(670 The Score) Opening Day couldn’t have gone much worse for the Cubs, who lost to the Rangers but more concerningly watched as ace Justin Steele exited in the fifth inning due to a left hamstring injury after attempting to field a bunt.
As of Friday afternoon, the Cubs hadn’t revealed the results of Steele’s MRI or a timetable for his return, but everyone was bracing for bad news, including Score afternoon host Matt Spiegel.
“In terms of losing someone, that was absolute worst-case nightmare scenario in inning 5 of game 1 for all of your big-picture thoughts for the year,” Spiegel said on his show Friday. “Frankly, it blows up, retroactively, your entire offseason approach.”
The nature of a hamstring injury also dictates that Steele, who had a 3.06 ERA in 30 starts in 2023, will need to use a cautious approach in his rehab before his ramp-up period.
“Hopefully this is a six-week thing, but it could so easily be a two-and-a-half-month thing,” Spiegel said. “A standard version of it could be a two-and-a-half-month thing. Because it’s ramping once he’s done getting healthy.”