Ex-Mets GM shares his concern for the Cubs’ pitching depth as Justin Steele has been ruled out for remainder of 2025

The Chicago Cubs have been performing as one of the top teams in Major League Baseball, however, they were dealt a significant blow as their ace Justin Steele suffered a season-ending injury. The All-Star southpaw has been ruled out for the remainder of 2025 after suffering an elbow injury, which requires surgery, ending his campaign before it really started.

Justin Steele looked decent for the Chicago Cubs so far this year, posting a 3-1 record with a 4.76 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 22.2 innings of work. Although he had allowed more runs than he may have wanted, Steele has been a force for Chicago throughout his career, and replacing him in the rotation is going to be a tall ask.

This is something that former New York Mets GM Steve Phillips spoke about during an interview on MLB Network Radio. Despite Chicago having several options to fill in for Steele while he is out of action, Phillips expressed his concern over the team's ability to replace everything that the All-Star superstar brings to the team.

"He was 5th in Cy Young voting in 2023. He's an underrated ace of this staff. Now they're going to have to find a way to navigate their way through it without him... This is a big blow for a team where there's pressure to win," Phillips explained.

Even without Justin Steele, the Chicago Cubs do have Shota Imanaga, who has proven himself to be untouchable at times when he is on the mound. Chicago turned to Colin Rea to fill in for Steele on Sunday, however, the team may require several arms to take their turns in the rotation in Steele's absence.

"You can have a much depth as you want, you can build depth to replace the numbers of pitchers but not the impact of pitcher. You don't have a number one starter to replace your number one starter. You'll have to piece it together and everyone is going to have to give it a little bit more right now," Phillips continued.

The Chicago Cubs have already been mentioned in trade rumors in order to replace Justin Steele

While Chicago has some solid, albeit inconsistent arms such as Ben Brown, Colin Rea, and Matthew Boyd, the team could look to explore the trade market in order to bolster their rotation. Unsurprisingly, the team has already been linked to a number of starting pitchers who could be available before the trade deadline.

Michael King, Nick Martinez, Bobby Miller, and Tony Gonsolin have all been mentioned as possible trade targets for the Chicago Cubs if they are looking to go that direction. Chicago has some notable prospects they could look to put in a trade package in order to get a deal done.