Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 9-18-26

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Regular Season Games (Central Time):

Iowa at Omaha (game one), 5:05 pm
Iowa at Omaha (game two), TBD

Probable Starters:

Iowa (game one): LHP Justin Steele (rehab)
Iowa (game two): LHP Braxton Garrett

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

They're gonna have to make the decision on Steele after these games, forecast isn't too good for the weekend.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Bertz]

Something interesting I found yesterday

In 2024 when he was coming back from his leg injury, Steele made one rehab start at Iowa.  His velocity that start was way down at 89.4.  When he came back to MLB next time around he was immediately back to normal at 92.3.

It's a miniscule sample, but if you're hoping he's going to be able to turn it on immediately when he gets back to the big leagues next week there's some non-cope evidence.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

4 hours ago, Bertz said:

Something interesting I found yesterday

In 2024 when he was coming back from his leg injury, Steele made one rehab start at Iowa.  His velocity that start was way down at 89.4.  When he came back to MLB next time around he was immediately back to normal at 92.3.

It's a miniscule sample, but if you're hoping he's going to be able to turn it on immediately when he gets back to the big leagues next week there's some non-cope evidence.

I’m not sure he’ll even get to the bigs this year unless the Cubs clinch early.

But these are all meaningful innings for him to build to next season.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

I’m not sure he’ll even get to the bigs this year unless the Cubs clinch early.

But these are all meaningful innings for him to build to next season.

Clinch a playoff spot or the top WC? They can probably clinch a spot by Tuesday. But I think they would want more. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

On 9/19/2026 at 1:07 PM, Rcal10 said:

Clinch a playoff spot or the top WC? They can probably clinch a spot by Tuesday. But I think they would want more. 

Yeah, I meant WC1.