Cubs bolster bullpen depth with hard-throwing reliever Hunter Harvey. Despite injury concerns, his strikeout potential offers a high-reward addition.
The Chicago Cubs are not done adding to their bullpen. With already four free agent additions this offseason, the Cubs have added another reliever for the 2026 season.
According to Will Sammon, Chicago is in agreement on a deal with reliever Hunter Harvey. Harvey is expected to join the Cubs on a one-year, $6 million deal pending a physical.
Harvey marks the fifth Major League contract the front office has given out to a reliever this year, joining Caleb Thielbar, Phil Maton, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb. After losing more than half of last year’s bullpen to free agency, the Cubs are retooling their bullpen for next season.
President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has done a good job finding hidden gems at the reliever position over the past few years. That has continued this offseason with additions like Milner and Webb. Harvey can now be added to that group.
Although his 2025 season was limited to just 12 appearances due to injuries, this is a reliever who projects to be used in many different high-leverage spots throughout the year. Harvey earned a hold in five of his 12 appearances last season.
There is definitely some risk involved in this signing after Harvey threw just 10 ⅔ innings pitched in 2025. He suffered a shoulder injury in early April and then suffered a Grade 2 groin strain in early August. Harvey also missed the final two months of the 2024 season due to back tightness.
However, when healthy, Harvey has usually been a reliable bullpen arm. He didn’t allow a run across 10 ⅔ innings pitched last year and has a 3.07 ERA and 178 strikeouts since the start of the 2022 season.
That makes this a low-risk, high-reward signing by Hoyer and company.
More importantly, Harvey gives the Cubs another hard-throwing right-handed reliever. He averaged 97.8 mph on his four-seam fastball in his last full season in 2024 and has plenty of strikeout potential. The 31-year-old has finished with at least a 28% strikeout rate in three of his past four seasons.
There’s no doubt that the last few years haven’t gone according to plan for Harvey, as he finished with a 4.44 ERA in 2024 and missed most of the 2025 campaign due to injuries. Nevertheless, this is another nice bullpen signing by the Cubs this offseason.
He appeared to have figured it out again last year before suffering a shoulder injury in the first month. With a sub-2.85 ERA in back-to-back seasons in both 2022 and 2023, this version of Harvey could show up in 2026.
The key for him will be staying healthy. If he does, the seven-year veteran should be a reliable bullpen arm in the later innings for the Cubs.