Steele (knee) declared himself ready to start Thursday's season opener versus the Rangers in Arlington after he threw a bullpen session Monday without incident, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Even though he left early in his final Cactus League start Friday against the Giants due to a left knee contusion, Steele never appeared to be in legitimate danger of missing out on the Opening Day assignment. Before hurting his knee Friday, Steele had built up to 64 pitches and four innings in his prior Cactus League start March 12, so he should be capable of giving the Cubs at least 75 pitches and five innings in Thursday's opener. The 28-year-old lefty is coming off a breakout 2023 campaign in which he went 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 176:36 K:BB over 173.1 innings en route to a fifth-place finish in the National League Cy Young Award balloting.