Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Cubs left-hander Justin Steele has a setback in elbow rehab (Hour 1)
29 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What setback did Cubs pitcher Justin Steele experience during rehab?
The views and opinions of Layla Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi, Harris, and Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Okay, thanks, bye. Rahimi Harrison-Grody, 10-2 on 104.3 The Score.
Manu Raju, the anchor and chief congressional correspondent for CNN. We found out you follow Mark Grody on Twitter.
Of course I follow Mark Grody on Twitter. I love you guys, and I'm thrilled to be here.
Come on. I have a scale of bears that I give out. I give a scale of 1 to 10. You automatically get five bears. And because you're on the show and because you're a Chicago sports fan, you, sir, I am awarding you right now.
You can tell all your friends at CNN about this. You get seven bears from me, Mark Grody, sir. Congratulations.
Congratulations. That is a high, high honor. I would have definitely put that on my resume. So I really appreciate that.
My resume will kick your resume's ass.
We also had to ask you because we thought about this. We're like, well, you're from Darien. You say you're Chicago professional teams. Who are your teams?
Well, I'm a Skyhook Cubs fan.
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Chapter 2: How is Edward Cabrera stepping up for the Cubs as a pitcher?
There is a difference between saying he will resume activity and re-evaluate it. So that's shut down. You are resting. You're not doing anything. And that sure means you're not getting back into game shape. And even then, you know, when we were talking about his timeline, he said he was just now throwing off of a mound. And I feel like... I don't think Justin Steele's doing anything wrong.
But he has taken time when it comes to coming back from injuries. Just overall. Sometimes your body just doesn't agree with your plan. Say what you want about training staffs or whatever. I think age has more to do with it. Miles on arms have more to do with it.
Pitchers now as a whole, especially coming up through high school and all that, you've got to think about the total miles on somebody's arm and their body. This... But based on what you know and what you know about Justin Steele, I understand why he says chance this year, but he's saying this season. So what, September? You know, that's how we have to look at this.
Chapter 3: When is Justin Steele expected to be reevaluated after his setback?
No, I think at the earliest, I mean, let's just do very basic math here. Late May, June, just turned into, at minimum, late June, July. And that seems like it's a bit of a tall ask. Here's why. Because as you just said, he's being completely shut down now. He's got to start again from scratch, build up his arm, go from...
throwing on flat ground to throwing on a mound to then working the bullpens to then going to his affiliate. You know, it's probably three or four starts before he's ready and in hopes of no other setback. So now you're looking at if it's late June, July at the minimum. Understand this. The trade deadline is August 3rd. And that's pushing up very closely to the trade deadline.
I almost need the Cubs to say, we're going to go out and get more pitching help, whether Justin Steele looks like he's on track to be back, or if he is back. Let's say he's back by August 3rd.
Chapter 4: What impact does Justin Steele's injury have on the Cubs' season?
That still should not preclude them from going out and getting more top-of-the-line pitching help. Because remember, Kate Horton's not coming out that tunnel.
Well, okay, you said August 30th, where he's back?
August 3rd.
No, he won't be. Because think about it, he won't be re-evaluated. For another month. And if June was the ETA, if he was going to be ready previously and now he won't be reevaluated. So now this is April 29th. So now you're talking about May 29th. Okay. So then what we're looking at another month, but you know, possibly best case scenario.
And then that month, the next month leading up to August 3rd, which is kind of like what you're talking about. Can you get to the point where you're through your rehabs and all that?
309 asked me, Layla, we typically say there isn't a tackle option available if they're good. I say, yeah, I say there's no such thing as a left tackle store. Wouldn't we apply the same principle to starting pitchers? No. Absolutely not. Teams trade for starting pitching all the time. Max Scherzer has been traded for the deadline.
Jacob deGrom has been traded for at the deadline by the same team in the same year. No, no. Starting pitchers, they come at an expensive price, but they are a lot more findable. You just have to bet the damn farm in order to be able to do so. We're going to find out, even based on this information, how in it to win it the Cubs really are.
I will say this, to his point about the arms being available, what the wild card has done and really what the Dodgerification of the world has done is like there's these maybe one, two, three clear just front runners, like the Braves, right?
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of Steele's injury on the Cubs' trade deadline strategy?
Every team in the National League East is below 500 and doesn't look like they have a rudder.
You know how I feel about the National East? I am convinced the division has Ojo, that they were cursed with the evil eye.
Well, the Braves... Prove me wrong. They overcame their curse from a year ago, because they were cursed last year.
The Braves were cursed for like two years.
They did not have Chris Sale and the like for a large portion of their season. Several of their pitchers go down. But understand this. The Houston Astros have the worst record in the American League. They are three and a half games out of a playoff spot. And I know that's early to be saying something maybe of that magnitude.
May 1st is Friday.
But my point is, no one's just like out of it. There's no Rockies stories out here besides maybe... The Rockies? Well, no, no. The Rockies, three and a half games out. The Mets, the Phillies, the Nationals have the three worst records in the National League. And the Mets and Nationals are each six games out. But I saw Ranger Suarez throw a shot out the other night.
You're talking about the wild card. There was a thought process that when the wild card was just one game, that you weren't going to bet the farm or be really active at the trade deadline, knowing that you might face a Max Scherzer or some gunner, you know, at the trade deadline or at the wild card one game. So then...
You're not going to put it all out there or try to be super active if you know it's coming down to only a single game. Now that it's actually a series, things are different. But for example, and I said this before, the Padres, I feel like, are a similar realization of the Cubs, except their bullpen is insanely good, right? So they can hit all up and down the lineup.
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Chapter 6: How has Davis Martin performed for the White Sox this season?
Look at how that bullpen, which typically we know, is absolutely shut down once they get Morojo in hand and Mason Miller on the mound. And Miller, they worked. And... I'm one of those people where I think it carries into the next day. I just do.
I feel like more often than not, players will tell you that there's something they can take away from at least battling enough against a strong closer like that, where the next day it might work in their favor. And the Cubs definitely had hitting work in their favor. Pinch hitting worked last night. You saw Cabrera work.
That was a game where, and again, when you see the improvement out of PCA, you put it together. That's a complete performance.
Wow. Nine men left on base, but they went 4-14 with runners in scoring position. And again, I think for that offense, scoring early... Makes it happen because if you score early, guess what? You can score early and often. You can't score early and often if you don't score early. So getting runs in the second inning, I think, was a big key to this. And then Edward Cabrera settles in.
And although he gave up runs in three different innings, it didn't matter because he limited the damage.
That's what he does. He's really good about staying within himself that way, I feel like. His changeup is ridiculous. I feel like, where would we be right now without Edward Cabrera in that trade?
They'd be in a lot of trouble because that means Colin Ray, Javier's side. I'm trying to think of who the fifth starter would be at this moment. Maybe Jordan Wicks. Yeah, Jordan Wicks.
Who we might still see based on all of this.
Listen, we're not quite to... put some names in a bag and pull one out territory. But with the moves that they made recently just to get the bullpen handled, it is a lot of, oh, let me find out more about this player who I know very little about because two weeks ago I wasn't thinking he had a possibility of being on the roster, Vince Velasquez.
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