Cubs left-hander Justin Steele placed on 15-day injured list because of elbow tendinitis

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs placed left-hander Justin Steele on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday because of left elbow tendinitis.

The move is retroactive to Tuesday.

Steele (3-1) said he began to feel discomfort during the fourth or fifth inning of his most recent start, a 7-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday.

“I was talking to (pitching coach) Tommy (Hottovy) and (manager Craig Counsell) throughout the start and I was like, ‘Arm’s starting to tighten up on me a little bit,’” Steele said Wednesday.

“I was just doing stuff between innings to try and keep it warm, moving around. I told the trainers the next day, I want to come in and do a lot of recovery stuff, red light, do everything I can to get the recovery process underway. … They just made the decision to go ahead and put me on the IL.”

Despite the soreness, Steele threw seven scoreless innings against Texas, striking out eight and allowing just three hits. For the season, Steele has an 4.76 ERA in 22.2 innings in four starts.

In a corresponding move, Chicago recalled right-hander Ethan Roberts from Triple-A Iowa.

Roberts, 27, was drafted by the Cubs in 2018 and made his MLB debut in 2022. He has appeared in three games for Triple-A Iowa this season. He pitched in 21 major-league games in 2024 for the Cubs, going 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA.

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