Sources: Cubs Pitching Prospects Cory Abbott, Justin Steele Joining South Bend Summer Camp

The Cubs’ initial player pool was decidedly light and spurred far more questions about who wasn’t on the list than who was. That started to change earlier in the week when Hernán Pérez was added to the roster, giving the Cubs 51 available players. And as Cubs Insider has learned from multiple sources, the roster will be growing again as righty Cory Abbott and lefty Justin Steele are expected to arrive at South Bend summer camp soon.

The 24-year-old Abbott was named the Cubs’ MiLB Pitcher of the Year after going 8-8 in 26 starts for Double-A Tennessee, posting a 3.01 ERA with 166 strikeouts over 146.2 innings. He recently gained a little notoriety after losing a battle with Brennen Davis, the Cubs’ MiLB Player of the Year, but now he’ll get a chance to balance the scales in another round of live BP.

Steele, who turns 25 on Saturday, has stuff similar to more ballyhooed fellow southpaw Brailyn Marquez and the Cubs believe he’s got “legitimate upside” if he can stay healthy. Scouting the box score isn’t a good way to get info on Steele, whose 0-6 record and 5.59 ERA over 11 starts for Tennessee this past season tell all kinds of lies about his talent.

This time in South Bend is probably less about actually helping the Cubs this season as it is getting him some more experience. Steele has yet to throw as many as 99 innings in a season and may be destined for a relief role in order to preserve his health and allow his fastball to play up a tick or three. He’s also been working on a changeup he learned from Cole Hamels, the development of which would be a big step forward.

Once these moves are made official, the Cubs will have 53 men on the roster and still have seven spots to fill by the start of the season.

Update: According to Bleacher Nation’s Bryan Smith, lefty Jack Patterson is expected to join the South Bend squad as well. Patterson is a big favorite of the prospect hounds at CI and he exploded through the system last season. He’s got a great story that you need to learn if you’re not already familiar.

Expect Jack Patterson to be added to the South Bend taxi squad roster very soon.

Below is what the lefty did in the second half last year. Patterson’s velo jumped and his slider emerged as a good third pitch.

More: https://t.co/DwaJP8VxfQ https://t.co/3DBhvFvBpK

— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) July 10, 2020

Update #2: Tyson Miller will also be joining the squad in South Bend, per a blurb on his Instagram story.