When Justin Steele went down with a hamstring injury on Opening Day against the Rangers in 2024, it was an instant focus on how to get back on the mound.

“As soon as it happened last year, I was immediately trying to do everything I could to get back on the field as soon as possible,” Steele told reporters in Arizona Friday. “I only threw like one rehab start. I was trying to get back in the big league locker room and help the guys win games.

“It was extremely frustrating, especially your first Opening Day start. There’s so many things that go with it. I felt like I pitched pretty good but to have that setback really early on in the season, the mindset was just get back as soon as possible to try and help win ball games.”

That focus carried into the offseason with Steele taking only 10 days off after the final game of the 2024 season to see family, friends and travel. After that, it was back to throwing three to four times a week to just keep his arm moving.

He amped it up to five days a week so that when February came around, he was ready to go.

“This offseason was about trying to alleviate anything like that happening in the season so I could make a full 30-32 starts,” Steele said. “I never really stopped throwing after the season and kept moving throughout the entire offseason.

“So once throwing ramped back up, there was no grace period of getting my shoulder back in shape or anything like that. It was ready to go. It’s been a good transition.”

[MORE: After solid start to his career, what’s next for Cubs starter Justin Steele?]

So when he faced the Rangers for the first time since his injury in a Cactus League start on Feb. 28, he struck out 2 in 3 innings of work, only giving up a 2-run home run in the second inning to Kyle Higashioka. Of his 33 pitches, 26 were strikes in the 8-8 tie to the Rangers.

With a heavy command of his four-seamer and slider, Steele is looking to develop his changeup, something he believes that can take him to the next level.

“If I get to a place where a catcher calls a changeup and I feel as confident in that as I do throwing my four-seamer/slider, I feel like that would be pretty dangerous,” Steele said. “It’s something I’m definitely striving for results with. I want to get the good results so that way I build the confidence going into the season.”

The Cubs open up their season in just a couple weeks when they take on the Los Angeles Dodgers for a two-game set in Tokyo, Japan. Steele is set to start Game 2.