Cubs Video
Since being a first-round pick out of high school in 2013, Hunter Harvey has pitched 453 innings. That's not 453 innings in the majors, or 453 innings in the last five years. In parts of 13 professional seasons, Harvey has pitched a total of 453 innings. Since moving to the bullpen in 2020, he's been consistently good, with a fastball that reaches the upper 90s, a good splitter and a sometimes devastating slider. Even in that limited role, though, he's had no success staying healthy. 
The closest Harvey has ever come to pitching a full season was in 2023, when he piled up 60 innings in the Nationals bullpen and "only" missed a month with an elbow strain. In 2025, he dealt with a teres major strain that kept him out until after the All-Star break and an adductor strain that knocked him out for good in mid-August. He made less than $4 million this year, and only managed to pitch 10 2/3 innings in 12 games for Kansas City. He's averaged just 34 innings at the big-league level over the last five seasons.
It's peculiar, therefore, that the Cubs ponied up $6 million in guaranteed money to sign Harvey, according to ESPN. He's an above-average reliever, when healthy, but he's very rarely healthy, and at age 31, it's unlikely that that will change. He's had at least four separate elbow injuries; three different shoulder issues; an oblique strain; and multiple leg injuries as a pro. The Cubs have plenty of money left to spend this winter, but their budget is not limitless. On the contrary, they're unlikely to be allowed to spend more than about $230 million on their 2026 roster, and that figure is already over $190 million, after the commitment to Harvey.
This isn't a wise expenditure of resources. It's the kind of thing the Dodgers or Mets might do—paying for a pitcher with a chance to work in high-leverage moments in October, but rolling the dice on an exceptionally fraught health record. The Dodgers and Mets, though, will each spend about $100 million more than the Cubs will in 2026. Unlike the Dodgers, too, the Cubs have little chance of winning their division. Harvey is the wrong kind of luxury item—like a high-maintenance sports car that doesn't even impress people all that much between its too-frequent breakdowns.
Harvey really is a fine middle reliever, as these things go. He's struck out 26.8% of opposing batters and walked just 6.8% of them in his time in the majors. Still, signing him to a guaranteed deal needlessly ossifies Chicago's bullpen, and giving him a substantial sum (more than Phil Maton will make in 2026, though he's guaranteed a second season and has a chance to see his salary rise further via incentives) risks tying their hands financially.
As it stands, the Cubs' relief corps features five hurlers—Maton, Harvey, Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, and Jacob Webb—who can't be optioned to the minors. Daniel Palencia can theoretically be sent down, but in any scenario wherein the Cubs entertain doing so, their bullpen is in big trouble, anyway. In theory, that leaves two spots for optionable arms, but in reality, the Cubs are still likely to add a starting pitcher this offseason, pushing Colin Rea into a long relief role. Rea, too, is locked into the roster, so they would then have just one spot with real flexibility remaining.
In one sense, that part is a minor concern, because Harvey is so likely to spend so much time on the injured list that he barely clogs the pipeline. Still, spending both a roster spot and a meaningful amount of money on him seems like a bizarre decision. He's the level of player and risk where, if signing him costs them a chance to do anything else they might wish to do, it was a mistake. The Cubs must believe they'll unlock something in him, either by taking his game to another level or by keeping him healthy, where all his previous employers have failed to do so. They shouldn't have had to put such stakes on that kind of wager, though, and the smart money says they'll rue the choice to do so sometime next summer.
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now