The Chicago Cubs have made another minor trade as Jed Hoyer continued a trend by acquiring right-handed pitcher Yosver Zulueta. The 28-year-old was in at Triple-A for the Seattle Mariners, who recently designated Zulueta for assignment. The Cubs jumped on the opportunity to pick up the former notable prospect, sending cash for the relief pitcher.
Cubs fans have been annoyed by the type of reliever the Cubs have targeted in recent years, and that frustration has been even more pronounced in 2026 with Phil Maton’s performance. While most of MLB has aggressively leaned on high velocity to overwhelm hitters late in games, the Cubs have not made hard-throwing pitchers a main priority.
Yet, during the season, Jed Hoyer does seem to have a type, and Zulueta fits the profile. A pitcher with a big arm, the ability to get a lot of strikeouts, but with severe control issues.
In 2024, Zulueta made his MLB debut with the Cincinnati Reds. The righty made 12 appearances, striking out 20 batters in 16.1 innings, a 29.0 K%. He didn’t really put up good results, recording a 4.96 ERA in his first look in the majors. Zulueta only got seven opportunities with the Reds in 2025. Still, he had good numbers at Triple-A, ending last year with a 3.28 ERA and a 31.2 K% in 60.1 innings with Louisville.
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However, Zulueta was let go in January and was then traded to the Mariners in a small deal leading up to spring training. The right-hander had a decent spring, but he was assigned to Triple-A to begin the regular season. Zulueta wasn’t particularly good, posting a 5.75 ERA with 21 strikeouts and 16 walks in 20.1 innings. His last 10 games produced most of the damage, as Zulueta allowed 10 of his 13 earned runs in 10.2 innings, walking nine in that span.
But Zulueta throws hard, consistently hitting the upper 90s, but he’s had injury trouble in his past, and he walks too many guys to stick around in the majors. Maybe the Cubs can tweak something? That’s ultimately the low-risk gamble the front office is making when executing these moves.
Zulueta first broke into pro ball, signing out of Cuba in 2019 with the Toronto Blue Jays. The righty was ranked as high as No. 3 in Toronto’s farm system following the 2022 season, but he hasn’t been able to keep up the momentum since.
So far in 2026, the Cubs have brought in pitchers Antoine Kelly, Christian Roa, Ty Blach, Paul Campbell, Tyler Ferguson, Luis Peralta, and Liam Hendriks, either as minor league free agents, waiver claims, or small trades.
It really only takes one to hit to call it a success for the 2026 Cubs, so hopefully one of these guys does break through and can contribute for at least a couple of months. As frustrating as the team has been, the playoffs are very much in reach this year. Even after a 7-22 stretch, the Cubs remain above .500 and begin this week’s home stand one game back of a Wild Card spot.
They’ll need more arms to help as the regular season progresses. The majority of contending teams will always have a handful of surprises, so hopefully Zulueta, or any of the other similar pitching acquisitions for the Cubs, does indeed become a positive story this year.
