MESA, Ariz. – Cubs lefty Justin Steele rejoined camp Saturday, after coming down with flu-like symptoms on Wednesday. As he walked into the clubhouse, teammates welcomed him back and he regaled them with the saga of his sickness.
Steele is listed as the Cubs’ probable starter Tuesday against the Brewers. He said he’s scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Sunday.
“Keep progressing as if that start was just skipped,” he said in a conversation with the Sun-Times.
Steele built up to about 55 pitches last week, before he was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday. He expects he’ll shoot for 65 to 75 pitches in his last spring start before the Tokyo Series and feels comfortable with that pitch count as the precursor to his first regular season appearance on March 19.
“I don’t really get affected by that kind of stuff,” Steele said. “I feel like I could go out and throw 100 pitches right now if I needed to. It’s one of those things, once you start building up and get three innings under your belt, you kind of feel like you could do another three.”
Steele started feeling symptoms Wednesday, the Cubs’ first off day of spring training, as he and his wife were on the way home from a trip to the spa together.
“You know that feeling you get right before you get sick – your body starts getting achy, everything’s tender, a light headache,” he said. “So I could kind of feel something coming on. And then that night, it was rough sailing for me.”
Steele decided to spare the general public from the details.
“People can use their imaginations,” he said.
The next day, Steele was still batting some symptoms, and neither he nor the Cubs wanted to risk him getting his teammates sick. On Friday, he woke up with a bit of headache and general soreness. But he felt good enough to go to the complex to play catch after the team had left.