CHICAGO — When Justin Steele was injured on Opening Day, the big question for the Chicago Cubs centered on the state of their rotation without their ace left-hander.
That concern faded away over time.
Steele returned to one of baseball’s best rotations on Monday night, starting the opener of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres, and pitched into the fifth inning. He allowed three hits while striking out two Padres before exiting with two outs in the inning and the game tied at 0-0. It was Steele’s first major league appearance since he strained his left hamstring while making a play on a sacrifice bunt at Texas on March 28.
The 28-year-old Steele was a breakout performer last year, going 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA in 30 starts. He made the NL All-Star team for the first time and finished fifth in balloting for the NL Cy Young Award.
Steele made a rehab start with Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday, allowing three runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. He was working on a pitch count against San Diego, and when he was removed, he had thrown 68 pitches, 43 for strikes. The Padres’ offense took over from there en route to a 6-3 victory.
Keegan Thompson was optioned to Iowa to make room on the Chicago roster. Thompson is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in seven relief appearances for Chicago this season.
The Cubs had a 21-14 record going into the series against the Padres, more than holding their own while Steele was out.
The rotation has played a key role in Chicago’s fast start. Shota Imanaga, who pitches on Tuesday night, is 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA in his first big league season after signing with the Cubs in January. Jameson Taillon (3-0, 1.13 ERA) and Javier Assad (3-0, 1.66 ERA) have been terrific, and young right-handers Hayden Wesneski and Ben Brown also have provided some valuable innings.
“I think our starting pitching has been excellent,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Obviously some of the guys that were in the rotation all year, Shota and Javy, have been brilliant, and Jameson Taillon’s been excellent, and then Hayden and Ben have come up and been really important.”
Going into the matchup with San Diego, the starting staff had a 2.61 ERA in the team’s past 21 games going back to April 14 — the second-best mark in the NL over that stretch, trailing only Philadelphia (2.53).
“I think all those guys have stepped up and really produced for us,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “And that’s what you need to get through injuries.”
MILWAUKEE — Andrew Vaughn is back in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and making quite an early impression with his new team.
The Brewers called up the former Chicago White Sox slugger from the minors on Monday after a sprained left thumb landed first baseman Rhys Hoskins on the injured list. In his Brewers debut, Vaughn smashed a three-run homer off All-Star right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first inning of Milwaukee’s 9-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Vaughn acknowledged his homer felt particularly good given the circumstances.
“You definitely black out running around the bases,” he said. “It’s special. It put us ahead against a really good pitcher and really good team.”
Vaughn became the fifth player in franchise history to homer in his first plate appearance with the club. He was the first Brewers hitter to accomplish the feat since Gabe Gross in 2006.
And it’s just the start Vaughn could use as he seeks to rejuvenate his career.
The 27-year-old Vaughn hit 72 homers for the White Sox from 2021-24, but he had tailed off lately. He posted a .699 OPS last year that was a career low at the time. He followed that up by batting .189 with a .218 on-base percentage, five homers and 19 RBI in 48 games for Chicago before getting sent to the minors on May 23.
After acquiring Vaughn in a June 13 trade that sent pitcher Aaron Civale to the White Sox, the Brewers kept him in the minors. A spot on the big league roster opened up when Hoskins got hurt last weekend.
Vaughn gives the Brewers a right-handed option to pair with left-handed hitter Jake Bauers at first base while Hoskins is out. Bauers, 29, is batting .214 with a .331 on-base percentage, five homers and 18 RBI in 54 games this season.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Hoskins’ stay on the injured list “can be weeks, not days,” potentially giving Vaughn an extended audition. Hoskins, 32, has hit .242 with a .340 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 42 RBI in 82 games.
Vaughn had been hitting .259 with a .338 on-base percentage, three homers and 16 RBI in 16 games with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville affiliate.
That represented a major step forward after his struggles with the White Sox.
“I feel like my swing consistency’s been a lot better – swing decisions, just working in the cage and getting it right,” Vaughn said before Monday’s game. “There were some keys I worked on, just simple things. Don’t want to do a whole revamp of the swing because it’s probably impossible during the season, most hitters would say. Just small keys and getting it right.”
Vaughn wasted no time endearing himself to his new teammates. He started a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the first inning before delivering his 409-foot shot over the wall in left-center field in the bottom half.
