Left-hander Justin Steele will make his long-awaited starting debut for the Cubs on Tuesday against the Brewers. Steele made a great first impression in the Cubs’ bullpen with a 2.03 ERA in 11 games. He has been pitching well while being stretched out in the minors with an ERA of 0.87 in five starts.
Steele will slot into the Cubs’ six-man rotation going forward. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when right-hander Keegan Thompson is ready to return and be inserted into the rotation plan.
“They’ve been good, the young arms that we have, a couple of pieces we’ve gotten in trades and guys that have been in the system,” starter Jake Arrieta said. “They’re looking forward to showcasing their stuff and showing they have the ability to stay at this level, and it’s been nice to see.”
Davies crushed by White Sox
Starter Zach Davies’ struggles continued in Sunday’s 9-3 loss to the White Sox. Things spiraled for Davies early as shortstop Tim Anderson homered on the first pitch of the game. Davies would allow two more homers in the first inning — to Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn — to make it 5-0. Davies allowed seven runs and seven hits in two innings. It was his shortest start since going 1‰ innings April 10 against the Pirates.
He said it
Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy on young pitchers: “For a lot of the young guys, we’re using this as an opportunity for them to get experience but also learn. Learn about pitch-sequencing. Learn about how stuff works. Giving them the tools of learning. I think our routine is similar [as before]. A lot of the same scouting reports. We’re not changing how we want to game-plan and attack guys.
“Just letting these guys get experience. Take it in, and they’ll tell you what they gravitate toward. They gravitate toward certain things. Some guys will gravitate to scouting reports and say, ‘Ooh, I can do all these different things.’ Other guys will gravitate toward the pitch data and want to make sure that everything’s spinning the way we want it to. It’s an opportunity to get guys exposure.”
