Steele looking for 'next level' with improved changeup

SURPRISE, Ariz. – The last time Justin Steele saw the Texas Rangers, he limped off the mound with an Opening Day injury that would keep him out for the next seven-plus weeks.

That wasn’t lost on Steele on Friday, after he faced the Rangers in his second start of the spring.

“I didn't pull my hamstring,” Steele said. “So that was good.”

Steele had far more to feel good about following the Cubs’ 8-8 tie at Surprise Stadium, as he looked solid for most of his three-inning outing. Steele allowed two runs on two hits -- both runs coming on the first of Kyle Higashioka’s two home runs -- while striking out two.

The left-hander pumped in 26 of his 33 pitches for strikes, doing what he does best: attacking the zone and daring hitters to make him pay for it.

Higashioka’s homer came on one of the handful of sliders he threw, though that’s a mistake he won’t make the next time he sees the catcher in the box.

“I felt like it was a pretty decent pitch that he got a hold of,” Steele said. “When I got back to the dugout, [pitching coach Tommy Hottovy] showed me a heat map and it was like, ‘Yeah, that guy hits 1.200 OPS against left-handed spin, so maybe [don’t] throw that during the season.’”

Steele retired all four batters he faced following the homer, then went down to the bullpen to throw about 25 more pitches. The 29-year-old is slated to start the second game of the Cubs’ season-opening Tokyo Series against the Dodgers on March 19, giving him less than three weeks to get himself ready for the regular season.

If Steele can give the Cubs 32 starts and 180 innings, they’ll have a dangerous weapon to throw at opponents once every five days. Since the start of 2022, Steele is 25-17 with a 3.10 ERA, the fourth-lowest mark of all National League pitchers with at least 400 innings, while his 10.3 fWAR ranks sixth among all NL arms.

Injuries limited Steele to 119 innings in 2022 and 134 2/3 last season, so the Cubs would be thrilled to see him reach the 180-inning mark in 2025. Given how effective he has been, 180 innings of his recent performance would be a big upgrade, but what if Steele can be even better than he’s been over the past three years?

“The fastball-slider combination he has down,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “The next level? I don't think you ever want to go away from your strengths, but if he ever gets to a point where you can really mix in a changeup or two-seamer, I think that's where he gets to another level. Hitters know what he's going to do to them and it's still difficult for them to hit him.”

Steele agrees.

The southpaw estimated that he throws changeups with about half of his throws while playing catch every day, noting that feel is more important for that pitch than any other. Results in Spring Training might not be of the utmost importance for veteran pitchers trying to get themselves ready for the season, but when it comes to his changeup, Steele pays attention to its effectiveness.

“I want to get a good result for it, because that's what builds confidence,” Steele said. “If I go out and throw three changeups and give up three homers, I'm probably just going to put it in my back pocket and not use it.”

Steele has been working on the changeup for the past two or three years, but he hasn’t been confident enough to use the pitch regularly in games. In 2022, he threw it only 2.1% of the time, a number that dipped to 1% in 2023. Last season, Steele threw his changeup a career-high 3.3% of the time, but he threw it three times on Friday.

“I got two check swings on them, and then one was a little low and in the dirt, but that's kind of where I want the miss to be if I'm going to miss with it,” Steele said. “If I get to a place where the catcher calls a changeup and I feel as confident in that as throwing my four-seamer or slider, I feel like that would be pretty dangerous.

“I think that would take me to a whole other level.”