Justin Steele is officially back on the mound in game action, but the Cubs aren’t rushing to promise anything beyond that.
Steele is set to begin a minor-league rehab assignment Wednesday night with the Iowa Cubs, and Jed Hoyer left the possibility open that the left-hander could still make it back to Chicago before the regular season ends. But the message from the front office was clear: this isn’t about getting Steele back just to check a box.
Speaking before Tuesday night’s loss to the Brewers, Hoyer said the Cubs will only activate Steele if he looks ready to help the major-league staff. If there’s rust, the club won’t force the issue.
As Justin Steele starts AAA rehab Hoyer is open minded about a return: "We'll see. We're not in development mode at this point.
If he can come back & he can help us he's going to come back & he's going to help us. If there's rust & he needs more time it's not the time to do that"
The most optimistic path would have Steele settling in as a bullpen weapon down the stretch, potentially giving Chicago a bulk option before the playoffs and a possible piggy-back answer for the Game 4 starter in a postseason series. That’s the dream scenario. There’s still a lot of ground to cover before it becomes reality.
Shelby Miller is also back in the rehab mix after a strange weekend raised some eyebrows. Last Friday, he was lifted after just 15 pitches with Iowa, then didn’t pitch Saturday or Sunday even though he had been slated for back-to-back outings. That naturally sparked concern about a setback.
Instead, Miller returned Tuesday and threw a scoreless inning for the I-Cubs. His fastball was again sitting at 97 MPH, which has been the norm during this rehab stint. A Cubs appearance this season still isn’t something anyone is counting on, but if he keeps trending the right way in the coming weeks, it’s clearly a possibility the team will have to consider.
Dansby Swanson is moving forward too, though the Cubs are taking the recovery one step at a time. Swanson has resumed hitting as he works back from an oblique strain, and Craig Counsell said Tuesday that he’ll spend several days doing nothing but swinging the bat. That’s one of the tougher boxes to check in an oblique recovery, and the Cubs aren’t planning to skip ahead.
Swanson remains on track to return near the end of the regular season, and his health is going to be one of the big storylines for Chicago as the playoffs approach.
In Other News...
Cubs Just Turned Wrigley Nostalgia Into A Debate Fans Wont Ignore
The Cubs are leaning hard into Wrigley Field nostalgia with a new twist, announcing a scripted romantic comedy mini-series called Nine Inning to Love that will run on the clubs TikTok page in 17 short episodes. The trailer already sets the tone, mixing Cubs apparel, ballpark imagery and the kind of game-day atmosphere that has long made Wrigley part of the teams brand as much as the baseball itself.
The series centers on two Cubs fans whose relationship begins at a game and grows into a romance, a premise that fits the clubs push to turn its most recognizable setting into more than a backdrop. It is also the kind of crossover experiment that can play well with younger fans and social media audiences, while inviting the usual debate over how far a team should go when it turns tradition into entertainment. [Read more 🡒]
Cubs Fans Just Got A Reminder Of That Franchise Shifting Trade
Trevor Williams late-August release from Washington brought a familiar name back into the spotlight for Cubs fans, and his next move only added to the reminder. The veteran right-hander, who had worked his way back from UCL surgery to pitch out of the Nationals bullpen, quickly landed a major-league deal with the Rangers and became postseason-eligible in the process.
For Chicago, it is another small echo of a trade that changed the shape of the roster and still lingers in the background whenever Williams resurfaces somewhere else. The Cubs have moved on by expanding their own September group with BJ Murray and Tyler Ferguson, but the ripple effects of that earlier deal remain easy to notice whenever Williams gets another chance on a contender's staff. [Read more 🡒]
Alex Bregmans Surge Just Changed The Cubs Conversation
Alex Bregmans second-half surge has been hard to ignore, and for Cubs observers it adds another layer to the way the club has to evaluate the trade market and what kind of bat truly moves the needle. Since the All-Star break, Bregman has looked like a different hitter, pairing a strong average with real power and helping reshape the conversation around his value after a season that has already included 23 home runs overall.
For Chicago, the comparison only gets more interesting because the player who replaced Bregman in Boston has settled in as more of an average regular than a difference-maker. Caleb Durbins numbers have been respectable, but not the sort that scream impact, which is exactly why Bregmans late-season spike keeps mattering for teams watching from the outside and weighing how much offense they need to add. [Read more 🡒]