“To have him show up first day, not know anybody at noon, and then he’s in there and then kind of get a huge hit in the first inning to kind of open things up was a great way to say, ‘Here I am,'” Murphy said.
Vaughn is eager to keep making those kind of statements.
“That’s pretty cool, just to be a part of something bigger than myself, being part of the Brewers,” Vaughn said. “Just trying to do anything I can to help this team win.”
In other Brewers news, shortstop Joey Ortiz was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game after going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts Saturday in a 4-2 loss at Miami. Ortiz is hitting .209 with a .269 on-base percentage, six homers and 28 RBI in 87 games this season, though he showed progress by posting a .748 OPS in June.
Murphy said Ortiz has been swinging better lately, but must make better swing decisions.
“I want him to give me his best approach at the plate,” Murphy said before Monday’s game. “We’ve given him a lot. We’re playing him every day, and we need him, and he can’t just have lapses at the plate like that. He’s got to fight through that.”
A Kansas legislative committee has extended a deadline for the Chiefs and Royals to take advantage of a stadium financing plan from the state.
The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council on Monday unanimously approved the extension to use bonds to cover 70% of a new stadium’s cost if the teams decide to relocate to the state. The new deadline is June 30, 2026, although the committee indicated it is seeking an answer from the teams by Dec. 31 of this year.
Chiefs president Mark Donovan requested the extension late last month in a letter to Kansas Senate president Ty Masterson. The Royals verbally requested an extension around the same time. The deadline expired on June 30 but was retroactively extended Monday.
“Together, we have the opportunity to bring the National Football League to Kansas, anchored by a world-class domed stadium, new team headquarters, a state-of-the-art practice facility, and a vibrant mixed-use and entertainment district,” Donovan wrote in his letter to Masterson.
The Chiefs and Royals have played for more than five decades at the Truman Sports Complex on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri, where Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium share parking facilities. But leases with Jackson County are due to expire in January 2031, and the two franchises have been trying to plot a course forward for years.
Last year, Jackson County voters defeated a sales tax extension that would have helped to finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium — the home of the Chiefs — and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City.
Last month, however, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session to approve a stadium financing deal that included disaster relief for the St. Louis area, where a series of devastating tornadoes caused widespread damage. The legislation authorizes bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums in Missouri, plus up to $50 million in tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
If they choose to stay in Missouri, the Chiefs have floated plans for a $1.15 billion renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. The Royals have insisted all along that they intend to build a replacement for Kauffman Stadium.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has long professed his affinity for Arrowhead Stadium, which was built by his father and team founder Lamar Hunt. But he also is keenly aware of the revenue streams available by building a new domed stadium, including the chance to host the Super Bowl, the Final Four and other marquee sporting events.
Donovan commented Monday on the Chiefs’ looming stadium decision.
“Now, it’s literally getting down to the final points and making sure that everybody’s in agreement on what we need to do, and that we have all the pieces lined up,” he told reporters. “Because our job is to go to the Hunt family and suggest, ‘Here are your two options; they both make sense.'”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
In discussing his second All-Star selection with reporters on Sunday, Buxton beamed as he described the excitement of his 11-year-old son, Brix, who regularly plays the Home Run Derby on the MLB: The Show video game at home.
“He always is like, ‘Dad, if you do this, I want to bring you a towel!’ and I’m like, ‘All right.’ That’s all he cares about. He wants Dad to do it so he can bring me a towel and a Gatorade. And for me, that’s special,” Buxton said. “Out of everybody there, all the people he’s going to see, that’s what he wants and cares about. So, it’s the small things that add up to the big ones.”
The 31-year-old Buxton will be the eighth Twins hitter to take part in the Derby. Justin Morneau won the event in 2008.
Alonso was named a National League reserve for the All-Star Game in a season when he has hit 20 homers. He won the Home Run Derby in 2019 and 2021. It wasn’t held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m not necessarily called this year to do it,” Alonso said, according to MLB.com. “I love the event. It’s a sick event. I just didn’t really feel motivated to do it this year. I just figured I’d take a break, use the break as recovery and get back at it, help the team win in the second half.”
Although he’s not participating this summer, Schwarber left the door open to taking part next season when the All-Star Game will be held in Philadelphia. Schwarber has 27 homers this season and made his third All-Star team.