Matthew Boyd and Justin Steele are recovering from injuries, with no impact trades expected to reinforce the rotation soon. Justin Steele remains shut down after a flexor strain suffered during rehab from prior elbow surgery. Jed Hoyer said Steele’s return timeline is “later this summer,” with an earlier estimate of late July if recovery went well. Steele is in Chicago for a follow-up appointment next week, which could confirm whether he can begin the early phase of a throwing program. Matthew Boyd is recovering from left meniscus surgery and is already running in the outfield 13 days after surgery. Hoyer expects Boyd to throw an up-down bullpen on Friday or Saturday, with the Cubs assessing his progress afterward.
"Given that no impact trades are coming to reinforce the rotation any time soon, the best we can hope for right now are relatively quick returns to action for Matthew Boyd and Justin Steele. The latter won't be back soon in absolute sense, mind you, but it's at least still conceivable that he could return to action before the August 3 Trade Deadline. That would be meaningful for the Cubs' efforts not to get squeezed too hard when they try to acquire an impact starting pitcher (that effort, let's be quite clear, is going to happen no matter who returns from injury or when)."
"So, actually, let's update Steele's status as he recovers from a flexor strain, suffered while he was rehabbing from last year's elbow surgery. Jed Hoyer told The Score that Steele was still shut down, though that was not necessarily outside the expectations. "Later this summer" was the general timeline Hoyer gave for Steele's return, which was originally estimated to have him back maybe in late-July if things went well."
"Steele is in Chicago right now for a follow-up appointment with his doctor next week, per Craig Counsell, and that would track with the potential end of his shutdown period. That is to say, Steele was originally shut back down at the end of April, and the expectation was that he'd be shut down for a month. Well, that's next week. So maybe a check-in with the doctor to confirm that he's cleared to start the early phase of a throwing program? No confirmation on that, but that's certainly my hope."
"As for Matthew Boyd's recovery from meniscus surgery, here's a happy visual: Matt Boyd going through some pregame running in the outfield 13 days after surgery on his left meniscus. #Cubs pic.twitter.com/b6YTWPQzzG- Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) May 20, 2026 Hoyer told The Score that Boyd is expected to throw an up-down bullpen on Friday or Saturday, and the Cubs will see where he is from there. Once he progresses"
"Hoyer told The Score that Boyd is expected to throw an up-down bullpen on Friday or Saturday, and the Cubs will see where he is from there. Once he progresses"
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