The Chicago Cubs received a welcome medical update on left-hander Justin Steele Monday, as manager Craig Counsell outlined the next stages of the pitcher’s rehabilitation. Counsell said Steele “has got one more week of plyo ball section, then he’ll start throwing the following week,” and added that “then he’s got a couple weeks throwing program with us.” The manager later clarified the club’s timeline, setting June 22 as the date Steele will begin formal throwing with the organization. Counsell also said Steele is en route to Chicago from the team’s Arizona training complex and will travel with the club as he continues his rehab work ahead of the upcoming series against the Colorado Rockies.
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Official team portrait of the Chicago Cubs left-hander in Cubs uniform — team officials provided a positive injury update on his rehab before the upcoming Rockies series.
Steele’s absence has loomed over the Cubs all season. The left-hander suffered a setback while attempting to return from an internal brace procedure last year, re-injuring the flexor tendon in his left elbow. That recurrence did not ultimately require another operation, but it forced a shutdown that lasted roughly a month and prompted the club to effectively restart his rehabilitation protocol. Until now, Steele had been working at the team’s Spring Training facility in Arizona as he moved through the early, non-throwing phases of his recovery.
The timeline Counsell laid out is deliberate and stepwise. After the remaining plyo ball treatments, Steele is to begin scheduled throwing roughly on June 22, followed by “a couple weeks” of an organizational throwing program. From there, the left-hander must progress to throwing off a mound and facing hitters in live settings — a progression that the club framed as similar to the ramp-up a pitcher receives in Spring Training. That kind of build typically requires multiple, consecutive phases of increasing intensity and volume; the club estimates it could be six or more weeks from the start of mound work before Steele would be ready to make a competitive start for Chicago.
Chicago Cubs left-hander erupts on the mound during a game — the player the article reports is making encouraging rehab progress and is slated to begin a throwing program ahead of the Rockies series.
What the club described is a cautious progression built to protect Steele’s elbow and maximize the chances of a durable return. Because his setback was soft-tissue related and did not necessitate further surgery, the organization has been able to continue the non-operative rehab path, but that also means they must verify his tolerance to each new activity before accelerating the program. The successive steps — plyo ball work, organization-directed throwing, mound work, simulated hitters and, if needed, minor-league or simulated outings — are designed to reintroduce stress gradually and monitor for any recurrence of symptoms. The Cubs emphasized that every stage will be evaluated and that the sequence leaves open multiple outcomes depending on Steele’s response.
That timeline leaves open the possibility of a return before the end of the 2026 season, but the organization emphasized that every step must proceed without setbacks for that to occur. Best-case projections put Steele’s potential return on the other side of baseball’s trade deadline; however, the club noted the process still hinges on his response to each phase of the throwing and mound progression. The organization’s approach underscores the caution teams typically take with elbow-related soft-tissue issues, even when surgery is not required.
Steele’s prospective return carries implications for a rotation that has struggled to sustain health and performance this year. At present the Cubs are running Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, Ben Brown, Colin Rea and Javier Assad through their starting staff. The club has already lost Cade Horton for the season, and Steele has been unavailable all year, creating an ongoing need for dependable innings. Chucking additional bullpen or rotation help into the equation has been a focal point of front-office conversations as the calendar moves toward midseason roster decision points.
Two veteran arms are expected back before the trade deadline, providing additional options in the short term. Matthew Boyd’s immediate next step is to throw a bullpen session this week; the club will then determine whether he requires a rehab start before rejoining the rotation, with Boyd slated to be the first of the two veterans to return. Jameson Taillon is projected to follow sometime after the All-Star break. Taillon has struggled statistically this season, with both ERA and FIP north of 5.00, figures that could influence how the front office evaluates his role once healthy. If Boyd and Taillon return to full availability, the club indicated that Rea and Assad would be the most likely candidates to be displaced, at least temporarily, to create room in the rotation.
That window of returning pitchers gives the Cubs roughly a two-week period to assess where they remain short-handed before finalizing any trade-deadline strategy. Chicago’s roster has repeatedly surfaced in trade conversations tied to a number of starting pitchers around the league; names linked to the club in recent rumor cycles include Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Freddy Peralta. The overarching priority expressed internally is rotation stability as the team attempts to stay in contention in a competitive National League Wild Card picture. Entering play on June 15, the Cubs held a 37-35 record and sat one game back of the final Wild Card berth.
For now, the organization will monitor Steele’s arrival in Chicago and the next phases of his program, beginning June 22. The club has outlined a conservative, staged approach: finish the remaining plyo ball work, begin the throwing progression, complete the team-directed throwing program, then move to mound work and simulated or minor-league outings as required. Each stage will be evaluated before allowing a return to competitive action, and the sequence leaves open multiple possible outcomes for both Steele’s personal timetable and the club’s roster moves as the trade deadline approaches.