The One Vital, Huge Reason Why Justin Steele is Back, and Should Pitch Down the Stretch

[Matthew Trueblood]

Don't overthink this.

Image courtesy of © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, the Cubs announced that Justin Steele will return from the injured list and start the final game of their series against the Oakland Athletics Wednesday afternoon. After being sidelined with elbow soreness for the last fortnight, Steele comes back with a chance to make as many as three more starts before the end of the season.

From many quarters, a cry has risen in response to this news: "Why?" Fans and commentators have remarked on the fact that the Cubs are essentially out of playoff contention, and wrung their hands about the risks associated with having a player who just reported a balky elbow pitch in games that they regard as meaningless. There's a real pushback against this decision, rooted in the idea that there's no good reason to roll Steele out there.

There's a very good, important reason to have him pitch, though. Get your pencils and scorecards ready. Here it is:

Because he can.

There are no truly meaningless baseball games, unless you believe that baseball itself is meaningless. In that case, tune out altogether. In reality, the Cubs have been out of the race for the postseason since around the end of June. That hasn't rendered the entire second half of their season meaningless, and it doesn't make finishing in the best form they can manage unimportant. Steele, especially, has much to prove. He's never gotten through a full season without injury issues or a loss of effectiveness down the stretch, and rebounding from this not only establishes his good health, but acts as a proof of concept to both himself and his team: Steele can be counted upon. He'll post whenever he can do so.

His elbow might go sproing on Wednesday, or next week. So be it. The team will be no worse off if that happens than if it happens next February. The team ordered an MRI when Steele first missed a start at the beginning of this month, and it showed no structural damage. He's healthy enough to take the ball, and when a qualified big-league hurler is healthy enough to take the ball and it's their turn, they should do it. It's to Steele's credit that, rather than jealously guard his own earnings in a second round of arbitration by minimizing his own risk heading into the offseason, he wants to fulfill that duty.

It's important to remember, as baseball fans, that we're just baseball fans. If we were team-employed physicians, we'd have a valuable perspective on whether or not a player should take the field, but most of us have nowhere near the requisite information to form an educated opinion on that subject--so we shouldn't. If a team and player confer, with far better, more detailed information, and make a consensus determination about the player's status, we should generally assume they're weighing risks and rewards.

Some teams clearly err too far on the side of caution, in certain cases, and sometimes, there are public rifts between a team and a player about the best course of action with regard to an injury, Those are valid subjects for debate and discussion in a public forum. This case, though, is nothing like that. Steele's elbow is intact, if not quite fresh as a daisy. He wants to pitch. The Cubs agree with that wish, even understanding that he can't save their season. This is good news. It's unobjectionable. And it's arrogant of any fan to believe they know better.

None of this is to say that Steele won't get hurt, now or in the near or medium-term future. That's all perfectly possible. Again, he hasn't been especially durable during his short big-league career, anyway. If pitching Wednesday posed a new or substantial risk to his arm health, though, he wouldn't be doing it. We all want, badly, to control the world, and especially to shelter ourselves and those we care about from its vicissitudes. Unfortunately, that's not how life or baseball work. Steele can't live in bubble wrap and be of any value to the Cubs. They're right to send him to the post, if that's what he wants, and it's encouraging that he feels good enough to give this a go. Hopefully, it will lead to better vibes about the team's rotation heading into the offseason. If not, it won't be for lack of trying.

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