A Dark Horse for 2026 Redemption with the Cubs

I’m not going to overstate the importance of signing 33-year-old Vince Velasquez. The likeliest outcome for the right-handed pitcher is that sticks around at Triple-A and maybe comes up once to fill in for an injured pitcher and then gets DFA’d shortly after. But that’s what makes Velasquez a dark horse to actually have redemption in 2026 with the Cubs. No, I don’t think he’ll be Brad Keller 2.0, but there’s enough there with Velasquez to believe that he can give the 2026 Cubs some quality innings.