Here is a player who epitomizes the Cubs’ pitching infrastructure.
The Cubs don’t have a lot of guys who throw hard. But Hunter Harvey does!
Or… sometimes does, because he’s more injured than not. He was the Orioles’ No. 1 pick (22nd overall) out of high school in North Carolina in 2018. He’s got a pedigree — his dad, Bryan Harvey, was second in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1988 and was a two-time All-Star, leading the AL in saves with 46 in 1991 — before he was injured and his career essentially ended at age 30. Bryan Harvey pitched in only a handful of games after that.
Hunter? Same thing. He wound up with the Nationals in 2022 and had two good years there, with 20 saves for them in 2023. But his numbers dived south in 2024 and since then he has pitched in 12 MLB games… which is exactly the number of games his dad pitched in 1994, his second-to-last season.
Bryan Harvey pitched in one game for the Marlins in 1995 and was done.
Hunter Harvey pitched in four games for the Cubs in 2026. Yes, really, he did! If you blinked while it was cold out, you probably missed it. Two of the games were at Wrigley Field, and the photo at the top is photographic proof of that, but you might have missed those too, as it was pretty cold both those days.
His last appearance was April 8, a scoreless inning against the Rays in a 6-2 win. Here’s the strikeout that was the final out in that game [VIDEO].
Hunter Harvey faced 18 batters in a Cubs uniform, recording 12 outs. For that they paid him $6 million. That’s $500,000 per out.
That’s $6 million wasted. Jed Hoyer should not have made this signing, knowing that this was a very possible outcome. There is a mutual option for $8 million for next year that Hoyer should decline at the first opportunity.
And learn the lesson to not to stuff like this anymore.
