We’re used to the Cubs signing oft-injured pitchers to provide depth with a little upside, but seeing them do so with a guaranteed MLB contract is rare. It’s even less common to see Jed Hoyer target pitchers with big velocity, and it’s unheard of to give such a player relatively big money. Yet that’s exactly what happened with 31-year-old reliever Hunter Harvey, who has agreed to a one-year deal that will pay him $6 million.
Harvey has pitched in parts of seven seasons for three different teams, but has only compiled 185 total innings in that time. Though strains of his teres major (shoulder) and right adductor (inner thigh) limited him to just 10.2 innings over 12 appearances with the Royals in 2025, he struck out 11 batters while walking just one and allowing no runs on six hits.
He tossed 111.1 innings over 106 appearances with the Nationals and Royals over the two previous seasons, however, so the Cubs are hoping this recent campaign was just a fluke. Their confidence is evidenced by that salary, which is more than any other member of their bullpen in 2026. Phil Maton‘s $7.25 million AAV is higher as part of his similarly rare multiyear deal, but he’s only making $5.5 million in actual salary next season.
What really sets Harvey apart is his 96 mph average fastball that can tick up to triple digits when he’s healthy. Maton’s hard stuff sits around 90-91 mph, making him look like a flamethrower next to sidearming southpaw Hoby Milner‘s 87-88 mph bullets. Only four of the 515 MLB pitchers with at least 20 innings last season registered slower average fastballs than Milner, and what’s funny is that two of them (Kyle Hendricks, Trevor Williams) are former Cubs.
Harvey’s splitter carries the same average velocity as Milner’s four-seam, which is something the Cubs could use to their advantage. Going from a soft-tossing lefty who works east-west from a -6 degree arm slot to a hard-throwing righty going north-south out of a 44 degree slot could really mess with opposing hitters. Maton is sort of in between at 26 degrees with a sweepy curveball, and we can’t forget about righty Jacob Webb presenting yet another look.
Webb is right between Maton and Harvey in terms of both slot (34 degrees) and velo (93ish), plus he generates big ride on his fastball and change with an unconventional sweeper. That breaking ball probably needs to be reworked to be a more effective pitch, perhaps as a tighter gyro slider that falls more in the death ball range. Throw in lefty in Caleb Thielbar with his extreme over-the-top slot (56 degrees, higher than all but three southpaws last season) and you’ve got a really interesting bullpen quintet.
A lot of folks like to piss and moan about what Hoyer has done in the bullpen, but this isn’t just a matter of signing guys just because they’re cheap. The five players listed above will combine for just under $21 million, and only one of them is under contract beyond 2026. And while that guarantees nothing beyond payroll flexibility, the variation in styles is something the Cubs should be able to use to their advantage.
With Colin Rea and Javier Assad providing depth and length, and Daniel Palencia presumably slotting in as the closer, Craig Counsell has the makings of a very solid relief corps. I’ve said many times that I believe the Cubs should be spending more on the bullpen, but they’ve shown the ability to cobble good units together in the past. We obviously can’t make any proclamations until we see them in action, but the only way to be pessimistic about this bullpen is if that’s your default setting.
If nothing else, I will give Hoyer credit for getting out of his comfort zone with the Harvey and Maton deals. Perhaps that’s a sign of things to come as the Cubs have yet to improve the rotation or lineup in a meaningful way.
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