Chicago Cubs: Justin Steele’s rehab sparks ‘Hail Mary’ bullpen hope

The Chicago Cubs bullpen appears to be in the midst of a full-on collapse after yet another poor showing in Wednesday’s 9-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field.

More News: Chicago Cubs staring down harsh reality after Jacob Webb injury

Worst of all for the team, de facto closer Jacob Webb took a line drive off the bat of Christian Yelich in the ninth inning and had to leave the game. X-rays were later revealed to be negative, but the team is nonetheless facing the reality of losing the veteran righty for a period of time.

The injury removes one more key component to a pitching staff that has been besieged by injury all season.

Recently, though, Webb has been struggling and hasn’t looked to be the same pitcher who stepped up earlier in the season to be a source of stability for an injury-plagued bullpen. Regardless, the loss will be a big deal for what is likely to be a playoff-bound team.

The late-inning bullpen guys, as a whole, have been in a bad place recently. Closer tandem Webb and Daniel Palencia have a beyond-ugly combined 19.91 ERA over their last 8 appearances. Ryan Zeferjahn, who was picked up at the trade deadline to be a late-inning asset, has been touched up repeatedly.

But some are grasping at the hope of a returning Cubs ace to maybe step into a prominent bullpen role down the stretch and into the postseason.

Justin Steele’s first rehab outing

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On Wednesday, Justin Steele made his first rehab appearance for the Iowa Cubs and looked about as good as any pitcher could be expected to look after going through what he has gone through.

The 31-year-old southpaw threw 36 pitches in a 1.2 inning appearance where he allowed 1 earned run on 4 hits and no walks, striking out two hitters. He averaged 90.3 mph on his fastball and 89.7 mph on his slider, which was, as expected, below his pre-injury average.

Steele had UCL surgery in April of 2025 and was expected back as soon as June of this year. However a flexor strain killed the momentum of his comeback and forced him right back into recovery. It’s been quite the frustrating ride for Steele, the Cubs, and the fans.

Still, just the very image of Steele pitching in a competitive situation again was enough to get many fans wondering aloud whether he could be brought back in time for the playoffs this season, at least in a bullpen role to help secure a roughed-up relief corps.

“I’m excited for him that he’s getting back out there,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer told media Tuesday. “As it relates to this team, we’ll see. We’re not in development mode at this point.

“If he can come back and he can help us, he’s going to come back and he’s going to help us. If there’s rust and he needs more time, it’s not the time to do that.

“I’m very open-minded, but I don’t know how this is going to go.”

A Cubs ‘Hail Mary’ bullpen strategy

With Webb injured and Palencia—along with several others—struggling, could the Cubs bullpen be forced into a Hail Mary-type bullpen maneuver to help with their playoff run?

With Steele starting his rehab assignment and veteran Shelby Miller already a few appearances into his own rehab assignment, could the Cubs count on two veteran talents maybe stepping up to fortify a stressed and strained bullpen? A starting rotation spot for Steele is not realistic, but a good inning here and there out of the bullpen could help the team.

Something like this is certainly within the realm of possibility, even though the Cubs themselves are pretty clear in emphasizing that the goal for both Steele and Miller is a healthy full return next season, not a rush to contribute this season.

But at least there’s a marginal Plan B for this bullpen mess. Although, admittedly, it’s very marginal at this point.

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