Justin Steele sends a strong but meaningful message to his Chicago Cubs' teammates

Chicago Cubs fans collectively facepalmed themselves after yet more shenanigans in the field took place on Saturday in Milwaukee. A botched rundown in the bottom of the third opened up the door for the Brewers to rally and tie the game 2-2 against Justin Steele. It was yet another instance of the Cubs strange lack of fundamentals in the field letting them down. Just the night before, a catcher's interference call on Miguel Amaya opened up the door for a go-ahead grand slam which would end up being the difference maker.

Steele, who despite having no wins, sports a 3.20 ERA on the year, let off some steam after the inning was over. Entering the dugout, Steele could be seen yelling something along the lines of, "Wake the ---- up!" He was not just saying it in a raised tone, he was putting his full body into it. It was quick but clear.

This is the type of emotion fans have wanted to see. Sure, there have been some occasional helmet and bat slams, but nothing like this in-game for the public eye to see. While we don't know what happens in a closed clubhouse, this was refreshing to see firsthand as goofy as it sounds. One can argue how valuable yelling and screaming really is, but this felt like a necessary instance. This season has been frustrating for everyone and the quality of play has just not been acceptable. Truly shows the human element of the game.

Steele himself addressed the moment in his postgame interview on Marquee. He described the outburst as coming from, "A place of love." He added, “I love every single person in that locker room. I know how good we can be.”

Manager Craig Counsell also addressed Steele's lashing out in his postgame interview on Marquee. "He's [Steele] just voicing his emotion from a place of love," Counsel said. “Anytime you say something from a good place, it’s welcome.”

Whether or not this will have a lasting impact on the Cubs, the message from Steele was certainly received and understood in the moment. The team is filled with many veterans, so they should understand what Steele was doing and why. It was not personal, nor an act of throwing teammates under the bus for his mistakes. This was an act of a leader calling out his team for subpar play and kicking some motivation into them. As cliche as it all sounds, sometimes teams need that. The unfortunate thing is this could be a bit too late at this point, but the season will play out how it plays out.

The Cubs won Saturday's game 5-3 on a go-ahead home run by Ian Happ in the eighth inning. Steele got a no-decision in the scorebook, but frankly, deserved a win based on how he played and his actions as a teammate.