Why Tucker Barnhart Taking the Mound Could Change the Cubs’ Season Forever

Before the 2023 season even kicked off, the Cubs locked up Tucker Barnhart on a two-year deal worth $6.5 million, pegging him as the backup to Yan Gomes behind the plate . At first glance, it seemed like a decent move — a savvy veteran catcher to steady things down. But, oh boy, was this another classic misstep from Jed Hoyer’s front office playbook. Barnhart never quite found his footing, slashing an anemic .202/.285/.257 and gassing out just 18.9% of would-be base stealers before getting the boot before the season closed . And, honestly, the numbers looked eerily familiar, mirroring his struggles the year before in Detroit . Hindsight’s 20/20, but this one stings considering how few opportunities he actually got — only 43 games, with four cameo pitching stints in what was practically garbage time . Those rare pitching gigs made him a quirky footnote, second only to Eric Sogard’s odd pitching exploits for the Cubs . Curious about how those rare mound moments played out? Stick with me — I’ve broken down each of Barnhart’s pitching outings in some detail . LEARN MORE.

The Cubs signed Tucker Barnhart to a two-year, $6.5 million contract before the 2023 season to be the backup catcher to Yan Gomes.

This was another miscalculation by Jed Hoyer, as Barnhart was released before the ‘23 season ended after batting just .202/.285/.257 and throwing out only 18.9 percent of runners trying to steal. And he had hit pretty much for the same numbers the previous year with the Tigers.

Anyway, Barnhart played in just 43 games with the Cubs — and four of those were as a garbage-time pitcher, the second-most for any Cubs position player in a single season (Eric Sogard, as you know if you’ve been following this series, had five in 2021).

Here’s a brief summary of each of Barnhart’s four pitching appearances.

May 25 vs. Mets: The Cubs trailed 10-1 going to the ninth inning and Barnhart threw a scoreless ninth, allowing two singles. The Cubs didn’t score in the bottom of the ninth and lost 10-1.

July 16 vs. Red Sox: A key error by Nico Hoerner led to a five-run Boston fifth and the Cubs trailed 11-0 after seven. They scored three in the eighth so down 11-3, Barnhart threw the ninth. He allowed a one-out single but no runs. The Cubs scored two in the bottom of the ninth and lost 11-5 when Christopher Morel struck out to end the game.

Aug. 4 vs. Braves: The Cubs were down 8-0 going to the ninth. Barnhart allowed a one-out single to Ronald Acuña Jr. but no runs, and the Cubs failed to score in the bottom of the inning, losing 8-0.

Aug. 7 vs. Mets: Just three days after his previous mound appearance, Barnhart entered a game the Cubs were losing 10-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth. He allowed three hits, including this RBI single by Pete Alonso [VIDEO].

Check out the “speed” of that pitch:

The Cubs lost that game 11-2.

Barnhart played in just one more game for the Cubs after that, Aug. 16 vs. the White Sox, before being released Aug. 20. The Cubs ate the second year of the deal so he wound up playing 31 games in 2024 for the Diamondbacks and hitting even worse (.173/.287/.210). He played in eight games for the Rangers in 2025.

He also pitched in one game for Arizona and one for Texas, in addition to one for the Tigers in 2022, compiling a 7.88 ERA and 2.375 WHIP in eight total innings, with 19 hits allowed.