Steele needs season-ending surgery

[chibears55]

Cubs are probably ok with going with a 4 man rotation ( Taillon Imanaga Boyd Brown) until the Milwaukee series May 2-4) because they'll have 4 days off over the next 14 games which will give every starter 4 days rest between starts.

Assad is starting his rehab assignment so he could be ready to go on May 4th when they'll need the 5th starter.

[Rex Buckingham]

Thinking ASB in 2026 for Steele's return assuming a normal recovery? maybe June '26?

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, Rex Buckingham said:

Thinking ASB in 2026 for Steele's return assuming a normal recovery? maybe June '26?

I think it depends if his UCL is messed up or not.  If his UCL needs to be replaced, because it's his second TJ I think realistically he misses most/all of next year too.  If it's not the UCL I suspect given the timing he'd be good to go next spring.

[mul21]

6 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I think it depends if his UCL is messed up or not.  If his UCL needs to be replaced, because it's his second TJ I think realistically he misses most/all of next year too.  If it's not the UCL I suspect given the timing he'd be good to go next spring.

It's interesting that Nightengale is the only one I've seen say TJS and Passan is still saying reconstructive elbow surgery with no real mention of anything beyond that.  I have to think Bob is wrong here given the track records.

[Andy]

1 hour ago, mul21 said:

It's interesting that Nightengale is the only one I've seen say TJS and Passan is still saying reconstructive elbow surgery with no real mention of anything beyond that.  I have to think Bob is wrong here given the track records.

I don't think it's yet been determined whether the UCL is involved or not.

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

I would not move up the timeline on the Triple-A arms in the rotation. That sounds like a short-term fix that ends poorly. Jordan Wicks and Cade Horton are probably the two best arms in Iowa, but both are coming off heavily injury shortened seasons and neither have had a perfect start to the year:

- Cade Horton has struggled to get over the 50 pitch hump. He's struggled for consistency. The stuff is there, but he's almost assuredly not ready for a bit

- Jordan Wicks is probably further ahead, but I'm not entirely sure I'd move his timeline up yet unless it's in a piggyback role. His first start was not great, and Colin Rea looked pretty good. I think letting him marinate, get into a rhythm and being on high alert for an injury is how I'd handle it.

I probably should have a little more clear about what I was agreeing to. I agreed with NYcub that now is not the time to panic. When I suggested maybe Wicks comes up I am referring to when they know he can throw 90 pitches. I think he has a chance to be a solid starter. As for Horton, as he extends his outings, when would you think he should come up. Assuming he is throwing well. Why waste some of his bullets in the minors if he is throwing well? I suggested early to mid May, so call it a month. That can be 6-6 more starts in the minors. Shouldn’t he be up to 90 pitches by then? What would your time line for him be? And, of course, this is assuming he is pitching well. Bottom line is I don’t want them to do something right now. As you said, roll with Rea. Get some starts from Wicks, Horton and Assad in the minors and as they are ready, bring them up. Maybe Boyd continues to pitch well. Maybe Brown too. No reason to make a deal now. And when/if they do make a deal, I sure hope they already extended Tucker so they can use Cassie or Alcantara in a deal and not worry that one of them has to take over for Tucker next year. 

[Bull]

4 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

I would not move up the timeline on the Triple-A arms in the rotation. That sounds like a short-term fix that ends poorly. Jordan Wicks and Cade Horton are probably the two best arms in Iowa, but both are coming off heavily injury shortened seasons and neither have had a perfect start to the year:

- Cade Horton has struggled to get over the 50 pitch hump. He's struggled for consistency. The stuff is there, but he's almost assuredly not ready for a bit

- Jordan Wicks is probably further ahead, but I'm not entirely sure I'd move his timeline up yet unless it's in a piggyback role. His first start was not great, and Colin Rea looked pretty good. I think letting him marinate, get into a rhythm and being on high alert for an injury is how I'd handle it.

See, I feel like this is an opportunity to get a look and get them some rest. Instead of going every 5 days in Iowa, bring one up the one time you need a fifth starter (lots of off days) and the other up once when you don't need a fifth starter to get Imanaga an extra day of rest once in there. With all the off days you could *almost* go six day rotation with the off day as the sixth man. Get each of them some extra rest when you send them back down. This gets you well through May (at least one off day every week in May) and now you're looking at teams that aren't competing being a little more ready to deal. 

