Cubs sign former Giants, Rockies 5.42 ERA reliever as bullpen depth

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The Chicago Cubs have had their fair share of injuries to start the 2026 season.

Right-hander Cade Horton will miss the remainder of the year and presumably the start of 2027 after undergoing elbow surgery. Impact arms like Matthew Boyd and Justin Steele are both on the injured list.

For rotation and bullpen depth, they signed a seven-year Major League veteran on Tuesday.

According to Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register, the Cubs agreed to a minor league contract with left-hander Ty Blach. He will start his tenure with the NL Central club at Triple-A Iowa.

Blach, 35, made his MLB debut in 2016, spending parts of four seasons with the San Francisco Giants. He spent the past three years with the Colorado Rockies and posted a 6.13 ERA in 64 outings, including 26 starts.

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"The 6’1″ southpaw has only fanned 13% of his major league opponents, but he’s regularly shown strong command (7% walk rate) and above-average groundball tendencies (45.6%)," Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors wrote Tuesday. "Blach did a nice job of dodging hard contact during his time in San Francisco, but took a step back in that regard during his three seasons with the Rox.

Blach is not a hard thrower, averaging about 90-92 mph on his sinker. The Cubs felt like they needed the depth, and the lefty was available. This could be a smart, low-cost move.

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• How Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto is connected to Rockies' Tomoyuki Sugano
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• Shohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece

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