Chicago Cubs need for their gamble on this “black cat” to pay off

The Chicago Cubs made some uncharacteristically bold moves this offseason. One of them was signing the oft-injured 31-year-old free agent reliever Hunter Harvey.

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The former Oriole, National, and Royal was brought aboard on a one-year, $6 million deal, at a time in the offseason, before the signing of Alex Bregman and the trade for Edward Cabrera, when the Cubs’ willingness to spend was in question. It was a head-scratching move to many from a Cubs front office and ownership bogged down with the reputation of being ultra-conservative and exceedingly frugal.

The hard-throwing righty is a roll of the dice for Chicago. When healthy, he has elite-tier stuff that profiles well for a back-end of bullpen and/or closer role. The problem is that he’s never actually been healthy for all that long.

A long history of injury

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Since being drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Orioles in 2013, Harvey has lost time to injury in every single season of his professional career. Over the course of 13 seasons of minor league and major league ball, he’s only managed an average of less than 35 innings per year. At the big league level, he’s averaged just about 26 innings per season.

Last season, a series of injuries led to him pitching only 10.2 innings for the Royals.

All told, he’s had several elbow issues (including Tommy John surgery in 2016), shoulder issues, leg injuries, an oblique strain, and a sports hernia. Harvey’s physical journey has been so precarious that his own father once described him as a “black cat” when it came to his inability to avoid injury.

How the Cubs won over Hunter Harvey

But, still, the Cubs weren’t the only team pursuing Harvey this offseason. There was a demand for his services from several teams, all pushing theories on how they might keep him healthy and living up to his full potential. Chicago, according to Harvey, made the most compelling case.

“A lot of teams said they had things they thought they could mess with to get there,” Harvey told The Athletic. “But I just felt like the way it was talked about here pulled me a little bit more.”

“Some different stretching stuff that we added to my routine that we thought could help certain areas that weren’t moving as good,” Harvey added. “There were a few things mechanically that we thought we could clean up a bit. Help me get more health out of it. Small things they thought we could try and see if it helps.”

Last season, injury robbed him of nearly two miles per hour on his fastball (down to 96.1 mph from 98). The hope is that improved health and modified technique will get him back to full strength.

“One hundred percent,” Harvey said. “That was one of the things we talked about. Going into last year, I had the back stuff to end the season. I didn’t get to have a normal offseason. Everything was pushed back two months from what I normally do. That was part of my mechanics getting out of whack, the velo (being down), just everything. But this (offseason) was back to normal. We’ve been working on some stuff, trying to see if we can get those couple ticks back up.”

How Harvey fits into the Cubs plan

If healthy, Harvey could move right into the co-closer role that, many argue, the Cubs have needed since the second half of last season when closer Daniel Palencia began to show signs of collapse.

Having back-end bullpen insurance would be a big deal if/when the team lives up to expectations and makes a deep playoff run. At the very least, the goal would appear to be keeping him safe enough over the course of the season to allow for a healthy, potentially dominant postseason.

If everything goes according to plan, Harvey could be a major piece to the Cubs’ puzzle and well worth the $6 million gamble. But that’s a big “if.”

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