Left-hander Justin Steele might be the most underrated starter in the majors.
Steele’s dominant stretch has helped the Chicago Cubs get off to a great start during a challenging early stretch. Back-to-back one-out walks in the third inning Tuesday represented the only time the San Diego Padres really tested Steele, who remained steady and in control into the sixth inning. Steele dropped his ERA to 1.19 after 5⅓ scoreless innings in the Cubs’ 6-0 win against the Padres at Wrigley Field.
Catcher Yan Gomes tallied a four-hit game, including a two-run homer in the second that stood as the game’s lone runs until the eighth when he added an RBI single. Nico Hoerner’s three-run triple two batters later provided the exclamation point for the Cubs (13-9).
The fifth shutout for the Cubs pitching staff tied a franchise record in the modern era for the most shutouts in the first 22 games of the season (1969, 1907 and 1902).
“It’s just a testament to what we’re doing,” Steele said. "For me, I’ve been trying my hardest to remain consistent and giving the team a good change to win each time.”
Here are three trends within Tuesday’s performance that highlight why Steele has been lights-out.
The Padres didn’t have many answers against Steele, particularly against a fastball they struggled to pick up.
Steele’s fastball movement and command around the zone forced Padres hitters to try to control the inside of the plate where they didn’t find much success. Steele’s 15 called strikes with his four-seam fastball marked a new single-game career high.
He previously recorded 14 called strikes with the pitch twice, both last season.
“It’s just the way he throws it — a country-boy fastball,” Gomes said. “It comes out different. Obviously the lefty angle is going to look a little bit different, but he has the ability of hiding it well and sometimes it looks a slider, sometimes it goes up.”
It all comes back to throwing strikes.
Steele’s ability to work around the strike zone is key to setting up his stuff. Too many balls out of hand diminishes his effectiveness. He’s averaged two walks per start this year, including Tuesday, but when Steele does encounter a brief stretch where he’s battling his command, the lefty has been able to course correct without allowing much damage.
Steele’s success isn’t a sudden fluke — the 27-year-old former fifth round pick is picking up where he left off in 2022. With his 5⅓ scoreless innings Tuesday, Steele has allowed two earned runs or less in 12 consecutive starts, tying him with Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani for the second-longest active streak in Major League Baseball behind the Atlanta Braves’ Max Fried (13).
Steele’s 1.07 ERA in that span, dating back to July 22, is the lowest in MLB during this run of dominance.
“We’re starting to see him really maturing and growing as a pitcher,” Gomes said. “When we came into the season, we were taking about some of our young guys and I think he’s taking the next step of confidence and learning himself.”
“He’s starting to understand that everything plays really well and the more confidence he starts getting on every pitch, the pitches in his arsenal are going to work well.”
Although it appears Steele is strictly a two-pitch starter with his fastball and slider, he can manipulate his grip and arm action to create multiple movements off those pitch types.
His slider has been an elite weapon since Steele debuted in 2021, and the pitch remains a conundrum for opposing all hitters. Steele has recorded 17 of his 29 strikeouts with his slider. Through five starts, batters are 3-for-39 (.077) off it.
“He’s just continued to do what he does,” manager David Ross said. “I think sometimes we get into a space that we have to do more or we have to develop more pitches or use different sides of the plate — what he’s been doing for a long time is pitching consistently to his zones and his pitches and not getting off that until hitters adjust.
“He’s sticking to his gameplan and what he does well.”
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