Justin Steele Activated for Cubs Amid Roster Adjustments
Justin Steele Returns to the Cubs Roster
Justin Steele has had a 2024 season roughly comparable to his 2023 — except missing about seven or eight starts due to injuries, first with a leg injury suffered on Opening Day, then in late August an elbow issue. Jorge López had been an effective member of the bullpen until suffering a groin injury a couple of weeks ago. He tried to pitch through it, but that just resulted in a couple of really bad outings. Both Steele and López were activated from the 15-day injured list by the Cubs today.
Strategic Roster Changes
Steele will start this afternoon’s game at Wrigley Field against the Athletics, and López will be available out of the bullpen. To make room on the active roster for Steele and López, relievers Jack Neely and Daniel Palencia were optioned to Triple-A Iowa. With the activation of Steele, this could move Kyle Hendricks back to the bullpen for the rest of the 2024 season, unless Craig Counsell opts to give Hendricks a spot start along the way somewhere, perhaps this weekend against the Nationals, and again in the final home series against the Reds.
As always, we await developments. Today’s game preview will post shortly, at 11:30 a.m. CT.
This article was prepared using information from open sources in accordance with the principles of Ethical Policy. The editorial team is not responsible for absolute accuracy, as it relies on data from the sources referenced.