Justin Steele's Rising Star in Chicago's MLB Scene

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00:00and Justin Steele are where it's at in the Windy City, Joe.

00:04Yeah, Justin Steele is going at pick 122 right now. And the only thing that's really held Justin

00:10Steele back have been injuries, but none of them have been arm-related. It was like a knee issue,

00:13then a hamstring problem. There were all these kind of weird situations. He was going to field

00:18the ball off the mound, then he pulled a hamstring, and that had him miss some time last year.

00:22134 innings last year, had 135 strikeouts, a .307 ERA, a 1.10 whip. Now, extrapolation is a

00:28little dangerous, but he's a 29-year-old pitcher right in his prime. He is a pitcher that has shown

00:35you that he has ace-like ability. It's just a matter of, can he give you 30 starts? And

00:41considering none of these issues are arm-related that he's had, I'm very encouraged to take this

00:45value. I also think the Cubs are all in this year. You saw the Kyle Tucker move this offseason.

00:51You see they go out there and they acquire Ryan Presley to be a closer. They have Matt Shaw coming

00:55to. I think the Cubs realize that there's a weakness in this division now that the Cardinals

00:59have taken a giant step backwards this year. And you look around and say, the Brewers,

01:04can they be the same without Willie Adamas? I don't know, but I think the Cubs smell blood

01:09in the water. The Reds are fun, but inexperienced. The Pirates can pitch, but they can't hit.

01:15If you're the Cubs, with Imanaga and Justin Steele at the top of this lineup, and Imanaga going so

01:19far ahead of Justin Steele, that I just don't understand. Steele is a great value, another guy

01:24being taken as a three or a four, who's going to give you number one type starts probably a third

01:29of the time. And that is extremely valuable. I agree wholeheartedly. If you grab Imanaga and

01:34Steele in any way and it matches up, now you have a one and a two going against the team's four and

01:38five. You're going to win that every time. With the time that we have left, let's talk about two

01:42more. We'll go to the American League, Seattle, Great Pitchers Park. Let's talk about Brian Wu.

01:47Yeah, Brian Wu also having a really good spring. Also last year, I think, you know, showed you that

01:52he could be like that next Bryce Miller guy in this rotation. And my God, the Seattle farm system

01:58just keeps just bringing these guys every single year. And Brian Wu was another one, 121 innings

02:03last year at the big league level, 22 starts, a 2.89 ERA, a 0.90 whip. If you're looking for

02:08somebody to help with those ratios, I give you Brian Wu. And you want to talk about fun? What's

02:13more fun to say, woo, every time he goes out there and makes a start. And he's also got strikeout

02:19potential. It's not quite nine K per nine where you want them to be, but still in a really good

02:23situation. And then there's Jared Jones who started off harder than any other pitcher last

02:26year. We were talking about Jared Jones going, my God, forget schemes. Who's this guy came out

02:31of nowhere. I feel like last year dominated in April and may then we had injuries. And

02:37unfortunately the rest of the season was kind of a wash, but he's been experimenting over the

02:42off season so far, everything looks healthy, but it looks like he's bringing some new pitches here

02:47too. I saw with Nick Pollock, who is the man over a pitcher list, and he was going on and on

02:52about Jared Jones and the adjustments that he's made in the off season and what that could mean

02:56in 2025. So all of a sudden Jared Jones looks like he could be back to being that dominant guy.

03:01And because of the bad finish that left a sour taste in a lot of managers mouths.

03:06Guess what? The ADP is showing it. He is a tremendous value.