Justin Steele, Ben Brown Throw Live Again as Rehab Assignments Loom
Justin Steele was with the Cubs at Chase Field yesterday, which makes sense because he’s been in Arizona as his throwing program ramps up. He threw a live BP session last Friday and then had another today at Sloan Park — as seen in the video below by Rich Biesterfeld — as he readies to head out on a rehab assignment. Steele told Marquee’s Taylor McGregor he believes he’ll have one more live BP session before moving on to actual competition.
Cubs pitcher @J_Steele21 in his second session of live BP at Sloan Park this morning. Justin did do an up-down session today – pitch, sit down on bench, then pitch again. @WatchMarquee @BleacherNation @CHGO_Cubs @crawlyscubs #Cubs pic.twitter.com/tHrJu0STe9
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) August 25, 2026
Provided all goes well, throwing again on Friday would put him in line to join a minor-league affiliate as early as next week. Knowing that they only need him to pitch in short stints allows the Cubs to move a little quicker with the process than they would if they needed Steele to start. That’s more or less the same for Ben Brown, who pitched in the Cubs’ bridge camp game this morning.
According to Biesterfeld, Brown struck out two batters and got two groundouts in his “inning” of work, which was extended because that’s how they do things in these exhibition settings. Ray Rardin II (@AZProspectWatch) noted that Brown came out for a second inning of work. Brown could be moved along faster since he has already pitched his year and is not working back from a surgery or anything arm-related.
Cubs pitcher Ben Brown back in game action in the Bridge Camp game at Sloan Park. He had 2K’s, a broken bat groundout and infield groundout in the 1st inning. (They had him face an extra batter.) @WatchMarquee @BleacherNation @CHGO_Cubs @crawlyscubs #Cubs pic.twitter.com/AKZ5YjYt6G
— Rich Biesterfeld (@biest22) August 25, 2026
Let’s keep these positive updates coming.