Edited April 14, 2025 by Bull

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, Bull said:

See, I feel like this is an opportunity to get a look and get them some rest. Instead of going every 5 days in Iowa, bring one up the one time you need a fifth starter (lots of off days) and the other up once when you don't need a fifth starter to get Imanaga an extra day of rest once in there. With all the off days you could *almost* go six day rotation with the off day as the sixth man. Get each of them some extra rest when you send them back down. This gets you well through May (at least one off day every week in May) and now you're looking at teams that aren't competing being a little more ready to deal. 

That might work if either looked super in form. Between the two of them, they have four appearances, none of which has lasted through four full innings, only one of which the full stat line qualifies as "good". Neither are particularly ready now. Especially during gauntlet month. I love Cade Horton but he's struggled to make it 50 pitches against the Toledo Mud Hens. Jumping to the Dodgers as the final boss battle in a cold Wrigley probably not a great encore, ya know? And I say this as a very strong Horton supporter!

It's something to perhaps approach later, but I see little reason to rush them currently. Let them build up consistency and strength for at least a few more goes.

[Stratos]

5 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I agree. Maybe Wicks comes up. Maybe Horton early to mid May. Maybe Assad will be back soon. I wouldn’t do anything right now. 

Yeah we have Rea, Assad, and Wicks for Steele's spot.  Cubs were prepared for something like this.

I don't think they'll consider a trade until they see what they have in these guys.  Assad has been capable in the past, Wicks could be solid enough, and Rea looked surprisingly good last night with increased velo sitting 94-96.  They won't replace Steele but someone might have a solid season.  Or they might all be mediocre, who knows.  Horton might contribute later i agree.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Jason Ross said:

That might work if either looked super in form. Between the two of them, they have four appearances, none of which has lasted through four full innings, only one of which the full stat line qualifies as "good". Neither are particularly ready now. Especially during gauntlet month. I love Cade Horton but he's struggled to make it 50 pitches against the Toledo Mud Hens. Jumping to the Dodgers as the final boss battle in a cold Wrigley probably not a great encore, ya know? And I say this as a very strong Horton supporter!

It's something to perhaps approach later, but I see little reason to rush them currently. Let them build up consistency and strength for at least a few more goes.

I think we are on the same page. When I talked or agreed with moving the young kids up I meant in the proper time frame. Go with Rea for now, see if Assad, Wicks or Horton can throw 90 effective pitches and when/if they can bring them up. Do that before trading for a pitcher. I am not sure they need one at this time. Yes, at the deadline if they look to be a playoff team they can use a guy who would start one of the first 2 playoff games. But right now, hang tight. I was honestly impressed with Rea. I had no idea he threw that hard. Maybe Jed isn’t the idiot so many make him out to be. Maybe Boyd and Rea will be solid pick ups for the staff. So far, so good. I also have some hope for Brown. 

[squally1313]

We probably needed a starter before this injury, and I would have preferred we take care of that problem in the offseason. 4 innings of Colin Rea is not going to override the grand total of 1.7 fWAR he put up in over 290 innings the last two years. Javier Assad is a fun story but he is also realistically not more than a spot starter going forward unless he has somehow figured out how to eternally pitch better with guys on base. Wicks and Horton aren't close to ready, and they were supposed to be the guys fighting for the #5 slot (or for the maybe still inevitable Boyd injury), not replacing the guy expected to throw 175 innings. 

We have a team that is playing really well through an incredibly tough stretch and doing it in a sustainable way. We have a giant hole in our budget between where we are and where the luxury tax line is, and we have the most talented AAA team in baseball. Go do something cool and fun.

[Bertz]

No 2nd Tommy John is fantastic news

[Irrelevant Dude]

From ChatGPT:

Quote

Recovery:

Repair: Quicker, often 6-9 months.

Revision: Slower, often longer than the first surgery due to scar tissue and reduced graft options.

TL;DR:

Tommy John = full replacement of UCL.

Repair = reattaching or reinforcing the native ligament (when it’s still viable).

Revision = redo Tommy John surgery if the first one failed.

So did Steele have a repair or a revision?

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

From ChatGPT:

So did Steele have a repair or a revision?

I think they maybe mean the same thing?

[imb]

I know a Busch light hates to see him coming 

[squally1313]

15 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

From ChatGPT:

[Banedon]