Justin recently completed his 12th season in the Cubs organization...Is 29-21 with a 3.24 ERA (174 ER/484.0 IP) in 98 games (87 starts) after making his Major League debut in 2021...In his first three Major League seasons, has held left-handed batters to a .229 average (62-for-271)...Was an N.L. All-Star selection for the first time in his career in 2023...Owns a career 18-23 Minor League record with a 3.48 ERA (136 ER/351.1 IP) over 90 outings (81 starts)…Recorded 19 strikeouts over a two-start span from May 15- 21, 2022...He became the first Cubs lefty to accomplish the feat since José Quintana (21, Aug. 13-18, 2019)…With his first career win as a starter on Sept. 1, 2021, in Minnesota, Justin became the first Cubs rookie starter since Sean Marshall on May 17, 2006, vs. Washington to post a start of at least five scoreless innings with one-or-fewer hits allowed...Was added to the Cubs 40-man roster on Nov. 20, 2018...Received Carolina League mid-season All-Star honors in 2017, going 6-7 with a 2.92 ERA (32 ER/98.2 IP) over 20 starts with Single-A Myrtle Beach...Was named a MiLB.com Cubs Organizational All-Star in both 2015 and 2017...Selected by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 2014 draft out of George County High School in Lucedale, Miss...Was named 5A Player of the Year in Mississippi by state coaches in 2014 and won the Mississippi Hall of Fame Award for High School Baseball the same season...Went 5-1 with a 0.98 ERA in eight games, striking out 92 batters in 43.0 innings...Was committed to Southern Mississippi before signing with the Cubs.
2024
In 2024 went 5-5 with a 3.07 ERA (46 ER/134.2 IP), 135 strikeouts, 11 quality starts and 9.02 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched across 24 starts...Owned a 0.81 ERA (4 ER/44.1 IP) with 44 strikeouts in eight starts against American League opponents...From May 27 to the end of the regular season, Steele went 5-3 with a 2.47 ERA (30 ER/109.1 IP), the fifth-lowest ERA in the Majors...Allowed two runs or fewer in each of his final seven starts (Aug. 4-Sept. 24), posting a 2.16 ERA (8 ER/33.1 IP) in that span...Ranked in the 95th percentile in barrel % (4.1 IP), 89th in average exit velocity (87.0) and 88th in hard hit % (33.3%) in 2024...Made his first career Opening Day start on March 28 in Texas (1 ER/4.2 IP), becoming the 13th left-handed pitcher in Cubs franchise history to start on Opening Day (last, Jon Lester - 2019)...Left his start on March 28 in the fifth inning with a left hamstring strain...Was on the injured list from March 30 (retro to March 29)-May 6...Made one rehab start with Triple-A Iowa in game one of a doubleheader on May 1 vs. Omaha (3 ER/3.1 IP)...Finished June with a 2.13 ERA (9 ER/38.0 IP), which was fourth-best in the Major Leagues among pitchers with 35 or more innings pitched...Tossed seven scoreless innings on July 11 at Baltimore en route to a win...Marked his fourth scoreless start this season...Picked up his first win of the season in his 13th start of the season, tossing his first career complete game (July 5 vs. Los Angeles-A.L.)...Has picked up wins in two of his last five starts...His start on July 5 marked the only complete game for a Cubs pitcher this season and the first by a Cub since Marcus Stroman (May 29, 2023 vs. Tampa Bay)...Made his first career start against the White Sox on Aug. 10 at Guaranteed Rate Field, tossing six innings, allowing one unearned run...Struck out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings on Aug. 22 vs. Detroit, marking his fourth career 10-plus strikeout game and first outing with 10-plus strikeouts and no walks...Owned a 3-0 record through five starts in August, pitching to a 2.02 ERA (6 ER/20.2 IP)...His 2.02 ERA in August was the fourth-lowest ERA in the N.L. and 12th-lowest in the Majors...Made his first career start against the White Sox on Aug. 10 at Guaranteed Rate Field, tossing six innings, allowing one unearned run...Was on the injured list from Sept. 1-18 with left elbow tendinitis.
