The Chicago Cubs signed pitcher Kyle Wright to a minor league deal with an invitation to the major league team, according to The New York Post’s Jon Heyman.
Wright played six years with the Atlanta Braves before being traded to the Kansas City Royals, where he failed to play a game in two seasons before becoming a free agent.
Wright took 2023 off to recover from Tommy John surgery with the hope of recovering in 2025, though hamstring and shoulder problems kept bothering him last season.
He appeared in eight minor league games in 2025, though Wright failed to crack the major league team in a healthy fashion.
Wright’s best season came in 2022 when he got a full look as a starting pitcher. He went 21-5, with a 3.19 ERA, 1.159 WHIP, 174 strikeouts in 180.1 innings. His campaign was valued at 3.7 bWAR, and Wright finished in 10th place in Cy Young voting.
However, since then, with all the injuries and setbacks, he has not been able to return to those levels, and at 30, there are real questions about whether he can reach them again.
How will Nick Wright fit on the Cubs?
Wright has experience as both a bullpen arm and a starter, though he will likely need to serve as a swing man early on. The Cubs feel good about their rotation at this point, with a starter expressing confidence in the depth.
“It’s exciting,” Cubs starter Jameson Taillon said. “Obviously, Spring Training is always symbolic of the beginning of the journey together. It’s a good time to get to know each other and bond and set the standards and expectations for the year, and also just have fun being around a baseball field again.
“There’s a lot of depth. There’s probably eight, nine guys that you should feel good about starting a big league game. I think, for us, [the goal] is to have eight, nine guys you feel comfortable pitching in the playoffs and starting in the playoffs.”
Wright can serve as another arm in that mix or become a strictly reliever, helping to eat innings in a variety of ways and earning more trust down the line.
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