Why did the Chicago Cubs spend $6 million on “black cat” bad-luck Hunter Harvey?

The Chicago Cubs finally went out and got the hard-throwing power pitcher their bullpen needed. Unfortunately, they waited until all of the high-end closer-capable relievers had already been snatched off the market.

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So, instead of some of the big names that were out there, they ended up signing Hunter Harvey on a one-year deal to take up a power slot in their rebuilt bullpen. The surprising part was not that the Cubs were willing to roll the dice on what amounts to a reclamation project, but that they were willing to pay $6 million on their single-year contract with the oft-injured righty.

When healthy, Harvey can be a bullpen stud, sometimes reaching triple-digits in velocity and missing bats at a high rate. Unfortunately, he’s very rarely healthy.

Hunter Harvey is a “black cat” of injury happenstance

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Since being drafted in the first round in 2013 by the Baltimore Orioles, Harvey has been touched by injury in every single season of his professional career. In total, over 13 seasons of minor league and major league ball, he’s only pitched an average of less than 35 innings per year. As a major-leaguer, he’s averaged just about 26 innings per season.

Last year, an assortment of injuries led to him pitching only 10.2 innings for the Kansas City Royals.

All told, the 31-year-old Harvey has had several elbow issues (including Tommy John surgery in 2016), shoulder issues, leg injuries, an oblique strain, and a sports hernia. It’s been such a rough physical ride for Harvey that his own father once labeled him a “black cat” when it came to his inability to avoid injury.

The Cubs, though, saw fit to sign him to a contract that guaranteed him the highest AAV in 2026 of any of the bullpen arms they brought aboard this offseason. It’s certainly a peculiar move for a team that is exceedingly (and frustratingly) cautious with their spending.

The thinking behind the signing

In Harvey, they may see a possible backup closer and insurance for Daniel Palencia. He DOES have that kind of stuff. And, at $6 million, he’s coming much cheaper than any of the more established closers and closer types who were on the market. Given the team’s preference for not spending big on volatile bullpen arms, Harvey may have been appealing as a compromise between spending on talent and not overspending on someone who may or may not pan out.

Cubs president Jed Hoyer and his team could also be counting on Harvey’s hard-throwing skill set to play extremely well juxtaposed with the softer-tossing nuanced relievers around him, especially incoming lefty Hoby Milner.

Evan Altman of Cubs Insider recently wrote of the possibly killer Milner-Harvey dynamic:

“Only four of the 515 MLB pitchers with at least 20 innings last season registered slower average fastballs than Milner…

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.”

Questions, doubts, and a roll of the dice

However, adding another veteran reliever without minor league options will further limit maneuverability when it comes to making in-season bullpen roster moves. In total, the Cubs are already sporting five bullpen pieces who can’t be moved from the major league roster without the risk of losing them from the team completely.

Matthew Trueblood of North Side Baseball touched on this situation while offering his take on the “whys” behind the Cubs’ signing of Harvey:

“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.”

Whatever the case, the Cubs HAVE actually spent this offseason on an area that definitely needed their urgent attention. In total, the team has invested between $21 and $23 million (depending on incentives) on five solid talents in the 2026 bullpen. They also picked up Collin Snider on a minor league deal and will certainly mine for other fringe pickups as well.

Maybe the play with Harvey is to keep him as healthy and as sheltered as possible through the first part of the season. Then, potentially use him as a high-leverage reliever later in the campaign and through the playoffs.

That’s certainly a reasonable gamble– and one that could pay huge dividends if it works out. It’s not as immediately satisfying as the signing of a big-ticket closer, but, realistically, the Cubs weren’t going to do that, anyway. It’s just not who they are.

At the very least, using $6 million on a Hunter Harvey roll of the dice shouldn’t keep them from grabbing at Alex Bregman or a front-of-rotation starter.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-hunter-harvey-bullpen-hoyer-palencia-2026