2023
Justin was selected to his first career N.L. All-Star team, finishing the year 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA (59 ER/173.1 IP) and 176 strikeouts in 30 starts for the Cubs...Set career-highs in wins, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts...Finished the season among the Major League leaders in wins (T-3rd) and ERA (6th)...Went 12-3 with a 2.65 ERA (30 ER/102.0 IP) in 18 starts at Wrigley Field...his 12 home wins were tied for the most in the Major Leagues, while his 2.65 ERA was the sixth-lowest...Allowed 11 home runs in 159.0 IP through Sept. 9, good for an average of 0.62 home runs per 9.0 IP, the lowest rate among qualified N.L. starters and the second-lowest in the Major Leagues during that span...Walked two or fewer batters in 26 of his 30 starts this season, posting a 1.87 walks per 9.0 IP ratio, the fourth-lowest mark among qualified N.L. starting pitchers and seventh-lowest in the majors...His 17 starts of 6.0-plus innings while allowing two or fewer earned runs in 2023 were tied for fourth-most in the N.L...Posted a 29.8% strikeout rate vs. left-handed batters, the fifth-highest mark among N.L. starting pitchers...From Juy 22, 2022-Sept. 14, 2023, went 17-4 with a 2.21 ERA (48 ER/195.2 IP) in 34 starts, the lowest ERA in the majors among qualified starting pitchers during the run...Allowed two or fewer earned runs in 14-straight starts July 22, 2022-May 5, 2023, tied for the second-longest stretch in Cubs franchise history (since 1901), behind Jack Taylor’s streak of 15 games June 13-Aug. 14, 1902...Had a 17-start streak of allowing three earned runs or fewer at Wrigley Field from April 24, 2022-May 10, 2023...pitched to a 2.20 ERA (23 ER/94.0 IP) during the run...His 2.20 home ERA during the stretch was the third-lowest in the N.L...Went eight starts before suffering his first loss of the season May 16 in Houston...posted a 1.82 ERA (10 ER/49.2 IP) during the run, the fourth-lowest mark in the majors...Left his start May 31 vs. Tampa Bay after 3.0 innings with left forearm tightness...was placed on the injured list June 3 (retro to June 1) and was activated June 17...Posted a 53.0-inning stretch without allowing a home run from April 14-June 17, which was the longest active streak in the majors...Earned his first career All-Star nod and pitched a scoreless fifth inning, allowing one hit with one strikeout in the N.L.’s 3-2 victory...Recorded a career-high seven-straight wins in 10-straight unbeaten starts from July 21-Sept. 9...Tallied at least six strikeouts in seven-straight starts Aug. 6-Sept. 9, totaling 53 strikeouts, tied for the most in the majors during the stretch...Aug. 29 vs. Milwaukee earned his 15th win of the season in his 25th start, the first Cub to reach 15 wins in 25 or fewer starts since Jake Arrieta did so in 2016...Sept. 4 vs. San Francisco tossed a career-high 8.0 scoreless innings, becoming the Cubs first left-handed starting pitcher since 1901 to pitch at least 8.0 scoreless innings while allowing two-or-fewer hits and striking out at least 12 in a game...Was the Cubs first starter since Yu Darvish (Sept. 22, 2019 vs. St. Louis) and first lefty since Jose Quintana (Aug. 13, 2019 at Philadelphia) to strike out at least 12 batters in a game...His 12 strikeouts in the game marked a career high...Had a 21.0 IP scoreless streak from Aug. 24-Sept. 4, tied for the longest streak in the majors during the run...Sept. 26 in Atlanta made his 30th start of the season...marked the first time he has started 30 games in a campaign in his career.
2022
In 24 starts in 2022, Justin went 4-7 with a 3.18 ERA (42ER/119.0 IP), 50 walks, 126 strikeouts and a 1.35 WHIP....Finished among the team leaders in strikeouts (1st),strikeouts per batter faced (1st, 4.06), home runs per 9.0 IP(1st, 0.61) and innings pitched (2nd, 119.0)... His season was cut short when he was put on the Injured List Sept. 2 with a low back strain....Posted a 2.78 ERA (22 ER/71.1 IP) at Wrigley Field, allowing two or fewer earned runs in 10 of his 14 starts....Recorded his first two career 10-plus strikeout games, doing so on May 15 at Arizona and Aug. 5 vs. Miami... Became the first Cub draftee with a 10-strikeout game since Jeff Samardzjia (May 16, 2014 at San Francisco)... On Aug. 5 vs. Miami, became the second starter in Cubs history to record 10-or-more strikeouts in 4.2-or-fewerinnings pitched (also Bill Caudill, August 17, 1979 vs San Diego)...also joined Miami's Trevor Richards as the only two pitchers in MLB history to allow no runs and strikeout 10 batters in 4.2-or-fewer innings....Became the 11th lefthander in Cubs history to strike out nine-plus batters in consecutive outings, May 15-21... Became the first Cub to record 19-plus strikeouts in at wo-start span since Yu Darvish (20, Sept. 4-9, 2020) and the first lefty to do so since José Quintana (21, Aug. 13-18, 2019)....Went unbeaten in seven-consecutive starts from May 31-July 4, going 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA (13 ER/34.2 IP) during that stretch....In July and Aug. combined, made nine starts and posted a1.46 ERA (8 ER/49.1 IP), which leads the majors in the stretch(min. 45.0 IP) ... his 0.96 ERA (3 ER/28.0 IP) in the month of August was fourth-lowest in the Majors during that span.
