Cubs Place Hunter Harvey On 15-Day Injured List

The Cubs have placed right-hander Hunter Harvey on the 15-day injured list due to right triceps inflammation.  Left-hander Charlie Barnes‘ contract was selected from Triple-A to take Harvey’s spot on the active roster, and the final open spot on Chicago’s 40-man roster.

Harvey has a 6.75 ERA over four appearances and four innings, with all of the damage coming on April 3 when he allowed three runs (on homers from Gabriel Arias and Chase DeLauter) in two-thirds of an inning of work in the Cubs’ 4-1 loss for the Guardians.  Perhaps in a hint of some lingering injury issues, Harvey only made one more appearance since that game, though he logged a scoreless inning last Wednesday with seemingly no incident.

Injuries have been a primary and unfortunate subplot of Harvey’s pro career, dating back to his time as a prized prospect in the Orioles’ farm system.  Selected 22nd overall in the 2013 draft, Harvey didn’t make his MLB debut until 2019, and he didn’t make more than 10 appearances in a season until he logged 38 appearances out of the Nationals’ bullpen in 2022.  Since August 2024, Harvey has pitched in just 22 MLB games due to back problems, a teres major strain, an adductor strain, and now this bout of biceps inflammation.

Over the 2022-25 seasons, Harvey posted a 3.07 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate, while establishing himself as a pretty solid leverage reliever when healthy.  The Cubs rolled the dice on Harvey’s ability to bounce back by signing him to a one-year, $6.5MM free agent deal last winter, and Harvey and the team can only hope that this biceps issue is relatively minor.

Phil Maton was also placed on the IL due to knee tendinitis on Friday, so Chicago is now down two key members of its bullpen within a three-day span.  The pitching staff as a whole has been depleted by Cade Horton‘s season-ending UCL surgery and Matthew Boyd‘s IL stint due to a biceps strain, and Colin Rea was moved from the bullpen to the rotation to help bolster the starting five.

Barnes will try to help fill the void as the southpaw prepares for his first taste of the Show since 2021.  Over 38 2/3 innings and nine appearances (eight of them starts) for the Twins in 2021, Barnes posted a 5.92 ERA in what remains his only bit of Major League experience.  The 30-year-old Clemson product then headed to South Korea and pitched well with the KBO League’s Lotte Giants from 2022-24, but the 2025 season saw Barnes struggle with the Giants and back in North America when pitching in the Reds’ minor league system.

Chicago signed Barnes to a minor league contract in January, and he’ll now return to the majors in what will likely be a long relief role.  Barnes has worked mostly as a starter throughout his career, and his ability to eat innings may be helpful to a Cubs team that is still trying to work their way through this spate of pitching injuries.