The Chicago Cubs shake up their pitching roster after ace Justin Steele lands on IL

Things were going too well for the Chicago Cubs in the early part of the season it appears. The offense was humming right along, Kyle Tucker was putting up numbers that had people talking about setting club records. And staff ace Justin Steele had his best start of the season, by far.

Anyone who has been a Cubs fan for any amount of time knows that we can’t have nice things. The baseball gods reminded us of that on Wednesday morning. Shortly after rumors of reliever Ethan Roberts being in ChiTown started circulating the internet, the reason for his “visit” became clear.

Not long after the Ethan Roberts rumors started, the Chicago Cubs announced they had placed Steele on the IL with what is described as left elbow tendonitis, as first reported by Bruce Levine. Shortly after Steele’s move was announced, Maddie Lee backed it up and said that the Roberts sightings were accurate and he’s been called up to replace Steele on the active roster.

The timing of the Steele injury is more than a little bad luck. While he’s 3-1 on the young season, his first three starts had plenty of Cubs fans wondering if something was up, health-wise. In fact, after an April Fools’ Day start against the Oakland/Sacramento/Whatever Athletics where he allowed 4 runs and 2 home runs in 6.2 innings, it seemed certain something was wrong.

Despite winning two of his first three starts he was “boasting” a 6.89 earned run average. And then he mowed down the Texas Rangers in his latest start, going 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 2 walks and striking out 8 while not allowing a run, he looked like he was back to form.

Perhaps he reached back a little too far to post that performance. The extreme cold may have had something to do with it. Whatever the reason, Steele lands on the IL right after pitching against the Rangers for the second straight year. Just in case you weren’t convinced the baseball gods really do have a sense of humor. 

Before being called up, Roberts had appeared in three games for the AAA Iowa Cubs, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing 4 hits, no runs, and striking out just one batter. His inability to miss bats will fit right in with a bullpen that has struggled in that regard (26th in the league with 7.49 K/9) so far this season.

While the Chicago Cubs haven’t made an official announcement yet, it seems likely that Colin Rea will replace Steele in the rotation. Rea is somewhat stretched out, having pitched 3 innings against the A’s and 2 innings in his last outing against the Rangers, ironically finishing up the shutout that Justin Steele started.