Chicago Cubs Add Veteran Right-Handed Reliever To Bullpen

The Cubs signed reliever Jacob Webb to a one-year deal Tuesday, per multiple reports.

Chicago Cubs Hat | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The Chicago Cubs continued to give their bullpen a makeover this offseason, signing free-agent right-hander Jacob Webb to a one-year contract on Tuesday. Patrick Mooney of The Athletic was first to report the signing.

Webb, a 32-year-old who most recently pitched for the Texas Rangers, will make a base salary of $1.5 million in 2026 with incentives that can push the deal up to $2 million, as first reported by Mooney's colleague, Will Sammon.

The contract also includes a club option for the 2027 season worth $2.5 million, with incentives that could earn him up to $3 million.

The Cubs are in agreement with right-handed reliever Jacob Webb on a one-year contract that includes a club option for 2027, per a source briefed on the deal. Webb has a career 2.99 ERA over 247 major-league appearances with the Braves, Angels, Orioles and Rangers.

— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) December 23, 2025

Webb was not exactly a heralded prospect. He grew up in Riverside, Calif., then pitched at Tabor College, an NAIA school in rural Kansas before the Atlanta Braves selected him in the 18th round of the 2014 MLB Draft.

He made his big-league debut in 2019 and excelled in limited work with Atlanta, compiling a 1.39 ERA in 32 1/3 innings. Webb proceeded to pitch 10 innings without giving up an earned run in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

The following year, Webb was still an above-average reliever for the 2021 World Series champion Braves, but he made just two postseason appearances, giving up four runs in an inning of work in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was designated for assignment the following April and spent the 2022 season with the Triple-A affiliates for the Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jacob Webb added a sweeper back in 2023 and it has allowed him to remain a consistent weapon in the bullpen

FF: 44%/93.4 MPH/17.2 IVB/8.5 HB
CH: 35%/84.9 MPH/10.9 IVB/17.8 HB
ST: 21%/82 MPH/-5.5 IVB/13.8 HB

This is a solid add for a Cubs bullpen looking to limit hard contact! pic.twitter.com/VYbALdksg6

— Baseball Unstitched Podcast (@BaseUnstitched) December 23, 2025

In 2023, Webb began remaking himself into a major-league staple. He signed a minor-league deal with the Los Angeles Angels in November 2022 and made his way to the big leagues the following May. And though he was designated for assignment in August, the Orioles signed him two days later, and he showed continued improvement in Baltimore.

Webb pitched to a 3.02 ERA with the Orioles in 2024, then had a 3.00 mark in a career-high 66 innings last year with the Rangers. He will be a solid middle relief addition to Chicago's bullpen, helping the Cubs build a bridge to their late-inning arms.

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Like most of the other pitchers the Cubs have signed this winter, Webb does not exactly light up radar guns. His average fastball velocity was 93.4 miles per hour in 2025, ranking in the 33rd percentile of all MLB pitchers. But he has been good about limiting hard contact, with an average exit velocity in the 95th percentile and a hard-hit rate and barrel-rate well above average as well.

Jacob Webb | Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images

Webb joins Chicago's bullpen for 2026, along with his former Rangers teammates Phil Maton and Hoby Milner. The Cubs brought back veteran lefty Caleb Thielbar for his second season in Chicago, and still have hard-throwing right-hander Daniel Palencia, who was their closer for much of last year before battling injuries down the stretch.

Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz have both signed elsewhere, and Andrew Kittredge was traded back to the Orioles for cash after the Cubs acquired him from Baltimore at last year's trade deadline.

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