2021
Made his major league debut in 2021, going 4-4 with a 4.26 ERA (27 ER/57.0 IP) in 20 games (nine starts) for the Cubs... Held left-handed hitters to a .098 average (4-for-41)... Made his major league debut April 12 in Milwaukee, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings in relief... Went 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA (3 ER/13.1 IP) in his first 11 appearances out of the bullpen, before missing from May 21- July 8 with a strained right hamstring... Was activated from the injured list and optioned to Triple-A Iowa on July 8 ... pitched in nine games (5 starts) for the I-Cubs, going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA (4 ER/27.1 IP)... Was recalled and made his first major league start Aug. 10 vs. Milwaukee ... suffered the loss, allowing three runs over 5.0 innings... Earned his first win as a starter on Sept. 1 in Minnesota ... became the first Cubs rookie with a start of at least 5.0 scoreless innings with one-or-fewer hits allowed since Sean Marshall, May 17, 2006, vs. Washington... Struck out a career-high seven batters over 7.0 scoreless innings in his last start of the season, Sept. 30 in Pittsburgh.
2020
Justin spent a majority of the season at the South Bend alternate site...was recalled by the Cubs, August 2, but did not appear in game prior to his option back to the alternate site, August 5.
2019
Spent the entire season with Double-A Tennessee, going 0-6 with a 5.59 ERA (24 ER/38.2 IP) in 11 starts...was placed on the injured list, June 22, with a right abdomen strain and missed the rest of the season.
2018
Made his season debut, July 3, and went a combined 2-2 with a 2.31 ERA (12 ER/46.2 IP) in 11 starts between rookie league Mesa, Single-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Tennessee ... Began the season on the disabled list as he continued recovery from Tommy John Surgery in August of 2017 ... In five outings with Mesa, he posted a 1.47 ERA (3 ER/18.1 IP) and fanned 27 batters, while walking just four ... Went 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA (5 ER/18.1 IP) in four starts with Myrtle Beach ... earned his first promotion to Double-A Tennessee and posted a 3.60 ERA (4 ER/10.0 IP) in two starts ... pitched a season-high 6.0 innings in his final start of the season, August 31 vs. Pensacola (3 H, 1 R).
2017
Justin earned Carolina League mid-season All-Star honors as he posted a 2.92 ERA (32 ER/98.2 IP) in 20 starts with Single-A Myrtle Beach ... Season was cut short in early August as he was placed on the disabled list, August 2, and underwent Tommy John Surgery ... Allowed two or fewer earned runs in 12-straight starts from May 5-July 16 ... Held lefties to a .229 average against, while righties batted .278 ... Struck out 82 batters, while walking 36 ... pitched a season-high 7.0 innings, May 24 vs. Winston-Salem.
2016
Justin went 5-7 with a 5.00 ERA (43 ER/77.1 IP) in 19 starts with Single-A South Bend ... Struck out a season-high 10 batters in 6.0 innings, May 18 at Great Lakes ... Had three starts of at least 5.0-scoreless innings.
2015
Spent the entire season with Single-A Eugene, going 3-1 with a 2.66 ERA (12 ER/40.2 IP) in 10 starts ... Began the season going 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA (3 ER/25.0 IP) in his first five starts, including wins in three-consecutive outings.
2014
Made his professional debut with the Mesa Cubs, posting no record and a 2.89 ERA (6 ER/18.2 IP) in nine games, including four starts.
