Cubs reportedly signing righty Hunter Harvey

Jay Biggerstaff - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 2 hours ago

While the major bullpen acquisitions by the Cubs could be over for the offseason, don't put it past this team to continue to stockpile the relief arms in hopes of adding as much depth as possible. Most of the pickups from here on out could be of the Minor League variety, but don't put it past Carter Hawkins and Jed Hoyer to take a swing on a few high-upside, high-risk plays from here on out.

That is precisely the case when it comes to the Cubs' newest acquisition, as they greeted the fans with a post-Christmas present by adding big right-hander Hunter Harvey to a one-year deal. The deal is pending a physical, and the financials have yet to be announced, but this is a massive upside play when you look at his track record as a reliever.

After targeting what you call the softer tossing relievers most of the offseason who thrive on low contact rate, Harvey is the exact opposite of that, as the Cubs are finally adding a hard thrower to their pen. A former top prospect in the Baltimore Orioles organization, Harvey broke into the league with Baltimore in 2019 and has since bounced around several different organizations, including the Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals.

For his career, Harvey has appeared in 182 games and has performed reasonably well across the board, going 10-11 in those games with a 3.38 ERA. Harvey has added 11 saves and 19 holds during those games, filling a variety of relief roles since his debut. The 2025 season was a struggle for Harvey, but not in the way you would think.

Instead of struggles stemming from poor performance, it was his health, as he appeared in just 12 games in 2025, totaling 10 2/3 innings. Lack of innings or not, he was impressive as he posted a 0.00 ERA in those games, walking one and striking out 11, as you couldn't have asked for a better start from the right-hander.

His great start to the season was promising, given how 2024 went: Harvey had one of his worst seasons as a pro, posting a 4.20 ERA in 43 games between the Nationals and Royals. That came after posting a 4.43 ERA in 2023 with the Nationals, as his time with Washington was filled with struggles after being a very reliable option with the Orioles before that.

Leading up to his rough two-year patch, Harvey put together two impressive seasons that had him on the verge of being one of those X-Factor pitchers in 2023. During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Harvey combined to pitch in 95 games, totaling just under 93 innings of work. In those games, you had a guy combining to go 6-5 with an impressive ERA of 2.67 over those years.

With that came his ability to put hitters away, as he walked just 25 hitters during those two seasons while striking out 127, proving he was more than capable of dominating in the middle to late innings. Had it not been for his struggles in 2023 and 2024, Harvey may have been able to land a massive deal, but the struggles, paired with his injury from last season, make him a high-risk/high-upside play that the Cubs are hoping works out in their favor.

Armed with an upper-90s heater that averages 96.8 MPH, the Cubs are finally adding a high-velocity arm to the back of their pen, which will come in handy now that Brad Keller is in Philadelphia. While his fastball has been his go-to pitch most of his career, Harvey has a steady dose of offspeed pitches, with his best being his 89 MPH slider, which comes with sharp late-breaking action.

Harvey also mixes in an 88 mph splitter and an occasional 83 mph curve, as he is more of a two- or three-pitch guy rather than a four-pitch guy. Not only has Harvey relied on his high-velocity fastball to generate swings and misses, but he also relies on pitch movement, as he gets some of the best movement in the game on all of his pitches.

More of a fly ball pitcher as opposed to a ground ball guy, that is always a concern when playing at Wrigley, but given how the park has played the past few seasons, you can get away with being a fly ball guy. While not official until the physical is over, this move brings with it similar vibes to the Keller deal from last year, and that worked in the Cubs' favor. Perhaps this one will, and if it does, this will go down as another sneaky bullpen get for this team.