The Cubs are getting close to getting an injection of youth into their starting rotation following the trade deadline. Left-hander Justin Steele and right-hander Keegan Thompson were both valuable pieces in the team’s bullpen earlier this season, but with the Cubs’ direction in the short term changing, the team will now be focused on getting their young arms in the rotation.
Steele has already been getting stretched out to be a starter in Triple-A Iowa over the past three weeks and manager David Ross said on Monday that the young southpaw is ready “in theory”. Thompson will now take his turn to get more innings as a starter and was optioned to Iowa before Tuesday’s game against Reds.