Justin Steele was scratched from his scheduled start against the Royals.

The Cubs’ lefty is dealing with flu-like symptoms and will not pitch on Thursday night against Kansas City. Instead, right-handed pitcher Ben Brown will start for the Cubs at Sloan Park at 7:05 p.m. on Marquee Sports Network.

Steele, 29, is in line to start the second game of the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers. He’ll likely have one more outing before the team jets off for Japan on Tuesday. The Cubs have not announced when his next start will be, but since it’s an illness he likely won’t miss extended time.

The Cubs already have had their rotation depth tested this spring. Right-handed pitcher Javier Assad suffered an oblique strain and started camp behind the group. He’s begun ramping up, but he won’t travel with the team to Japan.

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This offseason, the Cubs added veterans to their rotation depth in lefty Matthew Boyd and righty Colin Rea to accumulate more options.

While it’s unlikely, if Steele isn’t ready to go for the Tokyo Series, the Cubs could start Jameson Taillon or Boyd in his place.