective, and he was elite all season long. Steele’s close friend Casey, the grandson of former Cubs All-Star Claude Passeau, knows the mentality that the southpaw pitches with. “When he gets on that mound, he already knows that he’s better than you are.” And Steele was better (than most) in his third season. While it is unknown who the Cubs may target in the offseason, what the roster will look like come April, or if Steele will be pitching under a nice new contract extension — what appears clear is that the Pride of Lucedale, Mississippi, will be taking the ball on Opening Day in 2024 and preparing to build on his stellar 2023 season. While the Cubs may have a lot of questions to address after their September collapse, Steele is not one of them.
