Cubs Sign Former 20-Win Pitcher To Minor-League Deal

The Chicago Cubs have added a lot of pitching this offseason. From Edward Cabrera to bullpen arms, the Cubs have improved their staff enough to contend in a strong National League.

They just added more depth.

The Cubs have signed former 20-win starter Kyle Wright to a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Wright has spent the majority of his career with the Atlanta Braves and will now get an invite to MLB spring training.

Kyle Wright to the Cubs. Minors deal with MLB camp invite. Wright is the majors’ last 20-game winner.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 10, 2026

Wright's career trajectory

Wright was an elite pitcher at Vanderbilt, pitching to a 2.78 ERA with the Commodores. He would parlay that into becoming the fifth-overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft by the Braves.

The expectations were high for Wright. He was the No. 30 prospect in baseball in 2018 and 2019, per MLB Pipeline, when he would pitch some major league games for the Braves.

In 2018, Wright would pitch to a 4.50 ERA in four games out of the bullpen. The next season, he would start, but it was not without struggles. In seven games (four starts), Wright had an 8.69 ERA.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Kyle Wright | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

That caused his 2020 prospect ranking to dip to No. 52. In the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, he would start eight games with a 5.21 ERA.

This led him to readjust for most of the 2021 season in Triple-A, where he would pitch to a 3.02 ERA. In two games in the majors that season, he would struggle once again with a 9.95 ERA.

He would come alive in the 2021 playoffs, when he most notably pitched in Games 2 and 4 of the World Series, having 5.1 innings of one-run ball.

Fans got a glimmer of hope that season and were rewarded in 2022 when he won a league-high 21 games with a 3.19 ERA. Despite all that, he would finish 10th in Cy Young voting. He started the 2023 season with huge expectations, but that would be the last season he would pitch in the majors.

Injuries would end a promising tenure with the Braves, as he would undergo shoulder surgery, causing him to miss a large portion of 2023 and all of 2024. While rehabbing with the Kansas City Royals, he missed the majority of the 2025 season with hamstring and oblique injuries.

Now healthy, he will look to go back to what made him so successful in 2022. However, the Cubs have a full rotation and bullpen already. This means Wright will be roster depth in the minors, where he will have to prove himself once again to get another opportunity with the Cubs.

If he can get right in the minors, he would be a valuable piece, should injuries plague the rotation.

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