DataBaseball
2026
Justin Steele headshot

Players · S · Pitcher · 2025

Justin Steele

Age
30
B/T
L/L
Height
6' 2"
Weight
205 lb
Number
#35
Born
July 11, 1995 in Lucedale, MS, United States
MLB debut
April 12, 2021
Drafted
2014, round 5
High school
George County
Salary, 2025
$6.55M
dbWAR
9.7
6 season(s)
IP
22.2
ERA
4.76
FIP
4.94
K/9
8.3
FIP−
119
100 = avg

Justin Steele was a starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. In 2025 he struck out 21 batters over 22.2 innings across 4 appearances, 4 of them starts, going 3-1. His ERA of 4.76 was 14.6% higher than the league average of 4.16 — 14th of 16 on his team, and 388th of 542 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.94 FIP suggests the ERA was no fluke. He missed bats on 18.5% of swings (9.6% of every pitch he threw), walked 5.4% of the batters he faced and struck out 22.8%. His 0.1 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2025.

FIP4.94
K/98.3
WHIP1.15
WAR.1

WAR by season

4.82.2-0.32122232425

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
2025CHC4422.231021122154.764.941.158.32.01151190.1
2024CHC2424134.255011146135373.073.231.109.02.575792.7
2023CHC3030173.1165016759176363.063.021.179.11.971704.8
2022CHC2424119.047011142126503.183.201.359.53.880812.5
2021CHC20957.0440502759274.265.521.359.34.3100129-0.3

Batting

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
2021CHC913200004.154.154.154.000.2220.0%30.8%.135-2.0-26-0.0—

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2025. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
SplitPAABHHRBBSOAVGOBPSLGwOBAK%
vs LHB30275026.185.267.222.23320.0%
vs RHB6258165315.276.306.586.37224.2%

Pitch sequencing

What Justin Steele throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter
Four-seamSliderSinkerCurveballChangeup

Select a count to see exactly what Justin Steele throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.

Four-Seam Fastball56.5%17790.82,35650.8%16.3%52.212.602
Slider31.0%9781.52,67950.5%26.4%23.304.969
Sinker6.1%1990.42,34347.4%10.0%6——
Curveball3.8%1279.42,76458.3%0.0%1——
Justin Steele's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters. BAA and OPS are what hitters did against each pitch, credited to the one that ended the plate appearance, and are left blank under 15 at-bats.

Head to head

Put Justin Steele beside up to three others.

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Justin Steele

Similar players

Nearest 2025 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.