Justin Steele is moving a step closer to game action, and that alone marks a real shift in the Cubs’ latest injury picture.
Before Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, Craig Counsell said Steele has advanced beyond bullpen work and will now begin facing live hitters. Steele has been throwing bullpen sessions for weeks, and the Cubs are expected to keep the process slow from here, with multiple weeks of live bullpen sessions likely before he moves on to a minor-league rehab assignment.
That doesn’t change the bigger picture: Steele is not coming back to the starting rotation this season. But Counsell’s update was the first substantial one the Cubs had offered on him in several weeks, and that alone made the news feel more meaningful.
If Steele gets back into any kind of game action, whether in the minors or the majors, it would count as a win for the Cubs. Even then, there is no guarantee he would make the postseason roster if he returns before October.
The outlook was much less encouraging for Hunter Harvey. For a while, it looked as though Harvey might beat the odds and make it back this year, but Counsell said Wednesday that his recovery is no longer headed in the right direction. That lines up with the reality most teams have experienced with the 31-year-old pitcher, whose profile never suggested this would be the season he suddenly stayed healthy.
Riley Martin’s season is officially over, too. Martin opened the year as one of the Cubs’ early bright spots, putting up a 2.16 ERA across his first eight career appearances while striking out more than 32% of the hitters he faced. Then came the flexor sprain at the end of April, and the updates since have been scarce.
Counsell said Martin has been ruled out for the rest of the 2026 season, and surgery could be on the table if his recovery remains stalled. The hope now is that he is healthy by the start of 2027, whenever that season begins.
In Other News...
Dodgers Drama Just Gave Cubs Fans New Ammo In Ricketts Debate
A major off-field mess around the Dodgers has suddenly become relevant in Chicago, where Cubs fans have long debated what ownership ambition and outside capital should look like in baseball. Two insurance companies tied to Dodgers owner Mark Walter are now under federal investigation by the U.S. Attorneys Office and the SEC over billions of dollars in undisclosed related-party loans, with the scrutiny extending to the Dodgers organization itself because of direct lending between those insurers and Dodgers-affiliated entities.
For Cubs supporters still weighing the Ricketts family against the sports most aggressive spenders, the timing is hard to ignore. Walters ability to keep financing the Dodgers could be affected depending on how the case develops, and the possibility of ownership changes only adds another layer to a situation already dripping with uncertainty. It is the kind of reminder that big-money baseball can look stable from a distance right up until the people paying the bills start drawing federal attention. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Bullpen Picture Just Shifted Before A Crucial Seattle Trip
The Cubs wrapped up their final regular-season meeting with the White Sox in a 3-0 loss, one of those flat afternoons where the offense never found a groove and the bullpen conversation quickly became part of the bigger picture. Jose Urquidy kept Chicago in check over six strong innings, while Clay Holmes took the loss despite coaxing plenty of ground-ball outs, leaving the Cubs with another reminder of how thin the margins can be as the schedule tightens.
Craig Counsell said the bullpen mix is about to get a boost heading into a crucial trip to Seattle, with updates also coming on a few injured arms. The timing matters for a Cubs team trying to steady itself on the road, and the next few days should bring a clearer sense of who is actually close, who still needs more time, and how much of the relief workload can be reshaped before the series opens. [Read more 🡒]
Former Cubs Flop Shows How Much This Team Has Changed
Jon Bertis major league career is over, and for the Cubs it leaves behind a small but telling reminder of how much the roster has shifted around him. Bertis final appearance in the majors came with Chicago in 2025, a stint that never found much traction as his offense lagged and the speed game that once made him useful never quite delivered the same edge.
What stands out now is less Bertis stop in Wrigleyville than the fact that a once-fragile Cubs bench no longer looks like an obvious soft spot. Contributions from players such as Pedro Ramirez and Matt Shaw have given Chicago more dependable depth, a marked change from the days when the bench felt like a place where innings could slip away. [Read more 🡒]