Chicago Cubs urged to sign recently cut two-time All-Star closer amid bullpen emergency

The Chicago Cubs are going through an unprecedented rash of bad luck-through-injury when it comes to their pitching staff.

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The chronicling of Cubs pitching injuries so far this season actually reads like a bad piece of sports fiction.

They lost emerging ace Cade Horton after season-ending elbow surgery. Opening Day starter Matthew Boyd went on the IL with a left biceps strain. Then came Phil Maton (right knee tendonitis), Hunter Harvey (right triceps inflammation), Ethan Roberts (finger laceration), Daniel Palencia (lat strain), Caleb Thielbar (hamstring), and Riley Martin (elbow inflammation). Down in Iowa, reliever Porter Hodge was lost for the season after UCL surgery. Jordan Wicks and Gavin Hollowell were already on the shelf. Even top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins had to be placed on the IL with right elbow inflammation.

And all of this in just the first month of the season.

Cubs digging through reserve arms

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The team has responded in the best way they could, digging through their pitching reserves to find substitutes for the big league staff. The front office’s stockpiling of arms via minor league deals this past offseason seems almost prescient now, as they’ve already utilized several of those reserves, such as Corbin Martin, Ryan Rolison, Charlie Barnes, Vince Velasquez (since DFA’d), and Yacksel Rios.

This, of course, can’t continue if the team hopes to be a serious postseason contender.

But for right now, the Cubs are simply going to need more arms and, preferably, arms that are a step above their minor league contract players.

Jordan Romano

One possible fill-in may be falling right into their laps in the form of veteran reliever and former closer Jordan Romano, who was recently DFA’d by the Los Angeles Angels.

It should be made clear that the 33-year-old righty is by no means a bullpen savior for the Cubs, nor can he be looked at as a possible Drew Pomeranz-style reclamation project. After all, there’s a reason the Angels are releasing him (10.13 ERA through 11 appearances).

But the former Blue Jay and Philly did start the season in Los Angeles on a bit of a run, allowing zero hits and zero earned runs through his first six appearances. He also posted four saves and struck out seven in five total innings until the bottom completely fell out. The quick crumble in 2026 fits in with utterly awful seasons in 2024 and 2025.

But Romano was once very good. In his first three years as a full-time major leaguer (2021-2023) with the Blue Jays, for example, he posted 95 saves and a combined 2.37 ERA, making the All-Star team twice.

Per Jordan Campbell of Cubbies Crib:

“In an ideal world, the Cubs wouldn’t be forced to have this conversation. Daniel Palencia would be healthy at the backend of the bullpen, and Phil Maton, Caleb Thielbar, and Hunter Harvey would be thriving as the high-leverage relief pitchers. Instead, of that group, Maton is the only one expected to be back with the Cubs this week…

Given the struggles that Roman has had over the last three seasons, it’s hard to imagine that he would join the Cubs and suddenly become the dominant high-leverage relief pitcher he once was with the Blue Jays. That isn’t what the Cubs need, though. For now, they simply need experienced arms in the bullpen until the rest of the group gets healthy.”

Romano’s certainly worth a roll of the dice as the Cubs wait on their injured pitchers to come back into the picture. It’s not like they have anything better in the wings.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-urged-to-sign-recently-cut-two-time-all-star-closer-amid-bullpen-emergency/