Justin Steele named Cubs' Opening Day starter

MESA, Ariz. — Manager Craig Counsell called left-hander Justin Steele into his office Friday afternoon to tell him he was going to start Opening Day but also to discuss the significance of the honor.

“That conversation, it’s always a little more serious,” Counsell said Saturday after announcing the decision, “because I think it’s something they truly have earned. And it’s over a career that you earn it.”

Steele was the obvious choice after he put himself in the Cy Young conversation for much of last season, but he said he wasn’t thinking this spring about the honor being within reach.

“Just let it be a surprise,” he said. “It was special. Something I won’t forget.”

Steele, 28, is set to make the first Opening Day start of his major-league career when the Cubs begin the season in Arlington, Texas, on March 28 against the Rangers. He’s entering his third year as a rotation staple.

Along with emphasizing to Steele that the Opening Day start was earned and something to be proud of, Counsell encouraged him to reflect.

“Seven years in the minor leagues, not a traditional path, coming out of high school, young age,” Steele said. “It just kind of made me reminisce a little bit, appreciate the long road that it took for me to get here.”

Steele has been in the Cubs’ organization for a decade.

He was selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft out of George County High School in Lucedale, Mississippi.

His ascent through the minor leagues was slowed by Tommy John surgery in 2017. But he broke into the majors as a reliever in April 2021. By August, he had claimed a spot in the rotation.

Steele had a breakout season in 2023, earning his first All-Star selection and finishing fifth in National League Cy Young voting.

Counsell naming Steele the starter for the opener didn’t come as a surprise to most, but now that it’s official, teammates began offering their congratulations.

“He’s been putting so much work into it,” said reliever Adbert Alzolay, who came up through the system with Steele. “What he did last year, he deserved it.”

Said veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks: “It’s so cool, man. Clearly no one more deserving or close to it in this group. So I’m so happy for him, just seeing the reaction and the smile.”

Hendricks might not have been able to foresee exactly how the first few years of Steele’s major-league career would play out, but he saw something in him.

“Just the competitiveness, the fire from the first time he took the ball,” Hendricks said. “When he came in from the bullpen there and had some of those outings, he was in tough situations as a rookie, coming right into it. And there was no fear.

“You could just tell, the look in his eye, he wanted the ball in his hand. He wanted to be on the mound. And sometimes that’s the hardest part of it, just wanting it that badly. So that was never a question, and once a guy has that, then all the rest is in front of him.’’

In a way, Hendricks is passing the torch. He was the Cubs’ Opening Day starter from 2020 through 2022. His streak was broken last season because of injury.

Right-hander Marcus Stroman, who signed with the Yankees this offseason, got the honor in ’23.

“It validates all the things that you’ve been doing in the past, and it validates what the organization thinks about you and what role they want you to play,” Hendricks said. “Going out as, you’re going to be the guy, we’re leaning on you, we’re going to lean on you all season.”

Opening Day has a unique energy to it, but Hendricks spoke confidently about Steele’s ability to channel that energy and set a tone for the team.

“I’m looking forward to Opening Day,” Steele said. “And let’s make it a special season.”