Blinksportsnews247Craig Counsell, the manager, was taken aback by pitcher Justin Steele’s immaculate appearance when he saw him at Cubs Convention last month. Counsell was used to watching Steele, who had more disheveled facial hair, rip through the Brewers lineup.
“I don’t think I like the clean look,” he said. “I believe you should appear a little more rugged,” Steele said this week. “I promised him it wouldn’t be an issue. I dislike shaving and getting my hair trimmed.
After being married in January, Steele followed the advice of his new management and traveled to Arizona in the spring, sporting his trademark stubble. The left-hander appeared to be the pitcher who would combine an aw-shucks demeanor and a bewildering repertoire of pitches to lead the Cubs to an unexpected ace season in 2023.
The 28-year-old Steele’s current goal is to build on a season in which he was selected to an All-Star team and came in fifth place in the National League Cy Young Award voting. Returning this season, he is the homegrown arm who matured into a front-end starter and is essential to the team’s hopes of making the playoffs.
Veteran Cubs catcher Yan Gomes stated, “When guys come in and they put a lot of weight on their shoulders, they have big years or big expectations.” “If anything, it’s that I and other guys who have been playing here for a while are able to say to him, ‘Hey, we don’t need you to be anybody else. All we want is that you play Justin Steele.
“That guy is really talented, so he will take care of business.”
Steele had a 3.06 ERA, 16-5 record, and 173 1/3 innings pitched with 176 strikeouts and 36 walks in 30 starts the previous season. During a 16-game span from May to September, the left-hander truly found his groove, going 10-1 with a 2.30 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 17 walks in 94 innings.
With Counsell watching from the opposite bench during Steele’s three outings against the Brewers last season, Steele spun a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts and only two walks. Steele’s career ERA versus Milwaukee was reduced to 2.24 as a result in 13 appearances.
Counsell claimed to have already made light of Steele this spring by saying he didn’t know how or why Milwaukee’s offense was unable to handle the lefty. The manager still requires an explanation, even after joining the Cubs and taking a closer look at the numbers.
“You do realize that there might not always be a solution?” stated Counsell. It is evident that hitters do not think baseball is amazing. They have trouble picking up the spin. That’s why there is so much chase for him. Hitters may often say things such, “The ball feels heavy,” or that they are having trouble squareing the ball up well.
We may not yet have a clear answer for that, in my opinion. But to him, it contains the secret. He creates a lot of swing off the bat and essentially brings the ball into play. It’s a powerful pitch as well. The movement characteristics present difficulties for the hitter.
To answer Counsell’s concern, Jesús Luzardo (147) and Patrick Corbin (134) were the only Major League lefties to deliver more swinging strikes on sliders outside of the strike zone last year, according to Statcast. Steele used the slider 33.9% of the time and led with his fastball 62.6% of the time. The lefty mostly uses two pitches, though he occasionally throws in a couple more.
Steele remarked, “I feel like everybody knows what I’m doing at this point.”
It’s usually more about what Steele’s fastball is doing than it is about him as a person. The lefty uses a variety of cut-ride motions because of his work on the side of the ball, according to Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy. The type of heater that Steele will produce from his fingers is unpredictable, even if the hitter predicts a fastball.
“That explains why he excels,” Counsell remarked.
With the success he had the previous season, Steele declared he is going into this one with a lot more confidence. The left-hander mentioned that he followed the same offseason schedule as the previous year, spending the majority of his time in Arizona in order to use the Cubs’ facilities.
“I think it’s great that it happened, let’s do it again,” Steele remarked.
Added to that unkempt beard.
Counsell remarked, “I like that he’s got the facial hair back.”
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