Justin Steele balled his fists and shouted at the top of his lungs. But the Wrigley Field crowd drowned out his voice in the fans’ own celebration of his inning-ending strikeout of Giants switch-hitter Patrick Bailey.
“It’s just Wrigley,” he said after the Cubs’ 5-0 win Monday. “It’s just the fans realizing the moment. … They brought the energy, and I like to feed off of it.”
At the time, the Cubs were clinging to a one-run lead. With two outs, Steele started Bailey with a quick first two strikes. Then, the lefty threw a four-seam fastball by Bailey for strike three.
“September is usually when the Cy Youngs come out,” veteran catcher Yan Gomes said. “And when you’re having outings like this, the voters like it.”
Steele (16-3, 2.55 ERA) is squarely in the conversation. And his start Monday only helped his campaign. In eight innings, the deepest start of his career, he allowed only four baserunners. He finished with 12 strikeouts, two more than his previous career high.
Steele became the first left-handed Cubs starter in the modern era (since 1901) to throw that many scoreless innings with at least 12 strikeouts, while allowing two or fewer hits.
“It’s one of them games you just want to pitch all day,” Steele said. “It’s always fun when you know you have your stuff. You know where your four-seam’s going, your slider. You’re able to go in and out; up, down.”
Gomes said location-wise, it was the best he’d seen Steele.
“We know what Steeley’s got,” Gomes said. “He’s got a tremendous heater that sometimes plays as a cutter, and it rises sometimes. And we try to play that in between – call a pitch, hope it does what we want it to do.”
Over and over again on Monday, each pitch did exactly what they wanted it to do. Gomes said he noticed Giants hitters checking the scoreboard to see what Steele had used to fool them – something the catcher doesn’t see often.
“And it’s just a fastball and slider,” he said.
Steele’s pitch mix has been almost exclusively a fastball and a slider all year. But with the way he can manipulate both pitches – sometimes purposefully, sometimes on accident – he keeps mowing down opponents.
Over 70% of the pitches he threw on Monday were four-seamers, according to Statcast. His heater generated 13 whiffs and 12 called strikes. His slider accounted for 32% of his pitches. Only three Giants hitters put that pitch in play, and none hit it hard. He also threw one changeup and one sinker.
“I’ve always believed in myself,” Steele said when asked if he ever pictured himself competing for a Cy Young. “I’ve always believed I was capable of doing really good things.”
With the Cubs competing for a playoff spot, however, the Cy Young race is secondary. And this homestand, with the Giants and Diamondbacks coming in, will be consequential in the NL Wild Card standings.
What better way to open than stretch than with Steele on the mound?
“The win-day guy on the staff,” manager David Ross said, “Steeley feels like he’s that guy.”
After Steele struck out Bailey in the seventh to retire the side in order, the Cubs offense rallied. Steele came in for another shutout inning, giving the bullpen a breather, which will pay dividends throughout the week. And the Cubs pushed the Giants another step back in a crowded Wild Card race.
“Today was a big moment,” Gomes said. “And we put ourselves in a good position right now to battle for a playoff spot. When our ace is on the mound, he put that on his back, and we just ride him.”