The Cubs’ Opening Day took a disastrous turn when ace Justin Steele exited in the fifth inning with a hamstring injury.
Steele bolted off the mound to field a bunt from Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras with one out and a runner on first, but after a couple of strides — where he picked up the ball, shifted it to his left hand and flipped it to Michael Busch at first base — toward the baseline, Steele tumbled over and grabbed behind his left thigh.
The 28-year-old then exited, ending his first outing of 2024 at 4 ⅔ innings with one earned run, three hits, six strikeouts and one walk.
After the Cubs’ extra-inning loss, manager Craig Counsell said Steele suffered a hamstring strain and will likely be heading to the injured list.
“It’s a left hamstring strain. We’ll get an MRI in the morning, likely IL,” the skipper told reporters. “It’s just a shame. He’s pitching really, really well. Obviously, an important member of the team, and looks like we’re gonna miss him for a little bit here.
“Well, this is a part of a baseball season. Injuries are gonna happen, and you gotta rebound from them, you gotta recover from them. The next guy’s gotta fill in, and then everybody else has kinda gotta pick up around him. … First day of the season, it probably stings a little worse, but this is gonna be part of our season and it’s testing us immediately.”
Steele, whom the Cubs drafted in the fifth round of 2014 and developed through their minor league system, made the first Opening Day start of his career.
He was the first Cubs draft pick to make that noteworthy start since Jeff Samardzija in 2014, according to MLB.com.
“It’s not always going to be pretty,” Steele told reporters, according to the outlet. “It’s not always going to be how you thought of it. But sometimes you’ve just got to put your head down, get through the tough times, and the light’s always brighter at the end of the tunnel.”
Last year, Steele produced the best results of his career, compiling a 16-5 record with a 3.06 ERA that led to an All-Star Game appearance and fifth-place finish in the NL Cy Young voting.
He followed that up with a 4.91 ERA across his four spring training appearances, but Friday, he exited in the second inning of his outing with a left knee contusion after taking a bouncing comebacker off his leg.
Steele told reporters after that spring start that the contusion was “nothing to worry about,” though.
So he made the Opening Day start as planned, and — mostly — cruised through the Rangers’ lineup as the Cubs hoped their ace would.
Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, but that was all the scoring Texas managed.
Julian Merryweather replaced Steele on the mound, and after walking a batter, the right-handed pitcher induced a groundout from Corey Seager to end the inning.