The Chicago Cubs continued their rebuild of a bullpen that will look significantly different from last season. According to multiple league sources, the Cubs signed right-handed reliever Hunter Harvey to a deal, pending a physical.

This is an addition that comes with a significant injury risk, but also the potential to deliver high upside.

Harvey was a top pitching prospect in the Baltimore Orioles’ system who battled injuries and broke out as a reliever in 2022 and 2023 with the Washington Nationals. Over those two seasons, Harvey posted a 2.70 ERA over 100 innings, delivering a 28.6 percent strikeout rate and 6.4 percent walk rate. That is the upside the Cubs are hoping to capture as injuries have once again caught up to the talented reliever. After being traded to the Kansas City Royals at the 2024 trade deadline, Harvey has been slowed by back, shoulder and groin injuries that limited him to just 16 1/3 innings since the acquisition.

After sitting at 98.3 mph in 2022-2023, Harvey’s four-seamer dipped a half tick in 2024 and was down to 96.1 this past summer. The Cubs’ primary focus with Harvey will be his health, as the strength and conditioning and training staff will work hard with him so he can stay on the field.

The Cubs built a bullpen that was a big plus for them this summer. Daniel Palencia broke out after years of showing promise. Brad Keller was a non-roster invitee who turned into a dominant setup man, Drew Pomeranz triggered an upward mobility clause leading to an early-season trade to the Cubs, Caleb Thielbar was an under-the-radar signing who was brilliant all season, and Andrew Kittredge proved to be a key deadline addition. Only Palencia was under team control beyond the 2025 season, though.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in completing our bullpen, obviously,” manager Craig Counsell said in early December at the Winter Meetings.

At that point, the Cubs had only signed veteran righty Phil Maton. Maton is a soft-tossing righty who has a long history of success and has seen his strikeout rate — and his stuff in general — jump in recent seasons as he continues to hone his craft. Since then, the Cubs have added more veteran experience by re-signing Thielbar and also bringing in lefty Hoby Milner and righty Jacob Webb. All are experienced and bring stability to the group and some trusted depth.

But Harvey is the big upside play. Outside of Palencia, there was no big-time stuff in the bullpen. If the Cubs can get Harvey healthy and looking like the version of himself from a few years ago, they should have plenty to work with in their bullpen. A combination of veteran savvy with pitchers coming from various angles and a pair of big-velocity arms in Palencia and Harvey could form a strong unit.

That is what the Cubs are hoping, at least. They understand that predicting the reliability of a bullpen is a dangerous game. Relief arms are the most volatile talents in baseball. From year to year, the group of top relievers sees significant turnover as there are inevitably surprises along the way. The Cubs’ bullpen from last season is a perfect example. Along with the names mentioned above, there are swingmen like Colin Rea and Javier Assad. Ben Brown will likely be stretched out as a starter, but has the potential to be another arm coming out of the pen with a nasty arsenal. Luke Little is still waiting for a big-league breakout, and Porter Hodge hopes to return to his 2024 form.

The Cubs have built a very deep unit with their bullpen. They won’t rule out adding more; they always keep an open mind. But space is limited. The focus likely shifts to trying to add another starting pitcher, perhaps one who can impact the front of the rotation, and keeping tabs on the Alex Bregman market as they continue to look to upgrade the lineup, as well.