Cubs Injury Update: Justin Steele progressing, Dansby Swanson ramps up, Shelby Miller hits key checkmark

Despite the fact Matthew Boyd pitched into the eighth and Pete Crow-Armstrong smashed his 41st home run of the season, the Chicago Cubs dropped Monday's opener to the rival Brewers, giving Milwaukee the season series and dealing the North Siders another setback.

But there's still optimism as we look toward October. Fangraphs has the Cubs' playoff odds pushing 99 percent - so while every game certainly matters, it's worth keeping an eye on the horizon, especially as key pieces continue their respective rehabs.

Cubs could get reinforcements in the field, on the mound by season's end

Dansby Swanson trending in the right direction in oblique injury rehab

Dansby Swanson is set to progress to higher velocity BP later this week, in the next step in his rehab from an oblique injury. The end-all, be-all here is simple: get the Gold Glover back and hopefully give him a little time to readjust to game action before the playoffs start.

Swanson is set to play in the fewest games of any season during his Cubs career and it's been an inconsistent showing for the former first-rounder. He's at 3.1 bWAR on the year, but his .216 average is a career-low and his .300 OBP leaves much to be desired, as well. Even so, his defensive prowess only improves the Cubs' already elite standing in the field and it's critical to the pitching staff's success.

Justin Steele makes successful second rehab start

It's still too soon to say if Justin Steele will make his long-awaited return to a big-league mound this season, but the good news is the left-hander is taking positive steps with Triple-A Iowa.

He fired 18 of his 27 pitches for strikes across two innings on Sunday, allowing one run on two hits. Steele sat in the low-90s with his fastball, and it's important to note that if he returns to the Cubs this year, it will be as a reliever. Chicago's bullpen stumbled again in Monday's loss to Milwaukee and that has fans clamoring for some sort of reinforcements.

Shelby Miller hits important checkpoint in his rehab efforts

He's done it. Shelby Miller pitched on back-to-back days for the first time during his rehab stint with Iowa, something the Cubs have wanted to see from him before they consider him a viable option for the MLB staff.

Miller has run his fastball into the upper-90s and, right now, it's all about how he feels after the pace of his appearances recently picked up. Chicago needs help in the bullpen and with the right-hander trending ahead of schedule (again, let's not focus too much on the results), he's an important name to keep an eye on in the season's closing weeks.

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